PUERTO RICO
Ex-cop admits to lying to FBI
A former police officer has been sentenced to one year in prison after pleading guilty to making a false statement to the FBI in a fatal beating case. Miguel Negron Vazquez admitted to falsely telling the FBI that two other police officers never approached or interacted with a 19-year-old man who was beaten to death in 2008. Those two officers later pleaded guilty to unnecessarily hitting Jose Luis Irizarry. A total of six police officers have pleaded guilty in the case and two are waiting to be sentenced. US Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodriguez said Negron was sentenced on Friday. The police department is undergoing a 10-year federally mandated reform after US prosecutors accused officers of illegal killings, civil rights violations and corruption.
MEXICO
Cartel member captured
Authorities on Saturday confirmed the capture of a leader of the Gulf Cartel, describing him as responsible for much of the violence in the city of Reynosa in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas. Jose Tiburcio Hernandez Fuentes was captured on Friday and transferred to Mexico City, despite a shootout between the army, police and about 60 gunmen who tried to rescue Hernandez. Reports on Friday suggested authorities had detained a different leader, Jose Hugo Rodriguez Sanchez, who was arrested last year. Hernandez worked his way up into the Gulf Cartel’s hierarchy as its leaders were imprisoned or killed. Reynosa has been one of the most violent cities in the nation over the past year, racked by turf wars among the Gulf Cartel and the Zetas, two drug gangs fighting for control of border smuggling routes and crime rackets. More than 100,000 people have died in gang-related violence in the nation over the past eight years.
UNITED STATES
Historic outfit auctioned
An outfit Vivien Leigh wore when she played Scarlett O’Hara in the 1939 film Gone With the Wind has sold for US$137,000 at auction. Heritage Auctions offered the gray jacket and skirt, featuring a black zigzag applique, plus other items from the Academy Award-winning film at an auction on Saturday in Beverly Hills, California. Dallas-based Heritage said more than 150 items from the movie, including costumes and props, were offered by James Tumblin — formerly in charge of the hair and makeup department at Universal Studios. Tumblin began collecting items associated with the MGM film in the 1960s. He paid US$20 for the Scarlett O’Hara outfit after spotting it at a costume company.
UNITED STATES
Cat-killing vet fired
Authorities are investigating whether animal cruelty charges should be pursued against a Texas veterinarian who said on Facebook that she had killed a cat with a bow and arrow. Austin County Sheriff Jack Brandes said he is disturbed by an image that shows Kristen Lindsey holding up what she described as a dead feral tomcat. “This kind of stuff shouldn’t happen in our society,” Brandes said. “It’s a very sad thing. Hopefully we will get to the bottom of it and get the truth, 100 percent truth, and get it to the DA [district attorney] and put it in his hands if it needs to go any further.” The operators of the Brenham clinic where Lindsey worked said on Friday that she was fired after they learned of the Facebook post, which first appeared on Wednesday night and has since been removed, along with her Facebook account.
‘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