News in Brief 2024-05-06

Driver dies after ramming car
into White House gate
WASHINGTON, May 05: A driver died after crashing a car into the exterior gate of the White House late Saturday, the US Secret Service said. "Shortly before 10:30pm a vehicle traveling at a high speed collided with an outer perimeter gate on the White House complex," the service said in a statement on social media platform X, adding there was "no threat" to the White House itself. Officers arriving at the scene "attempted to render aid to the driver who was discovered deceased," the statement said. The Secret Service, along with the police and fire departments of the District of Columbia, have launched an investigation into the fatal crash, according to Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. He added there was "no threat or public safety implications". — AFP
Russia puts Zelensky on wanted list
MOSCOW, May 05: Russia has opened a criminal case against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and put him on a wanted list, the state news agency TASS reported on Saturday, an announcement Ukraine dismissed as evidence of Moscow's "desperation". TASS reported that the Russian Interior Ministry database showed Zelensky was on a wanted list but gave no further details. Ukraine's foreign ministry noted Russian President Vladimir Putin was himself subject to arrest under an International Criminal Court warrant. — Reuters
Sadiq Khan reelected as London mayor
LONDON, May 05: Sadiq Khan, the Labour Party's mayor of London, romped to victory Saturday, securing a record third straight term at City Hall, on another hugely disappointing day for the U.K.'s governing Conservatives ahead of a looming general election. Khan won a little over a million votes, or nearly 44% of the vote, more than 11 percentage points ahead of his main challenger, the Conservative Party's Susan Hall. His is the biggest individual mandate of any politician in the U.K. There had been frenzied speculation on Friday that the result would be closer than previously thought, but Khan's victory showed a swing from Conservative to Labour when compared with the previous mayoral election in 2021. — AP
Top Afghan diplomat in India quits
NEW DELHI, May 05: Afghanistan's top diplomat in India resigned days after she was reportedly caught by airport authorities smuggling nearly $2 million worth of gold into the country. Zakia Wardak, the Afghan Consul-General in India's financial capital Mumbai, posted a statement on social media platform X announcing her resignation. Afghanistan's embassy in New Delhi shut down in November, more than two years after the Taliban returned to power in Kabul. — AFP