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Las Vegas Viva Las Chaos!!! Truck Slams Into Casino Published April 7, 2026 3:48 PM PDT Play video content X/@JonathanJossel The house always wins ... except against this pickup truck! Local outlet KVVU-TV reports the
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Days after Iran effectively blocked shipping through the Strait of Hormuz following the start of US and Israeli attacks in late February, two Pakistani electric motorbike outlets 1,400km away found themselves overwhelmed with enquiries. Haseeb Bhatti, who retrofits petrol-fuelled bikes with battery-powered motors in the northern city of Rawalpindi, said his March sales surged 70%. For Ali Gohar Khan, who owns a 7-year-old electric motorbike retail franchise with branches across Pakistan, the recent surge in sales is the steepest ever. “People have this fear that maybe in the near future, they might not get petrol at all,” Khan said. The Middle East crisis has sent global fuel prices soaring, compounding pain for Pakistanis already hit by inflation and a post-pandemic economic downturn. As the nation imports nearly all its oil through the Strait of Hormuz, shortage rumours took hold despite the government’s supply assurances. About 40% of Pakistan’s petrol is used to fuel the 30mn two-wheelers and three-wheeled autorickshaws. Industry officials and analysts expect the crisis to supercharge an EV rush in Pakistan, which would stand out from a broader regional surge for the availability of cheap and plentiful solar power to charge e-bikes. A switch would also help lower oil imports and bolster foreign exchange reserves, and slash emissions in the world’s most polluted country in 2025. After the government’s 18% price hike last week, a Pakistani household earning the median wage now pays 31% of its daily income for a litre of petrol - more than all but 22 of 139 countries tracked by globalpetrolprices.com and Our World in Data. “My monthly salary is 30,000 rupees. I can barely cover expenses for my family of six with this. How am I supposed to fill my bike?” said Zahoor Ahmed, a security guard in the southern city of Karachi. From working professionals to college students, more riders have been turning to EVs in recent months. Last year, higher petrol prices drove up EV sales nearly three-fold to 90,000 units or 5% of all two-wheelers sold, data from consultancy Renewables First showed. This year, EVs have accounted for more than 10% of monthly two-wheeler sales for the first time, said Talha Khan, CEO at EV logistics planning company Orko, a transition he expects to accelerate as filling up with conventional fuel can be as much as 10 times more costly than charging. “Today, the war situation is bad, so petrol prices are going up. I think this (EV) is a very reasonable thing. Everyone should buy one,” said Noori Shahbaz, a housewife purchasing an electric bike in Lahore, in a country where female riders remain a small but growing minority. GENEROUS SUBSIDIES AND INTEREST-FREE LOANSA typical electric two-wheeler costs around 250,000 rupees and 56% more than the popular petrol-fuelled Honda CD 70, which costs about 160,000 rupees. In February, the government’s Pakistan Accelerated Vehicle Electrification (PAVE) plan came into force, providing a subsidy for a fifth of the price and interest-free loans for the rest. The plan targets electric bikes and autorickshaws. It has already received about 270,000 applications - nearly seven times PAVE’s first phase target ending June - Finance Ministry adviser Adnan Pasha told Reuters, adding that the government aimed to finance 2mn EVs over five years and fund the plan with existing levies on fuel sales. “Electrifying just 2mn vehicles could result in nearly half a billion dollars in annual savings, as we don’t have to import that fuel,” Pasha said. Many Pakistanis turned to solar after IMF-driven power tariff hikes in 2023, snapping up cheap China-made panels for their homes. Now the government aims to capitalise on that boom to drive EV growth. “Using solar can reduce electricity costs at charging stations, and make it more affordable to charge at home,” Pasha said.Ammar Habib, an adviser to Pakistan’s power minister, said EVs were also “great for the grid as the steady demand from electric vehicle charging will ease some of the daytime volatility linked to solar oversupply.” CHINESE PLAYERS AT HEART OF EV SHIFTLike its solar revolution, Pakistan’s embrace of electric two-wheelers is built on Chinese brands. Scooter makers such as Yadea and Jinpeng, and e-bikes assembled locally with batteries and components from firms including AIMA and Sunra are expected to meet rising demand. Chinese EV giant BYD, which launched its cars in Pakistan through a local partner also working with HUBCO Green to build charging stations across the country, said it plans to support broader electrification to eventually sell more passenger cars. Pasha said the government wants local companies to build charging stations and said he expected the 45% cut to charging stations’ power tariffs last year to continue boosting adoption. However, financial incentives could come under pressure if the war drags on, while a lack of local expertise and hard-to-scale charging infrastructure are other risks for Pakistan’s EV transition, said Ahtasam Ahmad, energy finance lead at Renewables First. Good servicing networks are critical as EVs are more sensitive to potholes, which are common on South Asian roads. In neighbouring India, riding e-scooters on poorly maintained roads has caused major service backlogs. “When Chinese players flood the market, it may look promising on paper, but with virtually no after-sales service infrastructure, they risk eroding consumer confidence in the technology,” Ahmad said.
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Indigenous protesters from across Brazil marched to the capital Brasilia on Tuesday to demand the government expedite recognition of their ancestral lands.The protest, featuring tribal members in colourful traditional feathers and body decorations, came six months before leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, popularly known as Lula, faces a re-election battle.Indigenous Brazilian peoples broadly supported Lula in 2022 when he defeated his far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, whose government ceased to recognise native lands and fueled deforestation in the Amazon.Lula made an important symbolic gesture by naming a respected figure from the Guajajara-Tenetehara ethnicity, Sonia Guajajara, as the head of the new Ministry of Indigenous Peoples.Lula's government has overseen a drop in Amazon deforestation — promising to eradicate the felling of trees by 2030 — and the recognition of 20 territories for the exclusive use of Indigenous communities.But for some, the new measures are not enough."Our principal demand continues to be the formal recognition of Indigenous territories," Toya Manchineri, from the Coordinator of Indigenous Organisations of the Amazon, told AFP.Experts see the Indigenous reserves as a way to help fight climate change and preserve biodiversity.As Latin America's largest country, Brazil has 1.7mn Indigenous people out of a population of 212mn.The Indigenous groups will camp out in Brasilia until Friday, and plan to dance, play music, host artisan markets and debate.Thousands marched to Congress on Tuesday, where the Association of Brazilian Indigenous People (APIB) accused lawmakers of being the "enemies of the people" for their alliance with the powerful agribusiness sector — one of the main drivers of deforestation.The majority-conservative Congress approved a law in 2023 that limits Indigenous people's land rights. This was later struck down by the Supreme Court, but right-wing parties are working for new restrictions.The legal limbo leaves Indigenous areas exposed to the penetration of agribusiness and mining interests, Manchineri said. "The impact is huge."According to the APIB, a hundred Indigenous territories are awaiting the formal signoff of government recognition.Despite slow progress, native groups will still "cast their votes for the re-election" of Lula, Manchineri predicts.Although she demanded "justice and resources" for her community, Marilene Gervasio, from the Bare people, said she hoped the leftist will be re-elected.Lula will face Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of the far-right ex-president, in the October election. The most recent polls show a close second round between them. Related Story
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Cuba's Vice-Foreign Minister Josefina Vidal, accompanies a women protest against the sanctions imposed by the United States, in Havana on Tuesday. (AFP) Talks between Cuba and the United States on de-escalating tensions are still at a "very preliminary" stage, Cuba's Deputy Foreign Minister Josefina Vidal told AFP on Tuesday.Cuba has been bracing for a possible US attack following threats from US President Donald Trump about "taking" the communist-run island after ousting Venezuela's leader and attacking Iran.The former Cold War rivals have, at the same time, held exploratory talks."We are in a very preliminary, very initial phase, and there are still no structured negotiations between the two governments," Vidal told AFP during a demonstration in Havana to denounce the impact of US sanctions on the impoverished island.Trump effectively shut down oil exports to Cuba in January after US forces ousted Havana's main regional ally and crude supplier, Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro.Trump also threatened tariffs on other countries that ship oil to Cuba, deepening an energy crisis on the island marked by recurring blackouts.Last week, however, Washington allowed through a Russian oil tanker.Vidal, 65, was a key figure in the restoration of relations between Washington and the communist-run island during Barack Obama's presidency in 2015.In February, the Miami Herald listed her as one of Secretary of State Marco Rubio's interlocutors, along with Raul Guillermo Rodriguez Castro, grandson of former president Raul Castro.Cuba has taken apparent steps in recent weeks to ease tensions, notably releasing groups of prisoners in two batches, in what it called a "humanitarian gesture."Last week it announced the pardon of more than 2,000 prisoners. However, none of these were political prisoners, according to human rights NGOs.At least 20 political prisoners were released in mid-March.Vidal contrasted the current talks with the negotiations between the Obama and Raul Castro administrations, which led to an historic rapprochement that Trump later walked back.In 2015, "we worked to create a relationship that was not without differences, but that did not place those differences at the centre," Vidal stressed.She insisted however that "Cuba has always believed in dialogue" and "not in confrontation." Related Story
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Flames and smoke rise from a fire at the Velodrome in the Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday, in this still image obtained from a video. (Reuters) A fire at the velodrome in Rio de Janeiro's Olympic Park was brought under control early Wednesday, with no risk of it spreading to other parts of the complex and no injuries reported, fire officials said.Fire crews were called to the scene at 4:17am (0717 GMT), and around 80 firefighters and 20 fire trucks tackled the blaze, the state's military fire department said in a statement, adding that no one was hurt.The velodrome was built for the 2016 Rio Olympics and is administered by the city government. It houses the Olympic Museum, which features exhibits and historical artifacts from the Games, including the Olympic torch and medals.Firefighters were battling the blaze both inside and outside the building and working to protect artifacts at the Olympic Museum that were at risk, Lieutenant Colonel Fabio Contreiras said in an interview with CNN Brasil.Forensic experts were assessing the extent of the damage after the blaze reached the canvas ceiling of the velodrome and spread, Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Cavaliere told journalists."The velodrome and the Olympic Museum were barely affected by the fire," he said.The velodrome is Brazil's largest and most prominent track cycling center, and serves as a training base for the national weightlifting and cycling teams.In 2017, its roof was struck by two fires, causing minor damage. Related Story
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The logo of Norwegian telecoms operator Telenor. (AFP/File photo) Myanmar customers of the Norwegian telecoms group Telenor have sued the company for sharing their sensitive personal data with the junta, in a civil class action lawsuit filed in Norway Wednesday.The plaintiffs are seeking damages, arguing the military used the information to identify, arrest and prosecute pro-democracy activists suspected of opposing the 2021 coup in Myanmar, which constituted "serious human rights violations", they said in a statement.The information included names, physical addresses, Facebook and bank accounts, location data and call logs, they said.They allege that the data sharing led to, among other things, the 2022 execution of a prominent government opponent and lawmaker, Zewa Thaw, and the arrest and jailing of civil society activist Aung Thu, the statement said.Telenor, in which the Norwegian state owns a 54 percent stake, denied responsibility."In Myanmar, refusing requests from the military authorities could, in the worst case, have led to imprisonment, torture or the death penalty," it said in a statement to AFP."Telenor Myanmar had no real options. We could not play Russian roulette with the lives of our employees."Acknowledging that it was "terrible" if Telenor data had been "misused by the authorities," it said it was "solely the military authorities in Myanmar who are responsible for how they treat their own population".The plaintiffs said Justice and Accountability Initiative (JAI), a Swedish non-profit, and a Norwegian law firm had filed the lawsuit with the Asker og Baerum district court on their behalf.If successful, the case would be "the first ever to hold a telecoms company to account for not sufficiently protecting user data from access by an authoritarian regime", according to Beini Ye, a lawyer for the Open Society Justice Initiative, which is supporting the suit.Telenor Myanmar began operations in 2014 and had more than 18 million customers by 2021.After a February 2021 coup, the junta launched a crackdown on the civilian resistance movement.In July 2021, Telenor announced plans to sell its Myanmar subsidiary "despite warnings by civil society organisations", the plaintiffs said.The company later cited junta demands that it install monitoring equipment on the network as a reason for leaving the country.According to the plaintiffs, the transaction meant all customer data and surveillance technology that Telenor had installed were turned over to a military-linked company.They said they were aware of "at least 1,253 phone numbers belonging to users whose data was shared".Telenor exited Myanmar in March 2022.
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A man waits for a bus next to political propaganda in the Villa Maria del Triunfo neighborhood in Lima, Wednesday. (AFP) Peruvians will choose from a bewildering array of 35 presidential candidates this Sunday, electing the next leader of an Andean nation beset by crime and a string of short-lived, scandal? tainted presidencies."Now any old person runs for office," said 51-year-old schoolteacher Jane Layza, pondering the plethora of presidential hopefuls, and how she will cast her ballot.A few in the field are well known — a popular male comic, the daughter of a brutal autocrat, and a former Lima mayor.But no candidate is polling above the teens, and it is unlikely any will break the 50% threshold needed to avoid a runoff. That is frustrating news for fed-up Peruvians.Pocked with stifling jungles, brilliant snowcapped peaks, and bone-dry deserts, this crucible of the Inca Empire has in recent years struggled with chronic political instability and a surge in organised crime.The country has had eight presidents in the last decade. So many have been removed from office and jailed that they have a specialised prison of their own.Latinobarometro pollsters found more than 90% of Peruvians have "little" or "no confidence" in their government and parliament, the highest figures in Latin America."I'm not going to vote for anyone who is in government today, that much is very clear," said 56-year-old shopkeeper Nancy Chuqui.In the last decade, the homicide rate has more than doubled.Peruvian police once received 3,200 reports of extortion a year. Now they get at least 26,500 — and that is unlikely to be the full total.It is not just that criminality has increased in volume, according to sociologist Patricia Zarate. "What has changed is the harshness, the intensity of crime: extortion, attacks, murders," she said.A kaleidoscope of foreign criminal gangs from Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Mexico compete with homegrown rivals for control of lucrative trafficking routes and other illicit business.According to Zarate, voters "believe that politics is not only associated with corruption, but also with organised crime," and they expect "more of the same" from any new leader.Paradoxically, the Peruvian economy remains one of the most stable in the region, with the lowest inflation in Latin America and growing mining exports.Polls suggest that Peruvians, like many in Latin America, are looking to right-wing candidates for answers. But experts say the election could throw up a surprise.In 2021, leftist Pedro Castillo polled in seventh place a week before the first round, but eventually won.This time around, candidates have tried to break through to voters with last-minute, headline-grabbing promises on crime.Former Lima mayor Rafael Lopez Aliaga, vowed to send criminals to Amazon jails ringed with deadly snakes.Frontrunner Keiko Fujimori, in her fourth attempt to win the presidency, has promised to copy her late father's widely denounced use of anonymous judges.She leads with 15% in an Ipsos poll published last Sunday, the last one authorised before the election.Voting is compulsory for about 27mn Peruvians, out of a total population of 34mn.Incumbent Jose Maria Balcazar, interim president for less than two months, is barred from running.According to Ipsos, a third of voters remain undecided, or plan to cast a blank or spoiled ballot.Political scientist Eduardo Dargent said many Peruvians will vote with little or no information.There are so many candidates that there's no way to get to know them all, he said. Related Story
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Kuomintang Chairperson Cheng Li-wen speaking to the press after a visit at the Sun Yat-Sen Mausoleum in Nanjing, in China's eastern Jiangsu province, Wednesday. (AFP) Taiwan's opposition leader, a proponent of closer ties with Beijing, said Wednesday she hoped to sow the "seeds of peace" during a rare visit to China.Kuomintang (KMT) chairwoman Cheng Li-wun is the party's first leader to visit China in a decade but her trip — during which she hopes to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping — has sparked debate in Taiwan.Critics, including those within her own party which traditionally supports relations with China, have accused her of being too pro-Beijing.China claims self-ruled Taiwan is part of its territory and has threatened to use force to seize it."I hope that today we plant the seeds of peace not only for Chinese people on both sides of the Strait, but for all humankind," Cheng said on Wednesday, in comments broadcast by Taiwanese media.She spoke during a symbolic visit to the eastern city of Nanjing, where she visited the mausoleum of revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen, one of the few Chinese historical figures revered in both Beijing and Taipei.Beefed-up security at the mausoleum prevented foreigners from entering, AFP journalists saw.China severed high-level contact with Taiwan in 2016 after Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party won the presidency and rejected Beijing's claims to the island.Cross-strait relations have worsened since then, with China ramping up military pressure with near daily deployments of fighter jets and warships near Taiwan and regular large-scale military drills.However, Cheng said in a speech after her arrival on Tuesday evening that "the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are not doomed to war, as the international community has feared"."Taiwan should not be reduced to a geopolitical pawn," she said in a Facebook post, in an apparent reference to tensions between China and the US, Taiwan's main arms supplier.Her visit, she added, would mark a "historic journey of peace".In a park surrounding the mausoleum, 74-year-old Nanjing resident surnamed Fen told AFP on Wednesday that he had come to the area after hearing of Cheng's visit."I hope she will contribute to the reunification of the motherland," he said. Related Story
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Vietnam's top leader To Lam plans to visit China next week to meet with counterpart Xi Jinping, an official briefed on his travel plans told AFP Wednesday, his first foreign trip since becoming president as well as Communist Party chief.Lam was elected president — the number two position in Vietnamese politics — by the National Assembly on Tuesday, unifying leadership of the party and state as Xi did in China."Vietnam's General Secretary and President To Lam would visit China between April 15-17," the official told AFP, adding he will meet with Xi.Other media reports have said the trip will begin on April 14.Despite rival territorial claims in the South China Sea, the two socialist states have sought to deepen already close economic ties to guard against global trade upheaval instigated by US President Donald Trump's tariffs.Both Vietnam and China get much of their oil imports via the Strait of Hormuz, where shipping has largely been halted due to the US-Israeli war with Iran.Xi on Tuesday congratulated the Vietnamese leader on becoming president and expressed his willingness "to work with To Lam... to continuously strengthen our respective socialist causes", Chinese state media reported. Related Story
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Koo Sze Yiu stands behind placards of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam during a protest before trying to board a ferry to Macau, in Hong Kong. (AFP/File photo) Hong Kong activist Koo Sze-yiu, who is known for decades-long pro-democracy advocacy and street protests, died of cancer on Wednesday aged 80, a local advocacy group said.A lifelong activist, Koo was among the handful of outspoken government critics remaining in the Chinese city after Beijing crushed Hong Kong's huge and sometimes violent democracy protests in 2019.He was also involved in decades of protests over disputed islets in the East China Sea known as the Senkaku islands in Japan and the Diaoyu islands in China, and campaigned for Japan to apologise for its invasion of China during World War II.Hong Kong-based group Action Committee for Defending the Diaoyu Islands said in a statement that Koo passed away in hospital, accompanied by his son.Fellow pro-democracy activist Figo Chan said in a social media post that Koo was "a fighter who defends the Diaoyu Islands, cares about human rights activists in mainland China, and has repeatedly been jailed for the people, a fighter who truly loved his country."Born in the Chinese city of Zhongshan in 1946, Koo spent most of his life in activism, from opposing the Portuguese colonial government in Macau to fiercely criticising Beijing's crackdown in Hong Kong.He was diagnosed with terminal rectal cancer in 2020, but continued to actively participate in street campaigns even as Hong Kong's civil society has shrunk in recent years.Koo was jailed at least 12 times since 2000, including a 2024 sentence for "attempted sedition" over plans to protest China's political clampdown with a prop coffin.In 2022, he was jailed for the same offence over a planned protest against Beijing's Winter Olympics."I don't mind being a warrior for the democracy movement, and I don't mind being a martyr for democracy and human rights," he told a Hong Kong court at the time.
