SWEDEN
Stockholm riots continue
Police say rioters in several suburban districts of Stockholm have burned two schools and 15 cars in the fifth straight night of unrest. Police spokesman Kjell Lindgren says 13 people, aged between 18 and 25, were detained in connection with the disturbances, which included an unsuccessful attempt to damage a police station. Lindgren said yesterday that the violence on Thursday night was less intense than previously and that the participants seemed less aggressive. The unrest was sparked by the police shooting of a knife-wielding man who had locked himself in his apartment.
CANADA
Fraud trial to move ahead
The nation’s high court on Thursday turned down a bid to quash fraud charges against a former Quebec lieutenant governor who claimed immunity as an agent of Queen Elizabeth II, Canada’s titular head of state. Lise Thibault was charged in 2009 with abuse of trust, forgery, uttering a forged document and fraud. She sought to have the charges set aside because “she was the representative of the Queen of England in Quebec and as such was not subject to the criminal justice system, in light of the principle that ‘the King can do no wrong,’” the court documents said. The charges stem from C$700,000 (US$680,000) in claimed travel, meal and other expenses during her 10-year term as lieutenant governor. A trial has been set for April next year.
BRAZIL
Abuse arrests announced
Federal police on Thursday said that nine people have been arrested on suspicion of sexually abusing Indian girls in the northern state of Amazonas. The force says two women and seven men in the city of Sao Gabriel da Cachoeira are in custody for the alleged sexual exploitation and abuse of Indian girls between the ages of 11 and 15. Federal police inspector Fabio Pessoa says investigators have identified 16 girls who were exploited by the group, but adds that more girls may have been victimized. Pessoa says the girls were offered money and food in exchange for sex.
FRANCE
DiCaprio jaunt a big draw
A trip to space with Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio raised 1.2 million euros (US$1.5 million) for charity at a glitzy fundraiser at the Cannes film festival on Thursday. At the 20th annual event organized by amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, DiCaprio emerged as the mystery guest to accompany the winner on a Virgin Galactic flight into space. Actress Sharon Stone said the winning bidder would spend three days in training with DiCaprio in New Mexico before blast-off. The bidding started at 1 million euros. The auction brochure said DiCaprio and the winning bidder would be among the first 1,000 people to leave the planet. The winner, Vasily Klyukin, 37, a Russian living in Monaco, said he had always wanted to go into space. The auction raised 25 million euros, more than double last year’s sum of 11 million euros.
NORWAY
Author sets talk record
Popular crime writer Hans Olav Lahlum set the world record for the longest interview on Thursday after spending more than 30 non-stop hours chatting in an online broadcast. Lahlum, who rarely paused for more than a few seconds, discussed topics ranging from US presidents to his fictional characters during the show hosted by VG Nett, the online arm of local tabloid VG. His record awaits approval from Guinness World Records.
‘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