UNITED STATES
House passes border bill
The House of Representatives on Friday approved a US$694 million bill to address the crisis of unaccompanied migrant youths arriving at the border with Mexico, but it stands little chance of becoming law. The Republican legislation passed 223-189, after the Senate left for a five-week summer break. The bill would increase spending for the National Guard at the border and add immigration judges and detention facilities. It also would make policy changes so that the thousands of migrant children, most of them from Central America, could be sent home more quickly. President Barack Obama condemned the Republican action and said he would act unilaterally, as best he could. On Friday night, the House approved a companion measure that would shut down a program created by Obama that grants work permits to immigrants brought to the US illegally as children. It also seemed designed to prevent the more than 700,000 people who have already gotten work permits under the program from renewing them, ultimately making them subject to deportation. The new Republican border bill would pay for strapped border agencies only for the final two months of this budget year, falling far short of the US$3.7 billion Obama initially requested to deal with the crisis into next year.
MEXICO
Migrants rescued
Mexican security forces rescued 70 Central American migrants, including children, who were being held captive in a house in the northern border state of Tamaulipas, authorities said on Friday. The migrants, most of whom are from Honduras and El Salvador, were found on Thursday in Madero, about 500km from the US border, a statement from the Tamaulipas State Government said. Last month Mexican state police rescued 165 migrants in Tamaulipas who had also been kidnapped. Tamaulipas, in northeastern Mexico, is a battleground between the Gulf Cartel gang and its rivals the Zetas, who are involved in migrant smuggling and drug trafficking. The cartels sometimes organize smuggling of people across the border, charging for the service or forcing migrants to carry drugs for them. The Zetas were blamed for the killing of hundreds of migrants found in mass graves in Tamaulipas in 2010 and 2011.
UNITED STATES
GPS satellite launched
A new GPS satellite has been launched into space. An unmanned Atlas 5 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station shortly before midnight on Friday. The rocket carried a GPS 2F-7 spacecraft which was to join a constellation of other satellites already orbiting 17,700km above Earth. The GPS satellite is to provide navigation for military and civilian users. The craft, when it becomes operational, is to replace a 17-year-old satellite. The older satellite is to be used as a backup for the new one. This was the second launch from Cape Canaveral this week. A Delta 4 rocket lifted off on Monday carrying a pair of military satellites.
PUERTO RICO
Storm hits Caribbean
Tropical Storm Bertha swirled through the eastern Caribbean as it unleashed heavy rains and strong winds in the region, knocking out power on some islands. The storm’s maximum sustained winds held at 85kph early yesterday, and no significant change in strength was expected through tomorrow. Bertha was centered about 225km south-southeast of St Croix in the US Virgin Islands and was moving west-northwest at 35kph.
‘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