SURINAME
Seven killed in mine
Seven men were killed and two seriously injured when the sand walls of a gold mine collapsed at Money Hill, about 150km southeast of the capital, Paramaribo, police said on Sunday. Police inspector Bertrand Riedewald said the accident occurred late on Saturday when a mudslide eroded the open pit’s 20m walls and buried the miners, who were mainly from the indigenous Maroon community. “Three miners were able to escape during the collapsing, while two survivors got severely injured and were taken for medical treatment to the hospital,” Riedewald said. The mine belongs to the Surgold concession, a joint venture between US-based multinationals Alcoa and Newmont. The seven bodies were recovered early on Sunday, after the removal of dirt and debris.
IRAQ
TV reporter shot to death
Police say gunmen stormed the home of a TV reporter and shot him to death in front of his parents in Mosul. Eighteen-year-old Mazin Mardan was the third employee of the al-Mousiliyah satellite channel to be killed by insurgents. A hospital official in the city confirmed the slaying. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media. Reporters Without Borders says at least 230 media workers have been killed in the country since 2003.
UNITED STATES
Mrs Bush not high on Palin
Former first lady Barbara Bush doesn’t appear to think much of Sarah Palin’s White House aspirations, saying the former Alaska governor should stick to her home state. In an interview with CNN’s Larry King that was to air yesterday, Bush said she sat next to Palin once and “thought she was beautiful.” The outspoken wife of former president George H.W. Bush said Palin, who is considering a presidential run in 2012, seems “very happy in Alaska” but then added, “I hope she’ll stay there.”
UNITED STATES
St Louis heads wrong list
A national study found that St Louis overtook Camden, New Jersey, as the nation’s most dangerous city last year. The study released on Sunday by CQ Press found St Louis had 2,070.1 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, compared with a national average of 429.4. That helped St Louis beat out Camden, which topped last year’s list and was the most dangerous city for 2003 and 2004. Detroit, Flint, Michigan, and Oakland, California, rounded out the top five. For the second straight year, the safest city with more than 75,000 residents was Colonie, New York. The annual rankings are based on population figures and crime data compiled by the FBI.
MEXICO
Former governor killed
A group of gunmen opened fire on former Colima state governor Silverio Cavazos outside his home on Sunday, killing him in an attack that also wounded his wife, state authorities said. Rescue workers rushed to the scene after the gunmen shot at the couple as they left their home, the state prosecutor’s office said. They were taken to hospital where Cavazos died and his wife was in serious condition, it added. Cavazos finished his gubernatorial term in the Pacific coast state a year ago. President Felipe Calderon voiced a “strong condemnation” of the murder, in a statement from his office. Politicians current and former increasingly have been targeted. A candidate for governor of Tamaulipas state also was slain in June while campaigning. And at least 14 mayors have been murdered this year.
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
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