Chaos in Brasília, floods in Spain, GOP retains House control

• At least one person was killed in two explosions that occurred late Wednesday evening near the headquarters of Brazil's Federal Supreme Court in Brasília, the country's capital. Local authorities assessed it as a suicide bombing. The explosions took place at the Three Powers Plaza, where the Supreme Court, the Planalto Palace (the President's office), and the nearby Congress building are located. Local firefighters confirmed that a man was killed, but they did not disclose his identity.

• More than four thousand people were evacuated in Andalusia due to further floods caused by heavy rainfall. In Málaga and Valencia, the highest possible red alerts were issued. The internet is flooded with recordings, including ones showing residents assisting each other.

• At least 30 residents of Cuba were detained over the past week by special services during anti-government protests, which were sparked by restrictions on electricity supplies, independent Cuban media reported on Wednesday. Opposition activists reported that among those detained in recent hours is the well-known writer Jose Gabriel Barrenechea. According to police, he was leading a group of people participating in a protest in the town of Encrucijada, in the central part of the island. The writer has already been imprisoned in a facility in the city of Santa Clara. Also among those detained in recent days is the leader of the Cuban women's opposition organization Ladies in White, Berta Soler. Her whereabouts are unknown.

• Near the city of Dzhankoy in Russian-occupied Crimea, a road bridge collapsed over railway tracks on Wednesday. As a result, rail freight transport between Crimea and the Zaporizhzhia region is temporarily suspended, reported the Russian agency Tass.

• The Republican Party will maintain a majority and control in the U.S. House of Representatives, NBC and CNN reported on Wednesday, based on the results so far of the race for House seats. Republicans also decided on Wednesday to re-elect Mike Johnson as Speaker. According to forecasts by both television networks, Republicans have already secured the required majority of 218 seats, although not all electoral races have been decided, and it is uncertain what the margin of their control in the House will be. So far, the party has secured 218 seats, while Democrats have secured 208. The results of votes in nine districts, including in California and Alaska, are still undecided. In the current Congress, Republicans have 221 seats and may maintain that number or increase it by one vote. However, the situation may be complicated by appointments to Donald Trump’s cabinet, who has already announced the selection of three Republican congressmen, potentially reducing the Republican majority temporarily to minimal sizes.

• Former Bosnian Serb army general Radislav Krstić, sentenced by the Hague tribunal for aiding in the massacre in Srebrenica, admitted that genocide indeed took place there in 1995. This is the first time a Serbian participant in these events has described them using the term recognized by international jurisprudence. Convicted of war crimes and genocide, Krstić, one of the closest associates of the Serbian forces' commander Gen. Ratko Mladić, wrote this in a letter to the UN tribunal attached to his request for early release from prison, where he is serving a 35-year sentence. "I helped and supported genocide. I committed an unimaginable and unforgivable crime. I am not asking for forgiveness, I am not asking for justification, I am not asking for understanding because I know that I cannot and should not obtain it," wrote Krstić in a letter made available at his request by the United Nations Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT), to whom it was addressed.

Source: PAP, WP Wiadomości