UNITED STATES
Cat named world’s oldest
A 26-year-old cat named Corduroy has been named the oldest living cat by Guinness World Records. The cat is owned by a family in Sisters, Oregon. His owner, Ashley Reed Okura, has had him since he was a kitten and she was seven years old. Okura told the Oregonian that Corduroy is still active and in good health, except for some kidney problems. He still hunts on the family’s 65 hectare property. For his birthday on Aug. 1, Okura bought him a live white mouse, saying he enjoyed it “right away.”
UNITED STATES
Squirrels carry plague
A popular campground at Yosemite National Park in California is to be temporarily closed after several dead squirrels were found to be carrying the plague, officials said on Friday. The move comes about a week after a girl who visited the park tested positive for the plague. She was treated and has recovered. “As an extremely precautionary public health measure, flea treatment is to be applied to rodent burrows in Tuolumne Meadows campground because several dead animals were tested and found to be carrying plague,” park officials said in a statement. The campground is to be closed from tomorrow through Friday. The park itself is to remain open, including all the other campgrounds. Plague is carried by squirrels, chipmunks and other wild rodents and their fleas. “By eliminating the fleas, we reduce the risk of human exposure and break the cycle of plague in rodents at the sites,” California Department of Public Health director and state health officer Karen Smith said.
UNITED STATES
Judge forces marriage
A group that advocates the separation of church and state has filed a complaint about a Texas judge who ordered a man to marry his girlfriend as a condition of probation. The Freedom From Religion Foundation on Friday said it filed a complaint against Smith County Court-at-Law Judge Randall Rogers a day earlier with the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct in Austin. On July 2, Rogers gave 21-year-old Josten Bundy 30 days to marry 19-year-old Elizabeth James or face 15 days in jail for pleading guilty to misdemeanor assault. Bundy admitted punching James’ ex-boyfriend twice in the jaw for “saying disrespectful things” about her. Rogers also ordered Bundy to scrawl a Bible verse 25 times daily. Rogers did not return a message seeking comment. Bundy and James have since married.
GUATEMALA
Nine activists murdered
Nine human rights activists have been killed since the beginning of the year, mainly in indigenous communities opposed to infrastructure and mining projects, civil organizations said on Friday. The groups documented 337 attacks against human rights workers in a report that also showed intimidation against activists has increased under President Otto Perez, a retired general who came to power in 2012. The report discusses attacks mainly against human rights activists, mostly in areas where indigenous communities have rejected mining and industrial projects that they say are damaging the environment. “This makes even more urgent an effective and structured support strategy from the international community for these activists who operate in a climate of hostility and without state protection,” said Karim Lahidji, president of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), one of the groups involved in the report.
‘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