CUBA
Truck crash leaves 13 dead
Thirteen people were killed and 34 injured on Monday when two trucks retrofitted as passenger buses collided in eastern Cuba, media reported. The deadly crash took place in Santiago de Cuba province, Agencia Cubana de Noticias reported. Five of the injured were in very serious condition, the report said. The cause of the crash was under investigation. As part of the country’s long-running economic crisis, the only communist government in the Americas decided it was cheaper to turn trucks into people movers than to import costly buses.
CANADA
Kurdis arrive in Vancouver
Relatives of a Syrian boy whose lifeless body washed up on a Turkish beach, sparking worldwide concern for the refugee crisis, have landed in Canada. Mohammed Kurdi, his wife and their five children on Monday arrived in Canada as refugees, sponsored by Mohammed’s sister Tima Kurdi, who wiped away tears as she greeted her relatives at Vancouver airport’s arrival gates. Speaking through his sister, who translated from Arabic, Mohammed Kurdi thanked Canadians and the government for making his dream come true. Tima Kurdi’s and Mohammed Kurdi’s three-year-old nephew, Alan Kurdi, drowned along with his five-year-old brother and their mother while crossing the waters between Turkey and Greece in September.
UNITED STATES
Oregon bakery pays redress
Oregon bakery owners who denied service to a same-sex couple have paid US$135,000 in state-ordered damages — after refusing to do so for nearly six months. The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries said Aaron Klein, co-owner of the Portland-area bakery, dropped off a check on Monday for US$136,927.07. That includes accrued interest. Klein also paid US$7,000 earlier this month. Damages were awarded in July for emotional suffering caused by Sweet Cakes by Melissa, which two years ago refused to make a wedding cake for Laurel and Rachel Bowman-Cryer. The bakers said their refusal was prompted by religious beliefs.
UNITED STATES
Bipedal bear Pedals sighted
New Jersey wildlife officials said there has been a sighting of a bear that walks upright on its hind legs, and has become a social media darling. Fans of the bipedal bear, nicknamed Pedals, had grown concerned when the animal had not been seen for several weeks. Pedals apparently has an injured leg or paw that does not allow it to walk comfortably on all fours, experts say. However, officials told NJ.com that a resident saw Pedals in West Milford on Dec. 21 and said the bear appeared to be in good health. The bear first gained fame after it was spotted last year ambling around neighborhoods and was caught on videos that were posted on social media and played on national TV.
GERMANY
Condom machine kills man
A man died on Friday last week in Germany after he was hit in the head by a flying piece of metal from a condom machine that he and two accomplices blew up in an apparent robbery attempt, police said on Monday. The 29-year-old man was taken to a hospital in the western town of Schoppingen by the two other men. They told hospital officials that their friend had fallen down the stairs. Suspicious of their story, the officials called the police. During questioning, one of them admitted that the three had blown up the condom machine, and that their cohort was hit in the head by metal, police said.
AUSTRALIA
Massive acid leak feared
Authorities yesterday said that more than 30,000 liters of sulfuric acid might have spilled after all 26 carriages of a freight train carrying the chemical derailed in Queensland. The train, belonging to freight firm Aurizon Ltd, was carrying about 819,000 liters of sulfuric acid, four times the amount first estimated, when it derailed on Sunday. “One of the carriages has likely ruptured and it is possible that up to 31,500 liters of acid have leaked out,” Queensland Police said in a statement. Testing by the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection suggested that a nearby waterway had not been adversely affected by any leak, the statement said. Aurizon said in an e-mail the cause of the incident was not yet known. Three train drivers had received minor injuries, but had been released from hospital.
AUSTRALIA
Two ministers resign
Two ministers in Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s government resigned yesterday, one of them standing down after a female public servant complained about his behavior in a Hong Kong bar during a recent official visit. Jamie Briggs said he was resigning as minister for cities and the built environment after the unnamed woman raised concerns about his inappropriate behavior. Briggs said nothing illegal had been alleged, but declined to comment in detail about the incident. “I’ve apologized directly to her, but after careful reflection about the concerns she raised and the fact that I was at a bar late at night while on an overseas visit, I have concluded this behavior has not met the particularly high standards for ministers,” Briggs told reporters in Adelaide. Turnbull said a second minister, Mal Brough, was also standing aside while police investigate his role in revelations about a political rival that were leaked. “In offering to stand aside Mr Brough has done the right thing, recognizing the importance of the government maintaining an unwavering focus on jobs, economic growth and national security,” Turnbull said in a statement. The ministers’ duties will be taken up by other ministers.
PAKISTAN
Four inmates hanged
Four men sentenced to death by military courts for assisting in suicide bombings and attacks on soldiers were hanged yesterday, officials said. The executions were carried out at a prison in the northwestern garrison town of Kohat and the bodies were handed over to relatives, a prison official said. A senior security official confirmed the hangings and identified those executed as Noor Saeed, Murad Khan, Inayat Ullah and Israr Uddin. No details of specific incidents were released. The four were sentenced in April. Local and international rights groups have criticized the military courts established in January, saying they fail to meet the standards necessary for a fair trial and lack transparency.
CHINA
Shanghai says no to party
Shanghai authorities have opted not to organize New Year celebrations in the historic riverfront Bund this week, a year after a stampede killed 36 people. City spokesman Xu Wei (徐威) announced the decision yesterday, state broadcaster CCTV reported on its microblog. “There will be no activities on the Bund to greet the 2016 new year. Citizens who go there on their own, please pay attention to maintaining order,” Xu was quoted as saying. The deadly crush last year occurred at about midnight on steps up to a riverside walkway as thousands of people gathered by the Huangpu River. Most of those who died were in their 20s, while 49 people were injured.
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
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
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