■GERMANY
People protest for privacy
Some 7,500 people demonstrated on Saturday in Berlin to express their concerns about personal data privacy as the government and private companies amass giant databases, organizers said. Called out by numerous civic organizations and political parties under the banner of “Liberty Instead of Fear!,” the protesters denounced a government database that will collect information on wages, taxes and social payments. They also protested against electronic passports, electronic health insurance cards and an accord allowing the US to access EU banking information as part of anti-terror efforts. Personal and data privacy are sensitive issues for many Germans given their experiences under Nazi and communist dictatorships. Google’s Streetview, which lets users view panoramic street scenes, ran into strong opposition in the country, where many found it too intrusive. Eventually the company allowed people to block publication of images of their residences, the only country out of more than 30 where the service is available where users have such an option.
■GERMANY
East German activist dies
Baerbel Bohley, a prominent figure in the pro-democracy movement that helped end communist rule in the former East Germany, has died. She was 65. The Robert Havemann Society — a group set up by the New Forum movement that Bohley cofounded — said she died of cancer on Saturday. Bohley, a painter who endured harassment by East Germany’s secret police, and several others set up New Forum in September 1989. The group sought greater openness in East German society and meaningful elections. East Germany opened its heavily fortified border on Nov. 9, 1989, after mounting peaceful protests helped undermine the communist government. The two Germanys were reunited in October 1990.
■KOSOVO
Serbs, Albanians fight
Serbs and ethnic Albanians clashed late on Saturday in Kosovo’s flashpoint city of Mitrovica, stoning each other over the victory of Turkey against Serbia at the World Basketball Championship, an official said. The stoning lasted around 20 minutes and “there were no casualties reported so far.” Police spokesman Besim Hoti added that local and European police reacted promptly by placing themselves between the two sides in the ethnically divided city and “putting the situation under control.” The conflict broke out as a group of youngsters from the south and ethnic Albanian majority part of the city began celebrating the victory of Turkey against Serbia in the semi-final at the World Basketball Championship in Istanbul.
■BELGIUM
Sex bishop goes into hiding
The former bishop at the center of a child sexual abuse scandal announced on Saturday that he would leave the Trappist monastery where he had been living and go into hiding to contemplate his future. The former bishop of Bruges, Roger Vangheluwe, resigned in April after admitting he abused a boy, later revealed to be his nephew. The publicity surrounding the case prompted more than 200 people to come forward in a matter of days with accounts of abuse by priests, with cases stretching back several decades. In a statement released on Saturday, Vangheluwe again admitted guilt and asked for forgiveness. He said he would reflect on his future “somewhere hidden, outside the diocese of Bruges.”
■UNITED STATES
Igor becomes hurricane
Tropical Storm Igor strengthened into a hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday and was expected to gain power as it moved west, but posed no immediate threat to land or energy interests. The National Hurricane Center said Igor, the fourth hurricane of this year’s Atlantic season, had top sustained winds of 120kph, making it a Category 1 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale. Computer models projected Igor would stay in the Atlantic for the coming days and not enter the Gulf of Mexico, where oil and gas operations are clustered.
■COLOMBIA
Military to ‘redouble’ effort
President Juan Manuel Santos said on Saturday he would “redouble” the military’s offensive against leftist guerillas after an attack killed 40 police and military officers. Rebel groups have launched a string of deadly attacks in recent weeks following the inauguration of Santos, a former defense minister who has promised to keep pressure on the insurgents. “We have decided to intensify the offensive ... so that these criminals do not have time to plan their operations,” Santos said. Eight police officers were killed on Friday near the border with Ecuador in a shootout with members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia which tried to take over San Miguel town in Putumayo Province. Santos has rejected a rebel offer of peace talks, calling for them to first free hostages and stop recruiting minors.
■UNITED STATES
Governor mulls expo bid
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said during a visit yesterday to the Shanghai Expo that his state would bid to host the 2020 World Expo in Silicon Valley. “As the hub of innovation, Silicon Valley is the most natural place to hold the expo, which will promote the international exchange of ideas, create jobs and increase revenues in our state,” Schwarzenegger said. A formal hosting application will be submitted next year, with a decision expected in 2012. The governor is traveling with a delegation of nearly 100 leaders from sectors including technology, tourism and entertainment. He vowed before the trip to act as a “salesman-in-chief” for California in a bid to better tap growing Asian markets like China.
■UNITED STATES
‘Jaws’ crowned burrito king
Competitive eater Joey Chestnut is now king of the burrito. Chestnut, also known as “Jaws,” downed 47 burritos in 10 minutes at the New Mexico State Fair in Albuquerque on Saturday, beating the previous record of 33, for a cash prize of US$1,500. The burritos in the Garcia’s World Burrito Eating Championship were stuffed with beef, beans and the state’s famous green chili. The event is sanctioned by the Major League Eating International Federation of Competitive Eating, the world body that oversees all international professional eating contests.
■BRAZIL
Workers saved from slavery
Authorities say they have rescued nearly 100 workers who were allegedly living in slave-like conditions in sugarcane fields in the country’s southeast. The official Agencia Brasil news service says the workers in Rio de Janeiro state were not registered and did not have access to drinking water, protective gear or appropriate eating facilities. The news service’s report on Friday said 50 other workers at a strawberry farm in Minas Gerais state were also rescued from the same conditions. The employers will be fined.
‘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
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
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in