FRANCE
Teenage girl in jihadist plot
A 14-year-old French girl has been placed under investigation for allegedly planning to carry out jihad, the third in a group of teenage girls caught before they left home. The Paris prosecutors’ office said the girl from Quimper, in Brittany, risks up to five years in a juvenile prison if the investigation leads to an indictment and conviction. The girl, not named, was in contact with two other teens, aged 15 and 17, all allegedly planning together to travel abroad to join a jihadi group — even though they live in three different regions. The prosecutors’ office said the girls corresponded via social networks, but would not give details.
POLAND
Russian plane denied entry
Warsaw prevented a plane carrying Russia’s defense minister from traveling through its airspace on Friday, leading to a complaint from Moscow. The incident came at a time of tension between the two countries because of Russia’s support for separatists fighting in Ukraine. The Russian TU-154 plane was carrying Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu home from Slovakia when it was barred from Polish airspace, military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Piotr Walasek said. He said that probably happened because the Russian pilot mistakenly reported that his flight was a military one, not the civilian one for which he had permission. However, the Interfax news agency quoted Russian First Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov as saying the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs considers the move a “gross violation of the norms and ethics of communication between states.” Shoigu’s plane flew over Poland later on Friday, after it changed its status to civilian.
UNITED STATES
Royal cake under hammer
A 33-year-old slice of cake from Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s 1981 wedding has sold at auction for US$1,375. The cake, still in its original white and silver presentation box, was sold online on Thursday by Nate D Sanders Auctions of Los Angeles. With the box was a card stating: “With best wishes from Their Royal Highnesses, the Prince and Princess of Wales.” Auction house spokesman Sam Heller says the buyer is a private collector. Although the cake came wrapped in its original wax paper, Heller says it wouldn’t be a good idea to try to eat it. He adds, however, that there is a small but dedicated group of royal cake collectors. Some, Heller says, have purchased cakes dating to the days of Britain’s Queen Victoria, who married in 1840.
UNITED STATES
Helicopters head to Egypt
Secretary of State John Kerry told his Egyptian counterpart on Friday that the US intends to make good on its promise to deliver 10 Apache helicopters to help Cairo’s counterterrorism efforts. Kerry announced in June that he was “confident” Egypt would receive the helicopter gunships soon, and reiterated that in his phone call to Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, a senior US State Department official said. Kerry made the call as part of the ongoing discussions on the Gaza ceasefire, the fight against Islamic State jihadists in Iraq and Syria, and regional counterterrorism efforts, the official added. “The secretary reaffirmed the United States’ support for the helpful role that Egypt played in reaching the ceasefire in Gaza. He also discussed Egypt’s efforts in countering threats from extremist groups, particularly in the Sinai,” he added.
UNITED STATES
Tighter smog rules urged
The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) staff has concluded that the government needs to tighten smog rules by somewhere between 7 and 20 percent. In its final recommendation in a 597-page report, the agency staff agreed with the EPA’s outside scientific advisers that the six-year-old standard for how much smog is allowed needs to be stricter. Since 2008, the standard has allowed up to 75 parts of ozone per billion parts of air. The staff report recommends between 60 and 70 parts per billion. The report says the proposed adjustment would provide more health protection for higher-risk populations.
UNITED STATES
Drone citations rise in parks
For the third time this summer, Yellowstone National Park rangers have cited a tourist for illegally flying a drone in the park. Park officials on Friday said that Donald Criswell of Oregon flew an unmanned aircraft over Midway Geyser Basin and near bison on Aug. 19. In early August, rangers charged Theodorus Van Vliet of the Netherlands after his drone allegedly crashed into Grand Prismatic Spring. Andreas Meissner of Germany is accused of flying a drone that crashed into Yellowstone Lake on July 17. He was charged last week.
UNITED STATES
Jethro Tull bassist dies
Glenn Cornick, the original bass player in the rock band Jethro Tull, died of congestive heart failure at his home in Hilo, Hawaii, on Thursday. Drew Cornick says his 67-year-old father had been receiving hospice care. Cornick performed with Jethro Tull from its inception in late 1967 until 1970. The band’s vocalist and flautist, Ian Anderson, says on the band’s Web site that Cornick brought bravado to Jethro Tull’s early stage performances. Anderson says Cornick made considerable contributions to the music scene. In addition to his son Drew, Cornick is survived by his wife, Brigitte Martinez-Cornick of Hilo; a daughter, Molly Cornick; and another son, Alex Cornick.
GUATEMALA
Jewish group leaves village
An Orthodox Jewish group left a village after disputes with indigenous residents over cultural and religious differences. Misael Santos of the Lev Tahor community says the Jewish group started leaving San Juan La Laguna on Friday. Santos said that there were 230 members of the community in the village and that some had been there for six years. The town’s Council of Elders voted last week to ask the group to leave because they say some members of the sect have mistreated Aboriginal residents and tourists. Resident Antonio Ixtamer said that several members of the group had upset residents. He said that members of the Lev Tahor community would go into stores and pay whatever they wanted for items, rather than the marked price.
UNITED STATES
Butt injector convicted
A woman has been convicted of murder in connection to illicit silicone buttocks injections that led to a woman’s death. The Georgia state attorney general’s office said in a statement that a jury deliberated about five hours on Friday before finding Tracy Lynn Garner guilty of depraved-heart murder and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The conviction carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. Atlanta-area resident Karima Gordon, 37, died eight days after receiving the injections in 2012. Prosecutors said that Gordon’s death was caused by injections that Garner administered.
‘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
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
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in