Political tensions, Papal prayers, and a cosmic close call

• Several thousand people gathered in front of the Parliament of the Republika Srpska (an administrative part of Bosnia and Herzegovina) to express support for President Milorad Dodik. On Wednesday, the Bosnian court will issue a verdict on his alleged obstruction of decisions by the body responsible for peace implementation in BiH. The RS president compared the ongoing case against him to an attempt to prosecute the entire population of the Republika Srpska. "They couldn't put all of you in the courtroom, so they put me there," he said.

• For the second evening in a row, a rosary prayer was held on St. Peter's Square on Tuesday for the health of Pope Francis, who is staying at Rome's Gemelli Polyclinic. Believers and church dignitaries, including a group of cardinals, some considered critics of the current pontificate, attended the event. An evening medical statement reported that Francis's condition was critical but stable and that there were no acute respiratory crises.

• Due to a conflict between fishermen from Kenya and Ethiopia on Lake Turkana, over 30 people have died. The authorities of both countries confirmed the tragic reports. The incident occurred in Lopeimukat, near the mouth of the Omo River, where the border between these countries lies.

• According to the Balkan Insight portal on Tuesday, the authorities of North Macedonia will auction off assets worth approximately 42 million Canadian dollars. These assets previously belonged to former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, who fled to Hungary and was granted political asylum, and former counterintelligence chief Sasho Mijalkov, who is privately his cousin. Gruevski's seized assets include five apartments in Skopje and building plots in other parts of the country. Mijalkov's assets comprise 25 apartments, a plot in central Skopje, and other lands and commercial properties.

• Scientists from NASA and ESA have almost entirely ruled out the threat from asteroid 2024 YR4. Earlier, there were fears it might collide with Earth. The probability of such an event was as high as 3 percent. ESA has reduced this risk to 0.001 percent and NASA to 0.0027 percent.

• A 60-year-old man arrested by the police entered Thailand in 2000 with a 30-day tourist visa and has been staying in the country illegally for 23 years, according to the AFP agency. The previous record holder had more than half as lousy results. The British man, whose name was not disclosed, was caught in the northern province of Chiang Mai on Monday during an immigration operation targeting foreigners illegally extending their stay in the country.

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