WASHINGTON (AFP) -- A U.S. federal judge struck down the Covid-19 mask mandate for public transportation imposed by the administration of President Joe Biden, prompting major airlines to quickly drop the requirement. U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle of the Middle District of Florida said the mask mandate exceeds the statutory authority of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The mandate requiring face masks on airplanes, subways, trains, buses, taxis and other forms of public transportation was recently extended by the CDC until May 3 amid a rise in coronavirus cases. U.S. airlines and a number of Republican lawmakers have called for an end to the mask mandate, which was issued by the CDC on February 3, 2021, shortly after Biden took office. In light of the decision, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which runs security at airports, will not enforce directives “requiring mask use on public transportation and transportation hubs at this time,” an administration official said.

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LONDON (Reuters) -- British police arrested a man armed with a knife who confronted two Ministry of Defense police officers near Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s official residence in central London. Police cordoned off Whitehall, which is home to several government departments including the Foreign Office and Ministry of Defense and leads to Johnson’s Downing Street office and residence, for several hours but it was later reopened. An investigation was launched following the incident at Horse Guards Parade, a ceremonial parade ground which overlooks St James’s Park, police said. “At around 08:50hrs, a 29-year-old man, who was armed with a knife, confronted two Ministry of Defense Police officers. Taser was deployed and the man was restrained by officers. There were no reports of any injuries,” London’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement. “He was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and possession of an offensive weapon and remains in custody at a central London police station. The incident is not being treated as terror-related.”

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Elon Musk took a swipe at the board of Twitter after the social media company adopted a “poison pill” to protect itself from the second-biggest shareholder’s $43 billion cash buyout offer. “Board salary will be $0 if my bid succeeds, so that’s $3M/year saved right there,” Musk tweeted in response to a user’s post criticizing the board. Musk, a self-described “free speech absolutist” who has been critical of Twitter’s policies, did not elaborate on the tweet. Continuing his tirade against the company, Musk had launched a poll on Thursday asking his 80 million followers if “taking Twitter private at $54.20 should be up to shareholders, not the board”, to which a large majority responded “Yes”. Later, the Tesla chief executive also tweeted “Love Me Tender”, an Elvis Presley song, after Twitter opted a plan to sell shares at a discount to prevent any attempt by shareholders to amass a stake of more than 15%. Musk currently has a 9.1% stake.

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DURBAN, South Africa (AFP) -- South African President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national state of disaster over the deadly floods on the east coast, warning that rebuilding even basic services will take time. “This is a humanitarian disaster that calls for a massive and urgent relief effort,” he said in a televised address. “The lives, health and well-being of thousands of people are still at risk.” At least 443 people have died, with 48 still missing, around the east coast city of Durban, the president said. Some badly damaged areas remain inaccessible, he added, including 16 schools that are completely cut off.

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BUNIA, DR Congo (AFP) -- Two drunken Congolese soldiers have gunned down a total of 15 people in separate attacks in volatile eastern DR Congo, authorities said. One “inebriated” soldier killed eight passengers and wounded seven aboard a boat on Lake Tanganyika, South-Kivu province’s Fizi territory administrator Aime Kawaya Mutipula told AFP. “Among the victims, all of them civilians, are men, women and children,” he said. Local army spokesman Marc Elongo said the soldier, Lukusa Kabamba, was then “lynched” by angry residents before he could be arrested and died from his injuries. Local civil society group coordinator Andre Byadunia had earlier said the soldier had been “locked up” and urged “the authorities to put him on trial and sentence him”. On Sunday, another soldier shot dead the bodyguard of a colonel before killing the colonel and five civilians at Bambu, in Djugu territory, the local authorities announced in Ituri province.

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DILI, East Timor (AFP) -- People across East Timor went to the polls on Tuesday to choose either a Nobel laureate or a former guerrilla fighter -- the incumbent president -- as their next leader. Frontrunner Jose Ramos-Horta has pledged to break a longstanding deadlock between the two main political parties in Southeast Asia’s youngest country should he win the run-off election against President Francisco “Lu-Olo” Guterres. Both candidates have pledged to respect the election results regardless of the outcome. The poll is a rematch of a 2007 election won handily by Ramos-Horta, a former revolutionary hero. Nearly 860,000 of East Timor’s 1.3 million citizens are eligible to vote, and ballot counting could take several days. Ramos-Horta was dominant in the election’s first round on March 19, winning 46 percent of votes versus President Francisco “Lu-Olo” Guterres’ 22 percent, but failed to secure the needed majority.