FRANCE
Off-duty soldiers nab robbers
When two men decided to rob a McDonald’s in eastern France they had not expected to come face-to-face with a table of hungry soldiers from an elite military force. The armed men burst into the fast food outlet in the commune of Ecole-Valentin late on Sunday, with one firing a warning shot while the other raided the till for cash. However, among the about 40 diners in the burger joint were 11 members of an elite branch of the French Armed Forces — particularly hardened soldiers who specialize in hostage situations. The off-duty soldiers waited for the end of the heist to intervene so as not to put other patrons in danger, Besancon public prosecutor Edwige Roux-Morizot said on Monday. The first man, who was carrying about 2,000 euros (US$2,270), stumbled as he attempted to flee and was captured, while the other was shot in the abdomen by one of the elite forces and arrested. The two men are in hospital and are to appear before a judge on charges of armed robbery and violence, Roux-Morizot said.
UNITED STATES
Parrot key to murder
The ex-wife of a Michigan man believes a parrot is repeating something said just before his fatal shooting, but a prosecutor is downplaying whether it could be used in court. Newaygo County Prosecutor Robert Springstead on Monday said he “highly doubts there is any precedent” that what is repeated by a parrot can be used as evidence. Martin Duram was slain in Ensley Township in May last year. Then-wife Glenna Duram had a head wound, but survived. Ex-wife Christina Keller told WOOD-TV that Martin Duram’s parrot, Bud, has repeated “don’t [expletive] shoot” in Martin’s voice. Springstead said he has not heard it. The death remains under investigation.
VENEZUELA
Woman shot dead by police
A woman died on Monday after being shot by police when looters tried to pillage a warehouse, her family said, the latest unrest to hit the nation amid severe food shortages. Jenny Ortiz, 42, was hit by a stray bullet on Sunday night when police opened fire on looters trying to ransack a warehouse in the western city of San Cristobal, family spokesman Larry Mogollon Acevedo said. “This is an abuse of authority,” he said. Ortiz died on Monday morning at a San Cristobal Hospital after being shot multiple times in the head and face, prosecutors said. A 13-year-old boy who was passing by was also wounded. Officials said looters descended on the warehouses at the San Francisco Commercial Industrial Center overnight, in what Tachira State police chief Amador Torres called a “planned criminal act by armed groups that opened fire on police.” He said seven men and eight women were arrested, adding that food shortages had little to do with the incident.
UNITED STATES
Tropical storm makes landfall
Tropical Storm Colin made landfall early yesterday and was moving across northern Florida, unleashing thunderstorms and flooding, while Florida Governor Rick Scott activated the National Guard ahead of its landfall. The storm, which was 90km southwest of Jacksonville at 2am eastern time, barreled toward land at 37kph, the US National Hurricane Center in Miami said. A tropical storm warning was in effect for northern Florida into North Carolina yesterday morning. On its forecast path, Colin would churn across southeastern Georgia early yesterday and later in the day menace the North and South Carolina coasts.
‘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