UNITED KINGDOM
Girls barred from leaving
A group of teenage girls in London barred from traveling abroad attend the same school as three others who are thought to have gone to Syria, the High Court has heard. Last week, High Court judge Anthony Hayden barred five teenage girls from going overseas due to concerns they too would flee to Syria to join extremist fighters. He made the girls from east London — two aged 15 and three aged 16 — “wards of court,” a legal move that prevents them leaving the jurisdiction of England and Wales without judicial permission. He confiscated their passports and also those of a number of adults involved in caring for them, adding that in at least one other case, a young girl traveled on a relative’s passport. “All involved must recognize that in this particular process, it is the interest of the individual child that is paramount,” the judge said.
TURKEY
US delays training program
A campaign to train Syrian opposition forces to fight Islamic State group militants, which was due to start this month, has been delayed by Washington, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlut Cavusogluon said on Friday. US officials said they plan to train about 5,000 Syrian fighters annually for three years as part of a program to counter Islamic State group forces in Iraq and Syria. In Washington, the Pentagon said that about 2,200 potential recruits for the US military’s training program had been identified so far and more than 400 of those were in the “pre-screening process.” Cavusogluon said that “because of US distance [geographically], there has been a minor delay, but everything is fine both politically and technically,” adding there was “no delay” from the Turkish side. Ankara hopes the training will bolster the weakened and divided Syrian opposition in its war against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
VENEZUELA
Maduro readying petition
President Nicolas Maduro is readying a gift for US President Barack Obama when the two leaders cross paths at a regional summit next month: a petition containing millions of signatures denouncing US aggression. For the past week, Venezuelans have been lining up in plazas, government offices and even prisons to add their signatures to a manifesto against the Obama administration’s recent decision to sanction seven Venezuelan officials over human rights abuses during anti-government protests. To date, more than 4 million signatures calling on Obama to reverse the order have been collected, and Maduro has set a goal of gathering 10 million ahead of the Summit of the Americas scheduled for April 10 and April 11 in Panama. Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs Delcy Rodriguez on Friday said the signatures would be presented at the summit.
UNITED STATES
Taxidermist sold rhino horns
A Texas taxidermist faces up to five years in prison after he pleaded guilty to participating in the illegal sales of rhino horns, prosecutors said on Friday. John Brommel will be sentenced on June 3 for his part in the sale of horns from black rhinos, an endangered species whose horn shipments are subject to US and international regulations. Rhino populations in South Africa, home to almost all the rhinos in the world, and other southern African nations, have been targeted by poachers, who kill the animals for their horns, which are sold in Asia as a traditional medicine and in decorative carvings. More than 1,200 rhinos were killed last year in South Africa, according to its environment ministry.
‘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