■AFGHANISTAN
NATO soldier killed in blast
A bomb blast killed another NATO soldier in Afghanistan, making it the deadliest month for foreign forces fighting in the country since the 2001 US-led invasion, the military said yesterday. “An International Security Assistance Force service member was killed yesterday as a result of an Improvised Explosive Device strike in southern Afghanistan,” a statement that gave no details said. Another NATO soldier, a Canadian, was killed in fighting on the same day in southern Afghanistan, the military said from Ottawa. Thousands of US soldiers have pushed into the south, notably Helmand and Kandahar provinces, in one of the biggest operations in Afghanistan to quell Taliban strongholds in a bid to smooth key presidential elections next month.
■ISRAEL
Police set for more violence
Jerusalem police say they are standing by for more violence after a third straight night of street battles with ultra-Orthodox Jews enraged by the arrest of a mentally ill Hasidic woman who authorities said was starving her child. The woman was due to appear in court yesterday and the outcome could either defuse or further inflame tensions in the city. Police said that if her family and lawyers agree to a psychiatric evaluation she could be released quickly. They have so far refused and demand her unconditional release. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said 18 police officers were injured and 50 protesters were arrested during street battles overnight.
■RUSSIA
Missile self-destructs
The latest test of advanced submarine-launched ballistic missile Bulava has failed, with the missile self-destructing, the Defense Ministry said — another setback for the Russia’s efforts to upgrade its aging arsenal. The failure was the seventh in 11 test launches for the Bulava and could have consequences for top missile designers and missile force commanders. The Defense Ministry said in a statement on Thursday that the missile was fired the day before from the submarine Dmitry Donskoi, but its first-stage malfunctioned and the weapon self-destructed.
■PHILIPPINES
Molave brings floods
Overnight storms brought havoc to Manila yesterday, causing widespread flooding and forcing schools, offices and the country’s stock exchange to close, officials said. Heavy overnight rains forced all government offices to close and the suspension of elementary and high school classes in the capital and surrounding districts. The Philippine Stock Exchange suspended operations mid-morning “because of a lack of clearing facilities,” as the central bank had curtailed its activities because of the weather. Tropical Storm Molave off the north of Luzon island was reported to be packing maximum winds of 85kph at its center, with gusts of 100kph.
■FRANCE
Thieves steal baby gibbons
Thieves broke into a French zoo and snatched year-old twin baby gibbons after throwing their mother into the moat around their island home, the site’s manager said on Thursday. Keepers at the Frejus Zoological Park discovered what had happened on Tuesday morning after finding the female ape, 15-year-old Micha, soaking wet and in distress. “She was distraught,” zoo director Guy Mascheffa said after making a formal police complaint. “The babies are in danger of dying because any change in their diet can be fatal and provoke serious diarrhea.”
■MEXICO
Troops move into state
Authorities on Thursday ordered 5,500 federal police, soldiers and navy personnel to move into a gang-plagued western state following a cartel’s slaying of 20 officers and troops. Amid the violence, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton indicated on Thursday that the US is committed to the Merida Initiative, a US$1.4 billion funding package aimed at helping Mexico train and equip its anti-drug forces. Late on Thursday Mexican Interior Secretary Fernando Gomez Mont said the government was pouring 1,500 federal police officers, 2,500 soldiers and 1,500 navy personnel into Michoacan state, the home base for the La Familia cartel. Last weekend’s attacks by the cartel were a challenge to President Felipe Calderon, who has deployed thousands of soldiers and police across the country in an attempt to halt the escalating drug trade.
■UNITED STATES
Philanthropist digs deep
A Massachusetts philanthropist who lost most of his personal fortune in the Bernard Madoff scandal has paid US$5 million out of his own pocket to restore the retirement savings of employees who lost money in the multibillion dollar scam. Ronald Lappin on Wednesday made up for the lost savings of the 60 employees of his company, Shetland Properties Inc, and of his charity, the Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation, whose retirement plans were managed by Madoff. Lappin said his net worth is a 10th of what it was before the scandal.
■BRAZIL
UK garbage kicks up stink
Some 1,200 tonnes of British garbage, including toilet seats, dirty diapers and used syringes, is rotting at two southern ports after arriving in container ships. The trash, which arrived in Brazil earlier this year, was destined for Brazilian companies that said they were expecting shipments of recyclable plastic, officials say. Instead, port officials found the containers that originated at the British port of Felixstowe were packed with trash. Brazil’s federal prosecution office asked the foreign ministry on Thursday to request that Britain take back the shipments. “We will ask for the repatriation of this garbage,” said Roberto Messias, the president of Brazilian environment agency IBAMA. “Clearly, Brazil is not a big rubbish dump of the world.” The British Embassy said in a statement it was investigating the case and would “not hesitate to act” if it was found that a company had violated the Basel Convention on the movement of hazardous waste.
■UNITED STATES
Gene causes stubby legs
The stubby legs of dachshunds, corgis and 17 other breeds stem from the mutation of a single gene early in the evolution of domestic dogs, a study published on Thursday has found. The genetic mutation which produces disproportionately short limbs is distinct from the trait that makes toy breeds like the Chihuahua so small and is believed to have occurred some time after the ancestor of modern dogs diverged from wolves.
■UNITED STATES
Jacko portrait for sale again
An Andy Warhol portrait of Michael Jackson is back on the auction block at a New York art gallery. The Vered Gallery in East Hampton, removed the painting from a sale that closed on Sunday. Gallery co-owner Janet Lehr said on Thursday it is now available again. The painting shows Jackson in the 1980s. Because of renewed interest in all things Jackson since his death, Lehr said it was anyone’s guess how much the painting might fetch.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese