■THAILAND
Loud Russian wins contest
Short shrieks, high-pitched yelps, and drawn-out wails rang out at an international competition aimed at setting a new record for the loudest scream. Russian Sergey Savelyev chimed in at 116.8 decibels — roughly as loud as an ambulance siren — to win Saturday’s competition in the seaside town of Pattaya. His effort fell short of breaking the 129-decibel Guinness World Record for the loudest scream set in 2000 in London. “I was only getting warmed up,” said 33-year-old Savelyev, who said he would be back next year to compete in the competition hosted by Thailand’s Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum.
■INDONESIA
Small plane goes missing
A plane carrying 16 people disappeared in the eastern part of the country yesterday, an airline official said. The Twin Otter plane was on a commercial flight in the remote Papua region when it lost contact with ground officials, said Captain Nikmatullah, the tor of operations of the airline operating the plane, Merpati Nusantara. Nikmatullah, who goes by a single name, said no trace had been found of the plane more then four hours after it took off. The aircraft was carrying enough fuel to keep it in the air for three-and-a half hours, he told Metro TV station.
■PAKISTAN
Building collapse kills 23
Authorities say rescue crews have pulled the bodies of two more women from the rubble of a collapsed five-story building in Karachi, bringing the death toll to 23. Almost all the victims are women and children. Chief Fire Officer Ehtisham Uddin said the rescue operation was called off yesterday because all residents of the building had been accounted for. He said crews were working to remove the rubble. The building collapsed late on Friday in the congested downtown Lea Market neighborhood. Mayor Mohammad Dilawar said on Saturday the building apparently was weakened by heavy monsoon rains. Karachi, a city of more than 16 million people, has an aging infrastructure and a poor drainage system.
■CHINA
Two officials suspended
Authorities in Zhentou Township, Hunan Province, suspended two environment officials and detained a chemical plant boss after hundreds of residents protested, claiming the factory polluted a river and caused at least two deaths in the area, an official said yesterday. About 1,000 villagers gathered at government and police offices on Thursday to highlight what they say is deadly pollution being discharged from the Xianghe Chemical Factory in nearby Liuyang City, Xinhua news agency said on Saturday. The protesters said chemical waste from the factory pollutes the water that irrigates their rice and vegetable fields, a resident said in a telephone interview.
■PAKISTAN
CD shops bombed
Police said suspected militants have bombed four music shops selling CDs and cassettes in the northern part of the country. No injuries have been reported. Police officer Habibur Rahman said a time bomb planted outside the shops in the main market of Balakot, in a district next to the troubled Swat Valley, exploded early yesterday. A similar attack last Monday in another town in the same district damaged three CD shops and wounded two bystanders. In the past, bombings of CD stores have been blamed on pro-Taliban militants who consider music and movies un-Islamic.
■ISRAEL
Police hunting gunman
Hundreds of police officers were scouring the streets of Tel Aviv yesterday in a door-to-door manhunt for a gunman who opened fire on a gay youth club. A masked man entered a club for gay teens late on Saturday, pulled out a pistol and shot in all directions, killing two and injuring 11, four seriously, police said. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the man then holstered his pistol and fled the scene by foot to the busy streets of Tel Aviv. Nitzan Horowitz, Israel’s only openly gay lawmaker, said the attack had all the symptoms of a “hate crime.” “This is the worst attack ever against the gay community in Israel,” he said. “This act was a blind attack against innocent youths and I expect the authorities to exercise all means in apprehending the shooter.” Gays and lesbians enjoy great freedom and liberties in Israel.
■UNITED KINGDOM
Border agents embarrassed
The government says an illegal immigrant sneaked into the UK by smuggling himself aboard a bus full of British border agents. The Home Office said the man hid in the small space between the bus’ chassis and its fuel tank as it traveled through the Channel Tunnel from the French town of Coquelles to the English coastal town of Dover. The Daily Mail newspaper reported on Saturday that the bus carried at least 20 Border Agency staff, whose job it is to keep illegal immigrants out. The newspaper said the man was spotted dropping from the bus on to the road, but ran away before he could be caught. The Home Office said the man had not been caught.
■ITALY
Ancient skeleton discovered
A roughly 4,500-year-old skeleton of a man, probably a warrior killed by an arrow to the chest, has been discovered on a beach south of Rome, Italian police said. The well-preserved skeleton, dubbed “Nello,” was found during a routine flyover around areas of archeological interest in May that prompted police to probe a fissure in the ground. “We thought it was that of a Roman solider, but then the experts identified it as dating back to the third millennium BC,” said Raffaele Mancino, an official with the police division overseeing Italy’s cultural heritage. Six small vases were found buried alongside the skeleton, whose feet were missing.
■ZIMBABWE
Minister’s aide attacked
An aide of Zimbabwe’s finance minister and deputy leader of the former opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Tendai Biti, was attacked on Saturday at the minister’s residence, the party claimed. An MDC statement said soldiers “brutally assaulted” Howard Makonza, an aide of Biti. Makonza was taken to hospital for treatment. While an MDC official claimed they had lodged a police report, Wayne Bvudzijena, Zimbabwe police spokesperson, said he had not received any such report. “I am not aware of such an incident. Normally it is difficult for such a thing to happen as there is usually tight security at [a] minister’s residence,” Bvudzijena said.
■SOUTH AFRICA
Mandela guard kills himself
Police say an officer guarding former president Nelson Mandela’s home shot and killed himself outside the anti-apartheid leader’s Johannesburg house on Saturday. Police spokesman Sally De Beer said Mandela was at home at the time of the apparent suicide. She said Mandela was never in danger. The officer was assigned to guard the perimeter of the house and was not part of Mandela’s body guard.
■UNITED STATES
Father guilty in prayer death
A Wisconsin man accused of killing his 11-year-old diabetic daughter by praying instead of seeking medical care was found guilty on Saturday of second-degree reckless homicide. Dale Neumann, 47, was convicted in the death of his daughter, Madeline, from undiagnosed diabetes on March 23 last year Prosecutors contended he should have rushed the girl to a hospital because she couldn’t walk, talk, eat or drink. Madeline died on the floor of the family’s rural home as people surrounded her and prayed. An ambulance was called when she stopped breathing. Neumann declined comment as he left the courthouse. His wife Leilani Neumann, 41, was convicted on the same charge in the spring. Sentencing was set for Oct. 6 for for both parents, who face up to 25 years in prison.
■UNITED STATES
Clarcon products seized
The US Marshals Service have seized all skin sanitizers and skin protectants, including ingredients, at Clarcon Biological Chemistry Laboratory’s facility in Roy, Utah, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said. The agency warned the public on Saturday not to use any Clarcon products because they contain harmful bacteria and are promoted as antimicrobial agents that claim to treat open wounds, damaged skin and protect against various infectious diseases. Clarcon voluntarily recalled the affected products, marketed under several different brand names, in June, following an FDA inspection that revealed high levels of potentially disease-causing bacteria in the products. The inspection also uncovered serious deviations from the FDA’s regulations
■CANADA
Storm kills one at festival
One person was killed and at least 40 were injured after a storm whipped through an outdoor country music festival, causing a stage to collapse in Camrose, east of Edmonton, around 6pm on Saturday. “The concert at Big Valley Jamboree was delayed and the concert bowl was being cleared when a small portion of the main stage collapsed,” Camrose Police Chief Darrell Kambeitz told the Canadian Press. He said reports of dozens of people being trapped at the site weren’t true. The four-day festival began on Thursday. There was no word on whether yesterday’s performances would go ahead.
■UNITED STATES
Blind drivers go for a spin
Twenty blind people were able to get behind the wheel of a new high-tech vehicle designed by Virginia Tech engineering students. They took turns maneuvering the dune buggy on Friday in a University of Maryland parking lot. The test drive capped a National Federation for the Blind summer camp for 200 blind youth. Virginia Tech was the only university to take on a 2004 challenge from the federation to build a vehicle that could let blind people drive. The buggy they designed uses a laser sensor to figure out the road ahead. A special vibrating vest worn by drivers communicates speed and warns when to stop. And a headset relays voice commands signaling which way to turn.
■BRAZIL
Psychologist reprimanded
A psychologist has been publicly reprimanded by her profession for suggesting she could cure homosexuals of their “illness,” the Federal Psychology Council said on Saturday. Rozangela Alves Justino, a therapist in Rio de Janeiro, was allowed to continue to practice but barred from continuing to make claims that homosexuality was provoked by childhood trauma. She has said she will appeal the council’s decision.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
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
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