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At least twelve people were injured on the French Indian Ocean territory of La Reunion Thursday as tropical cyclone Batsirai skirted the island, hitting it with torrential rains and powerful winds and leaving all residents confined to their homes.

The Amazon founder reportedly promised to cover the costs of the work

The iconic Koningshaven Bridge, commonly known as De Hef, will be partially dismantled, with its middle section temporarily removed – just so Jeff Bezos’ superyacht can sail through, Dutch media reported on Wednesday. 

The construction of the giant, three-masted leisure vessel, reportedly worth €430 million ($485 million), was commissioned to shipbuilder Oceanco in Alblasserdam, a town in the country’s South Holland province. However, the ship needs to pass through Rotterdam to enter the high seas, and is too large for the 40-meter (131ft) clearance of the bridge.

De Hef dates back to 1878. Its modern version was unveiled in 1927. Heavily damaged by bombs during World War II, the bridge was one of the first structures in the city to be restored. It ceased to function as a railway bridge in 1993 and has remained a national monument.

Oceanco and Bezos were said to have agreed to cover the costs of the work on the bridge. Some locals are, nevertheless, angry that the much-loved bridge will be tampered with, particularly because officials promised that the landmark would never be taken apart after its large-scale, three-year renovation was completed in 2017.

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“Employment is important, but there are limits to what you can and may do to our heritage,” Ton Wesselink from the Rotterdam Historical Society said, as cited by broadcaster Rijnmond.  

Others targeted Bezos himself. “This man has made his money by cutting staff, evading taxes, avoiding regulations, and now we have to demolish our beautiful national monument? That’s really a bridge too far,” Stephan Leewis, a local politician from the GroenLinks (GreenLeft) party said, adding that he wants to see the documents showing that Bezos agreed to reimburse the costs. 

Bezos and Amazon have been accused by the media and activists of using legal loopholes to pay lower taxes and of unethical labor practices, especially during the Covid pandemic. The company has denied these allegations.

Marcel Walravens, an official in charge of the works on De Hef, explained that the bridge will be completely restored after the yacht sails through, and no other changes will be made. He said there was no other option to move the yacht.

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“From an economic perspective and maintaining employment, the municipality considers this a very important project,” Walravens said. “In addition, Rotterdam has also been declared the maritime capital of Europe. Shipbuilding and activity within that sector are therefore an important pillar of the municipality.”

As for the past promise not to tamper with the bridge again, Walravens said: “Never say never. I see it as using the resources you have as efficiently as possible.” He added that the work will begin sometime in the summer.

“In all honesty, I understand the fuss, but if risks lie entirely on Bezos or Oceanco, that’s the end of the matter as far as I’m concerned,” Labor Party (PvdA) politician Dennis Tak said. “It’s, obviously, a strong example of Dutch pride that these yachts are built here. Hardly any ships are built in the Netherlands anymore. All container ships come from Asia these days.”

“I think it’s good that we can still get some money out of Bezos and put it in the region,” Tak said.

Bezos stepped down as CEO of Amazon, the company he founded, last year. In 2021, Forbes magazine listed him as the world’s wealthiest person for the fourth straight year, worth $177 billion.

Sadio Mane sets up one goal and scores the last one himself as Senegal beat Burkina Faso 3-1 to reach the final.

At least four soldiers and a civilian killed in two raids overnight on security posts in southwestern province.

Women and children among the dead following a raid in the town of Atmeh in the province of Idlib.

Houthi rebels have claimed several attacks on the UAE over the past week amid a new phase war in the war in Yemen.

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24 women and two men were fatally electrocuted after the line snapped over a city market

The collapse of a high-voltage power cable onto a market in Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, resulted in 26 deaths and two serious injuries on Wednesday.

DRC Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde announced the tragedy in a statement, revealing that the victims had been fatally electrocuted after the power cable snapped due to bad weather and fell on a market and housing below.

“I share the immense pain of the families. My thoughts are also with all the injured,” the prime minister said.

The fallen cable killed 24 women and two men, while another two people were seriously injured. The “bad weather” responsible for the tragedy was reportedly lightning, which struck the cable.

Government ministers visited the scene of the accident in an expression of solidarity, and government spokesperson Patrick Muyaya revealed that the authorities had begun the relocation of the affected market.

#RDC : #MatadiKibala, sur le lieu du drame avec les ministres de l’intérieur, de la solidarité, le gouverneur de la ville en attendant l’arrivée de @LukondeSama ! 26 morts, 24 femmes, 2 hommes et 2 blessés graves. Tous les corps ont été acheminé à la morgue de l’hôpital Mama Yemo pic.twitter.com/M71xGzGNlK

— Patrick Muyaya (@PatrickMuyaya) February 2, 2022

Muyaya said the accident had “accelerated the process to prevent other tragedies.”

According to Reuters, Congo’s national association of architects said the tragedy could have been avoided and was the result of mistreatment of planning regulations.

 A total of 55 new COVID-19 infections were found among Olympic Games-related personnel on Feb. 2, the chair of the Beijing 2022 medical expert panel said on Thursday, the highest daily tally so far.

The presidents of Brazil and El Salvador have defended the right to free speech as the White House calls for more censorship

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and El Salvador President Nayib Bukele both came out in defense of American podcast host Joe Rogan this week after critics, including the White House, encouraged Spotify to censor his show.

The campaign – which has attempted to get Rogan’s Spotify show censored after he expressed skepticism over Covid-19 vaccines for young people and hosted several vaccine-skeptic doctors – was bolstered on Tuesday after White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said there was “more that can be done” by Spotify to crack down on speech which goes against the national Covid-19 line.

Psaki’s comments were condemned by free speech activists in the US, who claimed they were unconstitutional and amounted to the state pressuring a private company to censor dissidents.

The two world leaders also came out in defense of Rogan’s right to free speech. In a statement, Bolsonaro said, “I’m not sure what [Rogan] thinks about me or about my government, but it doesn’t matter.”

If freedom of speech means anything, it means that people should be free to say what they think, no matter if they agree or disagree with us. Stand your ground! Hugs from Brazil.

Bukele – who has been accused of threatening freedom of the press in his county by criticizing ‘fake news’ journalists – used Psaki’s comments to mock critics who claim free speech “is under attack in El Salvador,” and appeared to argue that the White House’s interference in the Rogan matter amounted to a more egregious attack on free speech than anything his administration is accused of doing.

– I’m not sure what @joerogan thinks about me or about my government, but it doesn’t matter. If freedom of speech means anything, it means that people should be free to say what they think, no matter if they agree or disagree with us. Stand your ground! Hugs from Brazil. 👍

— Jair M. Bolsonaro (@jairbolsonaro) February 3, 2022

FrEeDoM oF tHe PrEsS iS uNdEr AtTaCk In El SaLvAdOr https://t.co/PkPlVOeOc0

— Nayib Bukele 🇸🇻 (@nayibbukele) February 2, 2022

Following calls for Rogan to be censored, Spotify announced it would start adding a ‘content advisory’ to shows that discuss the Covid-19 pandemic. The advisories will direct listeners to allegedly ‘trusted sources’ on the coronavirus, including scientists and academics.

60s folk-rock stars Neil Young and Joni Mitchell asked Spotify to remove their music in protest of Rogan’s show, while Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have also demanded that the platform make changes to address “COVID-19 misinformation.”

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The Rock supports ‘brother’ Joe Rogan

Rogan has defended his decision to host guests who criticize the worldwide Covid-19 response.

“These people are very highly credentialed, very intelligent, very accomplished people, and they have an opinion that’s different from the mainstream narrative. I wanted to hear what their opinion is. I had them on,” he explained in a video, which received over 1.2 million likes, claiming that he is “just a person who sits down and talks to people.”