AFGHANISTAN
Two die in bomb blast
A bomb hidden in a scrap metal shop blew up in a market in Helmand Province yesterday killing two civilians, officials said. The early morning blast in the town of Gereshk killed the shopkeeper and a child sitting in a car parked outside the store, deputy provincial police chief Kamaluddin Sherzad said. Four people were wounded in the explosion. The attack is the second in as many days in Gereshk. On Sunday, gunmen killed community council member Jan Mohammad Khan in the town’s market, the Helmand governor’s office said in a statement.
PHILIPPINES
Families demand apology
Victims’ families and survivors of last year’s hostage drama that left eight Hong Kong tourists and their attacker dead in a botched police rescue say they are still awaiting an apology and compensation. A weeping mother of a slain tourist guide told reporters in Manila yesterday that “the Philippine government has not done anything.” Lee Ying-chuen, who was wounded when the dismissed policeman opened fire as police stormed the bus he had hijacked, said the families are angry because the government has failed to apologize directly. Spokesman Edwin Lacierda says the government has apologized on numerous occasions.
CHINA
Eleven dead in Xinjiang
Vinegar tainted with antifreeze is suspected of killing 11 people and sickening 120 after a communal Ramadan meal in Xinjiang. Investigators suspect the victims consumed vinegar put in two plastic barrels that had previously been used to store antifreeze, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday. It said the mass food poisoning occurred on Saturday night in a village close to Hotan City. Xinhua said children as young as six were among the dead. Authorities were still testing to confirm the source of the poisoning, it said.
CHINA
Biden eatery draws crowds
Diners are flocking to a restaurant in Beijing whose house specialty is pig intestines in soup after US Vice President Joe Biden lunched there last week, the Global Times reported yesterday. Biden took time out from official talks in Beijng to eat at the small, family-run eatery, earning plaudits from netizens and headlines in state-run newspapers praising his “noodle diplomacy.” Since then, lines have formed outside the restaurant and people have traveled from around China to sample the “vice president’s meal” — pork buns, noodles and cucumbers — the English-language newspaper reported. The restaurant, called the Yaoji Chaogan, said it had no plans to make the meal a regular menu item, although customers have been demanding it.
PHILIPPINES
Public asked to use coins
The central bank is appealing to the public to stop hoarding coins, saying the habit is forcing it to mint more money at a high cost. Deputy bank Governor Diwa Guinigundo lamented on Sunday a shortage of coins in the country and noted that some people illegally drill holes in coins and use them instead of more costly tokens for video games. He said other people keep change and later give it to charities. The hoarding is hurting monetary authorities, who have to spend at least 2 pesos (US$0.4) for every coin that is not used. He said the central bank would save hundreds of millions of pesos if there were more coins in circulation.
CANADA
Tornado ruins Ontario town
A powerful tornado on Sunday swept through Goderich, Ontario, killing one person and causing severe devastation in the picturesque community on the shores of Lake Huron. It was the most powerful tornado to hit Ontario in years, officials said. Downtown businesses, century--old buildings and several churches lost their roofs and upper floors as the twister ripped through the town. Images showed downed power lines, trees and debris strewn across streets, while witnesses described cars being picked up and thrown like toys. Police identified the victim as Norman Laberge, 61, of Lucknow, Ontario, who was working in a salt mine in the town when the storm hit. Randy Mawson of Environment Canada said the town was battered by winds of up to 300kph.
RUSSIA
Supermarket bombed twice
Two strong blasts tore through a supermarket in the volatile Caucasus region of Dagestan, injuring 15 people including three children, regional police said yesterday. The first blast went off late on Sunday and wounded a sales clerk, the regional interior ministry said in a statement. The second struck when a Russian security team arrived on the scene. The ministry said 15 people, including three children, were hospitalized. Four of them were in a serious condition, a police spokesman in Dagestan said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
UNITED STATES
Irene roars into region
Tropical Storm Irene gained strength as it passed over Puerto Rico early yesterday and was officially declared a hurricane, US government forecasters said. The hurricane was packing sustained winds of 125kph, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said. Irene was expected to become even stronger as it moves north northwest at about 19kph, the center said. The storm was expected to dump as much as 25cm of rain on Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and 10cm to 18cm of rain on the Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
VENEZUELA
Chavez fans shave heads
Supporters of President Hugo Chavez shaved their heads in solidarity with their leader’s struggle against cancer on Sunday, as hundreds prayed and sang at a televised event. Barbers shaved off the hair of several men and at least one woman, while the crowd swayed to a religious song. Chavez, who shaved his head after starting to lose his hair due to chemotherapy, smiled and waved to the crowd. He returned from his second round of chemotherapy in Cuba on Aug. 14 and has said he may undergo a third round, without specifying a time frame.
UNITED KINGDOM
PM hangs Emin artwork
A new message is greeting visitors to the home of Prime Minister David Cameron: “More Passion.” The words, rendered in dazzling neon, are a work by artist Tracey Emin that is now hanging in 10 Downing St. Cameron’s office said on Sunday the work was installed last week in a busy hallway, above the door to the Terracotta Room. It stands in contrast to the oil paintings and portraits of former prime ministers elsewhere in the 300-year-old house. Emin was invited to install the neon sign by Cameron, a fan of her work. She has donated the piece to the Government Art Collection, a trove of more than 13,000 works by domestic artists from the 16th century onwards.
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