NEWS OF THE DAY

_1 Congo election: President Trump says U.S. military personnel have deployed to Central Africa in advance of possible “violent demonstrations” in Congo over results of Sunday’s presidential election. Trump’s letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says about 80 military personnel and “appropriate combat equipment” deployed to nearby Gabon to support the security of U.S. citizens and staffers and diplomatic facilities in Congo. Trump’s letter says more military personnel will deploy as needed to Gabon, Congo or neighboring Republic of Congo. Election observers and the opposition have raised concerns about voting irregularities in last Sunday’s balloting. The first, partial results are expected Sunday.

_2 Thailand storm: Ferry services and airports reopened in southern Thailand on Saturday as a powerful storm moved west into the Andaman Sea after causing disruption and killing at least one person. Tropical Storm Pabuk barreled across the Gulf of Thailand on Friday, damaging houses, knocking down power lines and causing flash floods in several east coast provinces. On the island of Koh Samui, where the suspension of air and ferry services had trapped many visitors, lines were long Saturday for rides back to the mainland. Authorities prepared for the storm by evacuating almost 29,000 people in provinces most at risk.

_3 Brazil violence: The newly inaugurated government of President Jair Bolsonaro ordered military police sent to a violent northeastern state after a wave of attacks on banks, public buildings and vehicles. Camilo Santana, the governor of Ceara state, said 45 people had been arrested in connection with the dozens of attacks, which have hit 15 cities in the state, including the capital, Fortaleza. The attacks left the burned shells of cars and buses on streets and badly damaged the entrances to buildings. While authorities said the motive behind the attacks has not been confirmed, officials believe they were revenge for the recent announcement of tighter rules governing the state’s prisons and inmates. Brazil’s prison gangs are powerful and their reach extends outside the country’s penitentiaries. _4 Containers overboard: Swiss shipping company MSC pledged Saturday to pay the cost of cleaning up hundreds of containers one of its cargo vessels lost in a North Sea storm. The company said it is committed to finding and retrieving the containers that went overboard Wednesday “until the last one is found.” Authorities say two contained potentially hazardous materials. The MSC Zoe, one of the largest freight ships in the world, lost more than 270 containers as it sailed from Portugal to Germany. Dozens have since been spotted near islands off the coasts of Germany and the Netherlands or washed ashore. _5 Costly tuna: A 612-pound bluefin tuna sold for a record 333.6 million yen ($3 million) at the first auction of 2019, after Tokyo’s famed Tsukiji market was moved to a new site on the city’s waterfront. The winning bid for the prized but threatened species at the predawn auction Saturday was paid by Kiyomura Corp., whose owner, Kiyoshi Kimura, runs the Sushi Zanmai chain. Kimura has often won the annual auction in the past. The auction prices were far above usual for bluefin tuna. Japanese are the biggest consumers of the torpedo-shaped bluefin tuna, and surging consumption in Japan and overseas has led to overfishing of the species. Experts warn it faces possible extinction, with stocks of Pacific bluefin depleted by 96 percent from their preindustrial levels.