GUYANA
Fishermen might get guns
The threat of pirates near national waters has authorities in Georgetown considering a measure to allow fishermen to begin carrying weapons. The nation strictly controls the use of firearms and the government on Saturday said it is deciding whether to begin permitting deep-sea fishermen to carry guns while at sea. The fishermen would be required to turn in the weapons at police stations once they return to land. Second Vice President and Minister of Security Khemraj Ramjattan said he is open to the proposal because it is too expensive to have government boats and helicopters constantly patrol waters off the coast of the South American nation.
UNITED STATES
Sixth shark attack reported
Officials say a 17-year-old is the latest victim of a shark attack off North Carolina’s coast, the second attack in as many days and the sixth attack in the past two weeks. Rescue personnel and park rangers responded to the teen, who received what they described as injuries to his right calf, buttocks and both hands while swimming in the Outer Banks on Saturday, according to a Facebook post by the National Park Service. The teen was swimming with others when he was bitten, but no one else was hurt, officials said. The unidentified teenager was treated at the scene before being airlifted to a Norfolk, Virginia, hospital, the park service said. On Friday, a North Carolina man was bitten on his back and leg in Avon and 43-year-old man was attacked by a shark near Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.
COLOMBIA
Rebels claim chopper attack
The second-largest guerrilla group in the nation said it downed a military helicopter, rejecting government assertions that other rebels were involved. The National Liberation Army issued a Twitter message on Saturday claiming responsibility for downing the UH-60M Black Hawk on Monday last week as troops were trying to repair a damaged oil pipeline about 425km northeast of Bogota, the capital. The government said the larger Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia hit the helicopter and it landed in a minefield, killing four soldiers. The government is holding peace talks in Cuba with the larger group. The National Liberation Army has sought establish a similar process.
UNITED STATES
9/11 writing prizes on offer
Leaders of a chapel in Manhattan that became a sanctuary of consolation after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks are opening national writing competitions to foster reconciliation. The Episcopal Parish of Trinity Church plans to award one prize for preaching and six for storytelling. The winner of the preaching award is to deliver an original sermon on Sept. 11 at St Paul’s Chapel. Trinity’s rector, William Lupfer, said the idea for the competitions came about because visitors to the World Trade Center site still struggle to make sense of the attacks. Entries must be submitted between Wednesday and Aug. 1.
UNITED STATES
White lion dies after surgery
A white lion on loan from the Siegfried and Roy act has died after undergoing a medical procedure at the Toledo Zoo in Ohio. Zoo officials on Friday said that 14-year-old Legend died after being immobilized for an hour to allow veterinarians to treat one of its paws. Legend went into cardiac and respiratory arrest after being removed from anesthesia. A necropsy is to be performed to determine a cause of death. The zoo has another white lion, Legend’s 14-year-old brother, Courage.
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
‘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