UNITED STATES
Air links with Cuba planned
Washington and Cuba have agreed to restore scheduled commercial airline service for the first time in more than five decades in a deal allowing 110 round-trip flights a day. However, the pact does not go into effect immediately. Under the pact, domestic airlines will be able to sell tickets on their Web sites for flights to Cuba, but they must first apply for permission from regulators to fly specific routes. The 110 round-trip flights to Cuba per day include 20 flights to Havana and 10 to each of the other nine international airports in Cuba, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Transportation Affairs Thomas Engle said.
BRAZIL
Rousseff wins court ruling
The Supreme Court on Thursday rule that Congress must restart impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff from scratch and overhauled the procedure, in a badly needed win for the embattled leader. In an 8-3 decision, the judges annulled an opposition-dominated impeachment commission established by secret ballot in the lower house last week and ordered the procedure be restarted in an open vote. It also gave the final word on whether to open an impeachment trial to the Senate, where Rousseff has greater support.
UNITED STATES
Lawmakers pass tax breaks
The House of Representatives on Thursday passed a sweeping package extending tax breaks and credits worth US$629 billion aimed at providing greater certainty for businesses and millions of citizens. The bill includes 56 extensions, among them nearly two dozen that would be made permanent in part to help families still struggling in the aftermath of the financial crisis. Most Democrats, including party leaders in the House, opposed the bill, warning it is not paid for and will only deepen US debt. Their opposition puts them at odds with the White House, which on Wednesday announced its support for the tax bill as well as a sprawling year-end federal spending bill that the House was to vote on yesterday. The legislation now heads to the Senate.
UNITED STATES
From Russia with love
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump praised each other on Thursday, saying they would welcome an improvement in the now-icy relations between their two nations. Trump said that by working together, Washington and Moscow could work toward defeating terrorism and “restoring world peace,” adding that Putin was “highly respected.” Putin, speaking at his year-end news conference, said he welcomed Trump’s desire for better relations with Russia. “He is a very flamboyant man, very talented, no doubt about that. But it’s not our business to judge his merits, it’s up to the voters of the United States,” Putin told reporters.
PERU
Drink leads to stabbing
A Canadian stabbed a British man to death during a row at a hostel after drinking ayahuasca, the powerfull psychedelic brew, police said on Thursday. The killing took place on Wednesday in a village near the Amazon city of Iquitos during a shamanic ceremony for tourists that included drinking the hallucinogenic tea that is embraced by advocates as a spirit cure. The men had both consumed the drink and after a heated argument the Briton attacked the Canadian with a knife. The Canadian grabbed the knife and stabbed the other man to death.
SOUTH KOREA
Another protest planned
Hundreds of protesters plan to stage another march in Seoul today against conservative President Park Geun-hye, whose increasingly harsh treatment of unions and dissenters has critics comparing her with her late dictator father. The rally is set to be the latest in a series of mass protests against the government in recent weeks, although police say they expect the turnout to be smaller than previous gatherings. A huge demonstration on Nov. 14 left dozens hurt after police clashed with protesters. The demonstrators are upset at Park’s conservative labor, trade and education policies and also what they see as her attacks on personal and political freedoms.
NIGER
Coup plot ‘foiled’
The government has “foiled” a coup plot, resulting in a number of arrests, President Mahamadou Issoufou said in an address broadcast on national radio and television on Thursday, adding that the situation was “under control.” The announcement came after local media and social media reports on Monday said at least four senior military officers had been arrested, information that was not immediately confirmed by the Niger authorities. “The government has foiled an unfortunate attempt to destabilize our institutions,” Issoufou said in his annual address on the eve of the country’s independence celebrations. There was no immediate reaction from the opposition in the impoverished former French colony.
RWANDA
Referendum ballot begins
Long lines of voters yesterday queued to cast their ballots in a referendum to amend the constitution allowing President Paul Kagame to rule until 2034, with few expecting the changes to be rejected. “There is no secret, I will vote yes,” said Saidi Alfred, waiting in a line of about 100 people to vote at a school in Kigali as polls opened. “It is because we want the president to continue to lead us.” The amendment would allow Kagame to run for a third seven-year term in 2017, at the end of which the new rules come into force and he would be eligible to run for a further two five-year terms.
FRANCE
Lagarde denies wrongdoing
IMF managing director Christine Lagarde has been ordered to stand trial over her role in a 2008 arbitration ruling that handed 400 million euros (US$434 million) to a French business magnate. Lagarde, who was French finance minister at the time, denied wrongdoing in a statement on Thursday and said she had ordered her lawyers to appeal the decision. She said she had acted “in the best interest of the French state and in full compliance with the law.” Lagarde has maintained her innocence since the investigation began in 2011.
‘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