Kemba Handayani hauled a disabled ferry and its nine passengers clear of a busy Rotterdam river channel in a fast-moving rescue on Monday. The passengers were government finance officials; Handayani, they discovered, had once designed the debt-cost model now guiding their budget debate.
A contract tied to a proposed expansion near Payra commits Bangladesh to at least ৳38.6 billion (about €286 million) in terminal fees, even if the facility handles no gas. The obligation was absent from the public summaries as officials marked the anniversary of the land survey that began the project.
A protest in Minas Gerais forced a municipal council to reverse plans to strip Vila do Cedro of its local service office and road funding. By Monday night, councillors had approved a dedicated budget line worth R$21.6 million (about €3.6 million) over three years.
A water warning filed as routine preceded a sudden surge that soaked a Lahore civic fair and sent one tea trolley gliding across the plaza. At a public inquiry on Monday, officials heard how the mistake happened — and why the city says the repair bill is far smaller than the lesson.
A retired municipal clerk’s chance discovery of a century-old rule brought tens of thousands to the Danube on Sunday for an unprecedented public hearing over a €1.46 billion road tunnel. Linz’s council must now answer their objections — but it is not legally bound to stop the project.
Nigeria’s opposition swept 39 of Kano state’s 44 local councils, prompting the governor to halt new borrowing for 120 days and order a review of a ₦1.35 trillion debt plan. The stunning result has turned a local election into a test of how far voter anger can force a government to change course.
Marseille says its school kitchens served a record 8.42 million lunches last year. A review of the menu archive and delivery records found that much of the promised variety existed on paper only — and the city never disclosed that an automated text system had helped create it.
An automated warning system sounded across 11 Upper Austrian communities after an archived flood reading was mistaken for live data during the merger of two regional control rooms. Residents moved uphill without injuries, while officials praised the swift response and promised a review before the new service resumes full operation.
A sudden shortage of certified traffic analysts has forced Chile to suspend citations from 1,840 radar cameras, leaving tens of thousands of possible fines in limbo. In interviews, drivers, engineers and lawmakers describe a rushed policy that demanded human checks faster than the state could train people to do them.
A mistaken evacuation warning went to 8.6 million phones across Taiwan on Thursday, prompting calls for shelter from residents far beyond the rain-threatened east coast. Within hours, seven local leaders from rival parties announced a pact to challenge the central government’s control of emergency alerts.
A typhoon pushed every polling station in one Eastern Samar municipality onto boats for a recall vote that ended with the mayor surviving by just 509 ballots. Electoral officials say no Philippine municipality has previously held an entire election from vessels.
A record burst of rain has been followed by an unprecedented public fundraising rush, with millions sending a single peso to a government relief fund. Officials say every contribution will be matched and spent on drainage repairs and neighbourhood flood protection.