The fire knocked out electricity and propulsion on the destroyer, one of the officials told CBS News, speaking under condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly. It was contained to one piece of equipment, and the flames didn’t spread. No injuries to U.S. service members had been reported as of Wednesday. Details of how the fire started and the exact location of the Higgins in the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) were not readily available. Details regarding what sections of the ship were damaged and how long it will take to repair were also not available.

The Higgins was ported in Singapore as of February, according to AIS Marine vessel data. A defense department official said in a statement: “An electrical fire occurred aboard the USS Higgins while at sea in the Indo-Pacific. The fire was immediately extinguished by the crew, and there are no reported injuries. The situation is under control, and the ship is currently underway. The cause is under investigation.” The U.S. Navy classified it as an “electrical casualty,” which means it wasn’t a large fire but a short circuit in one the ship’s generators.

Earlier this month, a small fire broke out on the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, injuring eight U.S. Navy sailors, the U.S. Naval Institute reported. Separately, a fire broke out in the laundry spaces aboard the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, injuring two sailors. The Ford and its accompanying strike group are expected to leave the Middle East in the coming days, a U.S. official confirmed to CBS News on Wednesday. The Ford was one of three carriers operating in the region. The Higgins, homeported in Yokosuka, Japan, is part of the Navy’s forward deployed forces assigned to the 7th Fleet — a key component of the United States Indo-Pacific Command, which oversees American military operations across more than half the globe. The ship is named after Marine Col. William Higgins, a veteran of the Vietnam war, who was part of a United Nations peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon when he was kidnapped in Feb. 1988 by Hezbollah-linked militants. Higgins was tortured, interrogated and then was murdered. He was promoted to his current rank while in captivity. Higgins’ remains were found on a Beirut street in Dec. 1991.

Cool winds are blowing between Beijing and Esplanaden these days. Since Maersk’s port operator, APM Terminals, took over operations at the key port of Balboa in the Panama Canal earlier this year following the ousting of Singapore-based CK Hutchison, China has turned its heavy artillery on the Danish shipping group. Had Maersk foreseen how China would react to the shipping group’s entry into the Balboa port in Panama, the top management of the Danish shipping company would probably have thought twice before putting pen to paper.

lol. lmao. actions have consequences? who knew!

That is the assessment of several analysts and individuals familiar with the matter whom ShippingWatch has spoken with. They also point out that the rifts in the relationship with Beijing could have serious consequences for the Danish shipping group’s business in China. “There is no doubt that if they feared Chinese reprisals by taking over the concession—and this applies to both MSC and Maersk—they would not have done it,” says Peter Sand, chief analyst at the research firm Xeneta. ShippingWatch spoke with a source with extensive knowledge of Maersk and its business in China, who wishes to remain anonymous due to their work. The source says that Maersk likely underestimated how strongly the Chinese would react to APM Terminals’ involvement in port operations at the Panama Canal and describes the Chinese response as “predictable.” Martin Jes Iversen, an associate professor and business historian at CBS, also believes that the strained relationship with China could end up hurting Maersk. “This is a precarious challenge that entails significant risk. This conflict could potentially harm Maersk’s Chinese relations and its revenue from China,” he tells ShippingWatch, but emphasizes that he believes there is more at stake in terms of security policy and relations than for Maersk’s bottom line. Maersk has declined to comment on the matter to ShippingWatch.

A proxy war with Clerc and Aponte at the helm

In January, Maersk and the world’s largest container shipping company, MSC, signed agreements with Panama to operate the two key ports of Balboa and Cristóbal at opposite ends of the Panama Canal. The ports had otherwise been under the control of the Singapore-based port company CK Hutchison since 1997 through its subsidiary Panama Ports Company. But after a major uproar, in which Donald Trump, among other things, accused China of controlling the Panama Canal, Panama’s Supreme Court revoked the concession with the Singapore-based company in January of this year, calling it “unconstitutional.” This has caused great frustration at both CK Hutchison and in Beijing, where top executives from the two container shipping companies were summoned to a meeting. Vincent Clerc, the CEO of Maersk, therefore met with China’s National Development and Reform Commission in Beijing at the end of March, where, according to the Financial Times, he was asked to immediately withdraw the Danish shipping group from the port of Balboa. MSC’s CEO, Diego Aponte, received the same message, though he did not attend in person. The meeting may have been a last-ditch attempt to reach an agreement without legal action, according to Max von Zedtwitz, a professor of strategy and international politics at Copenhagen Business School.

“The fact that Vincent Clerc was invited to China at all suggests that this visit may have been a last-ditch attempt to reach a non-aggressive agreement, and that Maersk was considering a deal,” he explains in a written response to ShippingWatch. “Apparently, this agreement did not materialize, or else the balance between pros and cons was not sufficiently convincing for Maersk,” he elaborates. Just a few weeks after the meeting, Panama Ports Company initiated arbitration proceedings against Maersk, but not against rival MSC. Maersk has rejected the claims in the case. At the same time, the Chinese shipping company Cosco and its subsidiary OOCL announced that they would no longer call at the Maersk-controlled port in Balboa. The boycott did not apply to the MSC-operated port of Cristóbal. The softer stance toward the competitor may be linked to MSC’s announcement last March that it would acquire CK Hutchison’s port business in a consortium with the US firm Blackrock. The deal has since faced challenges, as China reportedly wants to be part of the consortium. Most recently, Bloomberg reported that the large Hong Kong-based conglomerate China Merchants Group is part of the negotiations. Thus, MSC remains at the negotiating table with Beijing.

Relations with China take a hit

Over the past year, the US and China have been locked in a geopolitical standoff over the Panama Canal, which handles approximately 5% of global trade annually. According to the anonymous source with extensive knowledge of Maersk and its business in China, Maersk now risks being caught between the US and China in the escalating superpower conflict. The source points out that China has historically been willing to exert significant pressure on both Denmark and Maersk when political interests are at stake, citing, among other things, previous incidents where Maersk was summoned to meetings with Chinese authorities following diplomatic conflicts between Copenhagen and Beijing. Peter Sand specifically highlights Maersk’s extensive lobbying efforts to change China’s cabotage rules as a potential lever China could use to twist Maersk’s arm. In 2022, the rules were successfully amended so that it was no longer only Chinese shipping companies that were allowed to sail domestically between Chinese ports, and since then, Maersk has played a significant role in the transport sector. “It was undeniably a feather in Maersk’s cap that they were allowed to participate in this cabotage shipping as one of only a few companies. Therefore, it would also be naive to believe that China will stick to this if the relationship between Maersk and China does not improve,” Sand tells ShippingWatch.

Martin Jes Iversen is more optimistic when it comes to any potential reprisals that might come from Beijing. “I am confident that Maersk has the capabilities to navigate this. They’ve been operating there for many years, they know the people, and they have expertise in the Chinese system, but also in relation to the US market,” he says, but adds: “I don’t see any easy fix for this. It’s a sensitive process in a challenging geopolitical situation that reflects major-power rivalry rather than multilateral cooperation.” The situation draws parallels to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, points out Martin Jes Iversen, where most shipping companies were forced to take a stance on sailing to Russian ports. “Shipping companies and businesses can no longer remain neutral. Of course, it’s attractive, but dilemmas arise where it is no longer possible. That’s when it gets really difficult. We saw this, for example, with the war between Russia and Ukraine, where companies were forced to take a stand,” he explains.

An ace up the sleeve

If the relationship between China and the world’s two largest shipping companies cracks, it could hurt business, points out Mikkel Emil Jensen, a shipping analyst at Sydbank. “There’s no doubt that in container shipping, China is the worst player to fall out with. It’s absolutely crucial,” he tells ShippingWatch. “China could certainly step in and ruin Maersk and MSC’s ability to sail into ports or limit their opportunities for cabotage trade. But that could have major consequences for China, as it would alienate the West.” One must be careful not to underestimate the power Maersk and MSC wield at the negotiating table with China, the analyst points out. “It would be one thing if we were talking about a small shipping company. These are the world’s two largest container shipping companies, which account for a very large share of the market and freight out of China, so this isn’t something you just do on a whim,” he says.

Workers of the world, its free people, and its rising nations, unite in the face of American imperialism and “israeli” fascism.

On International Workers’ Day, 01/05/2026, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine issued an appeal calling on the workers of the world, its free people, and its rising nations to unite in the face of savage American imperialism and “israeli” fascism, in their unholy alliance to ignite wars in the world, sow chaos and turmoil in its parts, plunder the wealth of its peoples, dismantle and reconfigure its political systems, and use fascist force as a means to achieve their colonial goals, including returning to the brutal methods of past centuries, torpedoing international legitimacy resolutions, disrupting the system of international institutions and organizations, and working to fabricate alternative alliances and frameworks, leading to threatening world peace, depriving peoples of their right to build their national state, their independent economy, and developing their ability and energies to build generations for a prosperous future, which leads to destroying what millions of workers have built with their arms and minds, impoverishing peoples and destroying civilization to be replaced by policies of racial discrimination, class oppression, the culture of savagery, and genocide, wasting human energies and natural resources in the service of ruin, spreading diseases and epidemics, and threatening the future of the planet.

The Democratic Front said in its statement: Perhaps what is happening in Palestine constitutes a model for the atrocities committed by the savage American-“israeli” alliance, as it has led to inflicting total destruction on the Gaza Strip, including the destruction of the health, environmental, educational, pedagogical, and food systems, in an attempt to return the Strip to the Stone Age and erase its existence from the map, through the war of genocide that has claimed the lives of more than 80,000 victims, 70% of whom are children, women, nursing mothers, and pregnant women, and the occurrence of more than 180,000 wounded and injured, more than 18,000 of whom are threatened with death due to the lack of necessary treatment, in light of an ongoing siege that has made the specter of hunger ever-present in threatening the survivors of the war, and whose existence on their land is still threatened by mass displacement projects.

The war of genocide and the destruction of nature in the Gaza Strip have led to the destruction of what the workers of the Strip, its sons, and its scientists have built with their arms, minds, and initiatives, armed with a civilized culture that constitutes in its presence a condemnation of the culture of “israeli” fascism that feeds on force, the force of killing and destruction, the extermination of others, and the looting of their lands, as is happening in the Strip, southern Lebanon, southern Syria, and its occupied Golan.

The Democratic Front confirmed in its statement: In the West Bank, the nature of the savage and fascist “israeli” project is also clearly manifested in starving more than 250,000 Palestinian workers who are living in a state of deadly unemployment, and the looting of clearance funds, and depriving the Palestinian people of them, which has led to inflicting severe damage to the Palestinian economy and its deadly repercussions on tens of thousands of workers, day laborers, those with limited income, and the masses of employees, reaching the point of threatening the banking system in the West Bank, which is threatened with collapse.

The Democratic Front emphasized that the Palestinian scene constitutes a very clear picture that summarizes the ongoing conflict in the world between the alliance of savage American imperialism and “israeli” fascism on one side, and the rising peoples looking forward to developing their national identity, culture, civilization, and democracy, and their keenness on security, stability, prosperity, and building a bright future for all of humanity. In this context, the Democratic Front renews its appeal to the workers of the world, its free people, and its rising nations, to unite in the face of savage American imperialism and “israeli” fascism on global, popular, and official fronts, in the face of ethnic cleansing, racial discrimination, and policies of imposing sieges on peoples as a tool to achieve colonial ends, and to oppose wars and hostile acts, and to safeguard the legitimate rights of peoples to freedom, self-determination, the establishment of their national state, and the enjoyment of their national resources and wealth under the roof of social justice, democracy, and respect for the civilizations and cultures of others.

Central Media 30/04/2026

Former president will be admitted to the DF Star Hospital, in Asa Sul, Brasília this Friday (1st) for a shoulder procedure.

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes has authorized former President Jair Bolsonaro to be admitted to the DF Star Hospital in Brasília, starting this Friday (May 1st), for surgery on his right shoulder. The politician has been under house arrest since March due to health problems.

Sentenced to 27 years in prison for attempted coup d’état and other crimes, Bolsonaro was being held at the Federal Penitentiary in the Papuda Penitentiary Complex in São Sebastião, in the Federal District. However, after presenting serious health problems, the judge granted a request from his defense for hospitalization, and later, to serve his sentence at home, pending further medical evaluation.

According to new documents sent to the Supreme Court, Bolsonaro is experiencing persistent shoulder pain, which continues even with the use of analgesics. A medical report indicates a high-grade tear in the supraspinatus tendon. In previous hospitalizations, Bolsonaro underwent surgical procedures on his intestine and treatment for bilateral pneumonia.

The new surgery is expected to prolong the time the former president will spend at home. Initially, Moraes stated that his health status should be reassessed within 90 days. However, this timeframe may be extended, according to information provided by medical teams and submitted to the court by his lawyers.

The rejection of the name of the Attorney General of the Union (AGU), Jorge Messias , for the vacancy of minister of the Supreme Federal Court (STF) by the Senate this Wednesday (29) widens the confrontation between Congress and the Supreme Court and weakens the STF, assesses the lawyer and political scientist Jorge Folena.

“Regardless of whether the defeat is that of the President of the Republic, which it ultimately is, and also of the government and the party, this defeat is signaling a shift in the Senate’s stance against the Supreme Court,” said Folena. “It’s an institutional act of spite, amplifying a crisis.”

By no longer having an 11th judge to make decisions, the Supreme Court has a vacuum that hinders the court’s own activities. Folena recalls that Messias knew the importance of minimizing conflict and spent a good part of the eight hours of questioning at the Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ) talking about the importance of independence between the two branches of government.

According to the lawyer, the president of the Senate, Davi Alcolumbre (União Brasil – AP), is “the great maestro” of the defeat. Folena believes that the confrontation will continue on Thursday (30), when the National Congress will decide on the veto by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) on the Dosimetry Bill , which reduces the sentences for those convicted for the coup acts of January 8, 2023.

“Alcolumbre strengthens the fascists and the moralistic fascist wing, which includes people like Senators Alessandro Vieira (MDB-SE) and Sergio Moro (PL-PR),” he said, noting that the senator scheduled the votes one after the other.

The lawyer points out that Jorge Messias had all the qualifications for the position of Supreme Court Justice and compares him to Justice André Mendonça, who was nominated by former President Jair Bolsonaro. “They held the same position. Messias is from the same background as André Mendonça. It’s not due to a lack of technical or moral qualifications.” Mendonça, who is an evangelical Christian like Messias, had expressed his support for the Attorney General’s nomination.

According to the Constitution, senators must, in their vote, evaluate the candidate’s technical knowledge and unblemished reputation. “Was any act of impropriety demonstrated in her life at any point? No. Was it demonstrated that she lacks legal knowledge? No. Therefore, it was demonstrated that she has legal knowledge and an unblemished reputation. She should have been approved.”

The political scientist also questions the government’s strategy in the National Congress, which allegedly failed to identify the potential defeat. “They should have identified any opposing reasons, warned the president, and withdrawn the Messiah’s name, if necessary.”

According to him, this clash between Congress and the Supreme Court is nothing new. It began in 2016, with the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, and has been worsening over time. “This is bad for democracy.”

Lima, April 30 (Prensa Latina) The Peruvian Presidency denied today that the head of state engaged in anti-Semitism in a public speech that prompted a critical joint statement from the embassies of Germany and Israel.

An official statement specified that, at the celebratory event of the Lima Chamber of Commerce, the president made, among other concepts, a quote from the book “The Enemies of Commerce” by Antonio Escohotado, in which he gives his opinion on European commercial and economic development, and on German Jews in the context of the Second World War.

“The President of the Republic regrets that these statements have generated a mistaken perception about the Jewish people in the context of the beginning of World War II,” the text says.

He adds that the Peruvian State has consistently maintained that Nazism was the cause of that war and was responsible for the unforgivable genocide of the Jewish people.

“This historic position, which led Peru to firmly support the creation of the State of Israel, remains unchanged,” he adds.

It states that the Peruvian president “expresses his strongest rejection of the genocide committed against the Jewish people in the context of World War II, reiterates his condemnation of anti-Semitism and all forms of discrimination, and expresses his solidarity with the victims of the Holocaust.”