UNITED STATES
Burglar dies tied to tree
Authorities said a suspected burglar is dead after an Alabama homeowner tied him to a tree after catching the man breaking into his home. According to AL.com, Washington County Sheriff Richard Stringer said 68-year-old Nathanial Johnson, of Leroy, caught 31-year-old Cleveland Jones Gully breaking into the back door of his home, about 100km north of Mobile, on Friday just before midnight. Stringer said Johnson chased Gully out and Gully either fell or jumped off the back steps. Johnson jumped on him, tied Gully’s hands behind his back, put duct tape on his mouth and tied him to a tree with insulated electrical tape and clothesline. Johnson then went to call 911. When sheriff’s deputies arrived about 10 minutes later, Gully was dead. Stringer said an autopsy would be performed and no charges have been filed against Johnson at this time.
UNITED STATES
Pantless inmate riles judge
A Louisville judge scolded jail officials for bringing a female inmate to court without a jail jumpsuit and, it appeared, with no pants. On Friday’s courtroom video recording, an attorney for the woman told Judge Amber Wolf the jail refused to give her client pants or hygiene products. WDRB-TV reports the woman was jailed for not completing a diversion program for shoplifting. She said she had been held for days without pants. An angry Wolf telephoned jail officials during the hearing and demanded an explanation. Jail officials said the woman was wearing shorts hidden by a long shirt. Steve Durham, a jail spokesman, said she was not in custody long enough to be given a jumpsuit. Wolf apologized to the woman and released her with time served and a US$100 fine.
BRAZIL
Alleged war criminal caught
Authorities on Saturday arrested a man wanted since 1992 for allegedly committing war crimes during fighting that raged in the former Yugoslavia. The federal prosecutors office said in a statement that police arrested Nikola Ceranic, 47, in the city of Indaiatuba, about 45km northwest of Sao Paulo. Interpol had issued a red alert for Ceranic and according to the international agency’s Web site he is charged with a “war crime against a civilian population.” Neither Interpol nor Brazilian authorities had any other details about the crimes Ceranic allegedly committed, nor was it clear how long he had resided in Brazil. The Ministry of Justice on June 24 presented the Supreme Court with an extradition request made by Bosnia and Herzegovina authorities for Ceranic, and the search for him began. State and federal prosecutors worked with their Bosnian counterparts and police in Sao Paulo to locate and arrest Ceranic. Under Brazilian law, the Supreme Court must decide on all extradition requests. It was not clear how long a decision might take.
BOLIVIA
China delivers armored fleet
Bolivia on Saturday took ownership of a fleet of armored vehicles from China worth US$7.7 million as part of a military cooperation deal. Chinese Ambassador to Bolivia Wu Yuanshan (吳元山) led a ceremony at which the 27 armored combat vehicles and four riot response vehicles were delivered in La Paz. The military cooperation also includes training and maintenance instruction. Under the deal signed last year, China is donating US$30 million in military aid to the South American nation.
CHINA
China braces for typhoon
The nation issued a “yellow alert” for Typhoon Nida, predicting it would hit Guangdong Province tomorrow, Xinhua news agency reported. The National Meteorological Center issued the third-most severe alert on a four-color scale, warning of strong winds and heavy rain along the coast affecting Guangdong, Fujian and Hainan provinces as well as the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Nida would be the fourth typhoon to hit China this year, with natural disasters killing 800 people since June, the worst casualties since a similar period in 2011. Weather reports indicate the storm will also hit the financial center Hong Kong. Nida is expected to pick up speed with winds forecasted to reach 38-45 meters per second by the time it makes landfall, the center said. Last month, Typhoon Nepartak drove at least 420,000 Chinese from their homes and caused more than 7.1 billion yuan (US$1.07 billion) in losses in Fujian Province alone.
CHINA
Hefei mayor probed for graft
Authorities are investigating the mayor of provincial capital Hefei on suspicion of serious discipline violations, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday, using the euphemism generally applied to graft. The report cited the provincial anti-graft agency and did not elaborate. Zhang Qingjun (張慶軍) has been mayor of the capital of Anhui province since 2012. Since taking office nearly four years ago, President Xi Jinping (習近平) has launched a sweeping campaign to combat corruption that has taken down many top officials in the party, government, military and state-owned companies.
CHINA
Monk’s treatment defended
The nation protected the rights of a Tibetan monk who died in prison, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, responding to claims by the monk’s niece that he was tortured. Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, 65, had been serving a life sentence for “crimes of terror and incitement of separatism” when his family was told on July 12 last year that he had died of a heart attack in prison in the southwestern city of Chengdu. His 26-year-old niece fled to India, where she has questioned the official version of events and is appealing for justice for her uncle. “China is a country ruled by law, during Tenzin Delek Rinponche’s sentence his legal rights were protected according to relevant laws,” the ministry said in a statement sent to reporters late on Saturday. The ministry repeated that he died suddenly of heart related problems and that hospital rescue efforts were ineffective. Tenzin Delek was a senior supporter of the Dalai Lama, who fled to India after a failed uprising in 1959.
SINGAPORE
Ex-president suffers stroke
Former president S.R. Nathan has suffered a stroke and is in critical condition, the Prime Minister’s Office said yesterday. “Former president SR Nathan suffered a stroke early this morning. He is in critical condition in the intensive care unit at SGH [Singapore General Hospital],” the statement said. Nathan, a 92-year-old former senior civil servant, was the sixth and longest-serving president in Singapore, and was in office for two terms from 1999 to 2011. He also suffered a stroke in April last year. Although mostly ceremonial, Singapore’s president has some powers such as the ability to veto the use of government reserves.
‘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