GUATEMALA
Fuego volcano erupts ash
Fuego volcano threw black ash into the sky on Saturday, causing the government to evacuate 100 nearby residents and forcing the closure of Guatemala City’s La Aurora International Airport, President Otto Perez told reporters. The volcano, about 40 km southwest of the capital, forced the cancellation of several flights as workers sought to clear the runways of ash.
AUSTRALIA
Hostages planned stabbing
Two staff members of a Sydney cafe said they plotted to stab a gunman who held them hostage during a 16-hour siege in December last year. Joel Herat and Jarrod Hoffman revealed in paid interviews broadcast yesterday by Nine Network television that they had armed themselves with box cutters after gunman Man Horan Monis took them and 16 others hostage in downtown Sydney. Hoffman said if someone had jumped Monis, he “would stab him in the jugular” artery. However, Hoffman was concerned that Monis had his sawed-off shotgun pointed at a pregnant hostage.
UNITED STATES
Gay marriage in Alabama?
Alabama is set to become the 37th US state where gay people can legally marry unless the US Supreme Court orders a last-minute stay of a federal judge’s decision overturning the state’s ban on gay marriage. Gay couples are expected to seek marriage licenses across the deeply conservative state tomorrow. Joe Babin and Clay Jones of Irondale said they plan to be one of the couples getting married that day. Babin said they want to be part of what he described as a historic day. Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange has asked the US Supreme Court to extend the stay since justices are set to consider the issue of gay marriage later this year. As of Saturday, the court had not responded to the state’s request.
UNITED STATES
Conquistador saint mulled
California’s history cannot be told without the story of Junipero Serra. The 18th-century Franciscan missionary introduced Christianity and established settlements as he marched north with Spanish conquistadores. However, plans to make Serra a saint have reopened wounds for many Native Americans in California and beyond. They say the missionary wiped out native populations, enslaved converts and spread disease. Native Americans have protested outside the Los Angeles cathedral for several weeks. An online petition asking Pope Francis to change his mind has more than 3,000 signatures. However, Catholics and scholars of Serra said the man must be judged in the context of his time. Serra considered himself more moderate than other missionaries. Pope Francis plans a trip to Washington this fall that is likely to include a sainthood ceremony for Serra.
UNITED STATES
Horse gets stuck in bathtub
Firefighters in Northern California rescued a horse that got stuck in an outdoor bathtub. Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District captain Michelle Eidam said the horse was dancing around in her stall to protect the bathtub used as her food trough when she suddenly fell in on Wednesday. The horse, named Phantom, was stuck in the bathtub for about 25 minutes with her feet up in the air. Her owner saw the horse fall and called the fire department. Between firefighters and the owner’s family, they were able to prop the bathtub on its side and pull Phantom forward onto her feet. Phantom was not injured.
‘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