UNITED KINGDOM
Military hands over bases
The military has handed over all but two of its remaining bases in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province to local forces as part of its planned full withdrawal by the end of the year, the Ministry of Defence announced on Sunday. In an operation lasting more than a month,the Lashkar Gah and Patrol Base Lashkar Gah Durai have been handed over to Afghan control. A third base, MOB Price, has also been closed, the ministry said in a statement. The military now has only two bases operational in Helmand — Camp Bastion, which serves as the main base for UK personnel, and Observation Post Sterga 2. At the height of the war, it had 137 bases in the area. “The handover and closure of our bases across Helmand underlines the progress UK Forces have made to increase security and stability across the province, but also to build up the capability of the Afghan forces who will carry that work forward,” British Secretary of State for Defence Philip Hammond said.
MEXICO
Security chief steps down
National Security Commissioner Manuel Mondragon has resigned, the interior minister said on Sunday, raising questions about the government’s strategy to stamp out organized crime. “I accepted the request by [Mondragon] to retire from the field,” Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong said on his Twitter account. It was not immediately clear why Mondragon was stepping down. Osorio Chong did not give an explanation, saying only that he would make the official announcement today and that Mondragon would now work on security strategy. Mondragon’s departure leaves questions open about the security strategy of President Enrique Pena Nieto, who is still battling to curb drug-related violence.
IRAQ
US delivers Hellfire missiles
The US delivered 100 Hellfire missiles, along with assault rifles and ammunition to Baghdad as part of its anti-terrorism assistance to the country, the US embassy said on Sunday. In a statement, it said the delivery was made earlier this month in order to help bolster forces fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). “It is essential that Iraqi Security Forces are equipped with modern and effective weaponry given the serious threat ... the ISIL now poses to Iraq and the region,” the statement said. It added that since mid-January, Baghdad’s security forces had received more than 11 million rounds of ammunition, as well as thousands of machine guns, sniper rifles, assault rifles and grenades.
FRANCE
Mercury shrinking: scientists
Beneath its Sun-scorched exterior, the planet Mercury is cooling, which is causing it to shrink ever so slightly, scientists said on Sunday. Over the last 3.8 billion years, the planet has shrunk by up to 14km to reach its present diameter of 4,800km, they said. Mercury, like Earth, is believed to have a superhot metallic core, but unlike Earth it has no tectonic plates, which bump and jostle and slide in response to the stress that heat loss causes on the planet’s crust. Instead, Mercury has just a single, rigid top layer, which means the stress is transmitted directly to the planet’s surface, causing it to “wrinkle” into gouges and ridges as the planet cools. Planetary geologists led by Paul Byrne at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington used a tally of these features to get a yardstick for the planet’s thermal contraction, the term for shrinkage through heat loss. Earlier estimates based on images of only 45 percent of the planet suggested a contraction of 1.6km to 6km.
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