FRANCE
Gunman wounds 10 at club
Ten people were injured in the early hours of yesterday when an armed man opened fire at a nightclub after being refused entry, police said. The injuries were not serious and the wounded were taken to hospital in nearby Cambrai, according to the armed gendarmerie police. “At around 4:30am, an individual, who was refused entry in the Vamos nightclub in Bertry, opened fire with a hunting weapon three times,” a police statement said. It was not immediately clear whether the shooting took place inside or outside the nightclub, but afterward the assailant fled in a stolen car. A manhunt for the assailant has been launched. The incident came a week after a gunman shot dead two people at a nightclub in Lille, in an apparent revenge attack after he was kicked out of the establishment. A cloakroom attendant and a 27-year-old customer were killed and another six people including the club bouncer were injured in that attack. A suspect and an accomplice were arrested in Spain on Friday.
SERBIA
Handshake creates outrage
A handshake between Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci and former president Boris Tadic has triggered outrage in the country. The two attended a summit of current and former regional leaders and EU officials in Dubrovnik, Croatia, on Saturday. Thaci, a former ethnic Albanian guerrilla commander who fought for Kosovo’s independence from Serbia in the late 1990s, and Tadic, who lost a presidential election against a nationalist opponent in May, shook hands during the summit. That was the first time the two met face-to-face since the 1998 to 1999 war.
FRANCE
War graves desecrated
The gravestones of 40 German soldiers from World War I have been desecrated at a military cemetery in the Ardennes region, the interior ministry said on Saturday. The announcement came on the eve of the 50th anniversary of renewed Franco-German relations after World War II. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in Berlin on Saturday that the reconciliation was one of the world’s most important. Merkel and President Francois Hollande were to attend a ceremony yesterday in the French city of Reims to celebrate their countries’ reconciliation, symbolically achieved on July 8, 1962. The desecration of the German graves happened in a cemetery some 40km east of the spot where the two leaders were to meet to celebrate their post-war ties. Interior Minister Manuel Valls strongly condemned the vandalism at the Saint-Etienne-a-Arnes cemetery. “An inquiry is underway and all means are being employed to find those responsible for this terrible desecration,” his ministry said in a statement.
SPAIN
Bull run injures one
Bulls thundered into and trampled several thrill-seeking runners as they raced down the dew-slicked cobblestone streets of Pamplona during the second day of the weeklong San Fermin bull-running festival, but officials say no one was gored. Ignacio Iribarren, a hospital spokesman, said that while many runners suffered minor cuts and bruises, only one person received medical treatment for a bruised back. The second San Fermin feast day is usually one of the most crowded and traditionally features bulls from the Miura breeding ranch, some of Spain’s largest and most fearsome fighting animals, and yesterday’s run was completed in a fast time of two minutes, 27 seconds. The festival in this northern city dates back to the late 16th century and is also known for its all-night street parties.
‘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