UNITED STATES
Man held over IS conspiracy
A Minnesota man on Wednesday was charged as the tenth person in an alleged conspiracy that encouraged young Somali-American men to travel overseas to join the Islamic State (IS) group and he planned to make the trip himself, court papers showed. Prosecutors said that since 2007, dozens of people from Minnesota, many young Somali-American men, have traveled or attempted to travel overseas to support the Islamic State or al-Shabaab, a Somalia-based militant group. Abdirizak Mohamed Warsame was arrested on Wednesday, according to jail records in Anoka County, where he is being held. Warsame, 20, is from Eagan, a community just south of Minneapolis, local media said.
UNITED STATES
Sea turtle smugglers nabbed
A southern California couple has been indicted in San Diego federal court on charges of smuggling sea turtle eggs into the country from Mexico, officials said on Wednesday, a first for prosecutors in the border region. Jose Jimenez, 64, and Olga Jimenez, 52, both US citizens, were charged with one criminal count each of conspiracy, smuggling, unlawful trafficking in wildlife and importation, according to the indictment filed on Tuesday. Assistant US attorney Melanie Pierson said the indictment marked the first time criminal charges have been brought in the Southern District of California for smuggling sea turtle eggs. The eggs came from clutches of 100 to 200 laid in the sand by two species of sea turtle, olive ridley and Kemp’s ridley sea turtles, officials said. Both are protected under the Endangered Species Act, and both are subject to protection under the 1981 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
UNITED STATES
Mob demands mayor resign
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, under heavy criticism for his handling of the fatal police shooting of a black teen, gave an emotional apology on Wednesday, but angry crowds closed city streets to demand his resignation hours later. In a special address to the council members, the mayor said “I’m sorry” and promised “complete and total reform of the system.” Emanuel’s speech was met with applause from the City Council, but protesters said the city’s actions do not go far enough. Hundreds of mostly young demonstrators filled downtown, temporarily shutting down some streets and chanting “no more killer cops” and “Rahm must go.” “This system is designed for us to be dead or in jail and we’re tired,” said protester Jamal Wayne, 20. Emanuel’s speech followed two weeks of protests after the release of a police dashboard video from last year showing officer Jason Van Dyke shooting 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times. Van Dyke late last month was charged with first-degree murder.
UNITED STATES
Colorado shooter says guilty
The man accused of shooting dead three people at a family planning clinic in Colorado last month shouted on Wednesday in court that he was guilty, as he was formally charged, reports said. “I am guilty, there is no trial, I am a warrior for the babies,” Robert Dear yelled, a reporter at the hearing said. The reporter said that Dear, 57, repeatedly shouted “protect the babies” during the hearing and denounced his attorney Dan King, assigned to him by the court. Dear was charged with 179 counts — including eight for first-degree murder and 131 for attempted murder — for the Nov. 27 rampage that also left nine people wounded at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs.
CHINA
Smog alert expires
Beijing’s first ever red alert for smog expired yesterday, as blue skies and sunshine replaced the thick haze that covered the city for days. The red alert is the highest tier of a four-color warning system. Beijing authorities reopened schools and eased travel restrictions as concentration of PM2.5 pollution, considered the most dangerous to health, stood at 15 micrograms per cubic meter as of 4pm near Tiananmen Square, according to the Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center. That compares to an average level of 207mg over the past 24 hours.
SAUDI ARABIA
Stampede killed thousands
The September stampede during the hajj killed at least 2,411 pilgrims, a new Associated Press count shows, three times the number of deaths acknowledged by the kingdom three months later. The new figure establishes the Sept. 24 crush at Mina as the deadliest in the history of the annual pilgrimage. The kingdom rebuffed criticism from Iran and efforts by other countries to join a probe into the deaths. And while King Salman almost immediately ordered an investigation into the tragedy, few details have been made public since. The AP count is based on state media reports and officials’ comments from 36 of the more than 180 countries that sent citizens to the hajj.
JAPAN
Whale hunt prompts hack
A hacking group says it has crashed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s official Web site to protest the nation’s plans to hunt whales. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters that one of Abe’s Web sites had been inaccessible since early yesterday and police were investigating. Suga acknowledged that the Anonymous hacker group has posted a Twitter message claiming responsibility, but adds authorities have not singled out the group as a prime suspect. One of the group’s Twitter messages criticizes whaling plans, and warned that Abe’s Web site would be brought down. Despite protests from anti-whaling groups, the country has resumed its annual Antarctic whale hunt, which it says is done for research.
HONG KONG
Fire, explosion investigated
Police are investigating a small fire and explosion outside the Legislative Council building hours after a contentious copyright bill, which opponents say will restrict freedom of expression, had been up for debate. Police said they were seeking two suspects in connection with arson outside the council on Wednesday night when a fire was lit in a trash can, followed by an explosion. No one was injured. Legislative Council President Jasper Tsang (曾鈺成) issued a statement expressing grave concern and condemning “the dangerous act which could cause bodily harm.”
GERMANY
Arrests over ‘exorcism’ death
Prosecutors say they have arrested five South Koreans on suspicion of murder following the death of a woman in an apparent exorcism ritual in Frankfurt. Prosecutor Nadja Niesen says police discovered the 41-year-old victim in a hotel room on Saturday after being alerted by a Catholic priest. She identified the suspects as relatives of the victim. Niesen yesterday said that the suspects, who arrived in the country six weeks ago, wanted to expel a “demon” they believed had possessed the woman. They exerted “massive force on her chest and stomach area” while stuffing a towel and clothes hanger into her mouth to stop her screaming.
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
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was