CROATIA
Conservatives to win vote
Conservatives were poised to remain in power after winning a snap election, nearly complete results showed yesterday, but will have to begin coalition talks to form a government after falling short of a majority. The close result does little to dispel political uncertainty in the EU’s newest member, but the new conservative leader has signaled a shift toward the center after a lurch to the right. The conservative HDZ won 61 seats, while their center-left opposition rivals, the Social Democrats, had 54, according to results from about all polling stations. The election was the second in less than a year after the previous, barely functioning, coalition government led by the HDZ collapsed in June over a conflict of interest scandal after just five months in power. However, the HDZ did not secure an absolute majority in the 151-seat parliament, and its former junior government partner, the Most Party (“Bridge” in Croatian), is likely to play kingmaker once again. The Most Party came in third with 13 seats.
LIBYA
Rival force seizes ports
Forces loyal to eastern commander Khalifa Haftar on Sunday seized at least two key oil ports from a rival force loyal to the UN-backed government. Ahmed al-Mismari, a spokesman for Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA), said its fighters had full control of Es Sider, Ras Lanuf, Brega and Zueitina after launching an early morning military operation on the eve of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. The attacks on major oil ports by Haftar, who opposes the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), could derail efforts to restart production. Those efforts are seen as critical to saving the nation’s economy and helping the GNA survive. In a statement released late on Sunday, the GNA’s leadership called the attacks an “unjustified escalation” that would “prolong the period of conflict” in Libya.
FRANCE
Bosses ride mopeds
About 700 executives and business chiefs on Sunday zoomed down Paris’ famed Champs Elysees avenue on battered blue mopeds in a bid to combat a climate of economic gloom. Decked out in matching blue capes and pink helmets, the bosses zipped down the boulevard on their Motobecane mopeds. Organizers said the event was an “apolitical” attempt to boost confidence in the economy and show solidarity with employees. Remi Peraud, a bank manager with the Banque Populaire who took part in the two-wheeled demo, said he wanted to show that “bosses know how to have fun.” The “Meules Bleues” (Blue Moped) event is now in its third year, having started out with 150 bosses taking part in 2014.
UNITED KINGDOM
Wedding protesters arrested
Police on Sunday arrested 55 people and seized blades at a Sikh temple, following a protest against a mixed marriage. Armed officers were deployed to the Gurdwara Temple in Leamington Spa early on Sunday after a group of men entered the building. A total of 55 people were arrested for aggravated trespass in what police chief David Gardner described as “an escalation of a local dispute.” “A significant number of bladed weapons were seized from the scene,” he said, adding that no one was injured in the incident. Sikh Council UK secretary-general Gurmel Singh said protesters walked freely into the temple and did not break into the building. He said the group then held prayers and a sit-in to oppose a wedding due to take place between a Sikh and a non-Sikh.
AUSTRALIA
Debris given to investigators
A US amateur investigator yesterday handed possible debris from missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 to officials and said several pieces were blackened by flames, raising the prospect of a flash fire onboard. The plane disappeared on March 8, 2014, carrying 239 passengers and crew on a routine from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau, which is coordinating the search, said Blaine Gibson had handed over unspecified debris yesterday. “We are seeking advice from the Malaysian authorities regarding how they would like to proceed,” a bureau spokesman said. Gibson told reporters the debris, which had washed up in Madagascar, included what appeared to be an internal panel. Gibson, a lawyer from Seattle, said that the pieces could be a “real game changer” if they were found to belong to MH370.
BANGLADESH
Murder suit filed over fire
Relatives of workers killed in a fire at a packaging factory have filed a murder case against the owner, police said yesterday, as the death toll from Saturday’s disaster rose to 31. Twelve people are still listed as missing after the disaster. The government has launched an investigation into what caused the fire, but police in the industrial town of Tongi, where the Tampaco Foils factory was located, said bereaved relatives had already filed a private lawsuit against eight people, including the owner and his wife. Police said they would launch a separate investigation into the murder allegation made by the family. About 70 people were injured in the blaze, some critically.
EGYPT
Fourth band member freed
The fourth and final member of a band arrested in May after they made an online video mocking the government has been released, the group’s lawyer said yesterday. The four young men from the group known as Street Children posted a video on the Internet poking fun at the devaluation of the local currency and the cession of two islands to Saudi Arabia. The other three members were released on Sunday. All were released on condition that they check in twice a week at their local police station until their next court session, the lawyer said. Their case has not been referred to trial.
NEPAL
Pedophile suspect arrested
Police said yesterday that they arrested a US national on Sunday on suspicion of sexually abusing young boys. Acting on a tip-off from an alleged victim, police arrested the 48-year-old man in a hotel room in Kathmandu, where he was holed up with three boys. A Nepalese who allegedly supplied the suspect with young boys from poor families was also arrested. “They have both been remanded in police custody for six days as we investigate further on child molestation and human trafficking charges,” a police official said, adding that the suspect had visited Nepal several times previously.
AUSTRIA
Presidential rerun delayed
A rerun of the presidential election due to take place on Oct. 2 has been postponed, Minister of the Interior Wolfgang Sobotka said yesterday. “We are going to request that parliament approves a postponement of the election,” he told a news conference. Possible new dates are Nov. 27 or Dec. 4, he said. The postponement came after some postal voters complained of faulty seals on ballot papers. The Constitutional Court ordered the rerun after a challenge from the losing candidate.
‘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