CUBA
Rouhani meets Castros
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani met with President Raul Castro in Havana on Monday to reaffirm friendly ties between the two nations and express a commitment to deepening their collaboration, state media reported. During the visit, officials from both sides signed agreements for collaboration in the health, education and science sectors, as well as a memorandum of understanding on banking. Rouhani, who stopped off in the Communist-ruled nation on his way to the UN General Assembly in New York, also met with Raul’s predecessor and elder brother, Fidel Castro. They discussed the importance of food production in a world “threatened by climate change, the incessant growth of the global population, and the dangers to the preservation of peace,” the Communist Party newspaper Granma wrote.
MEXICO
Top policeman killed
A top police official in Guerrero State and his female companion were found stabbed to death in their home in the Pacific resort of Acapulco on Monday, authorities said. The death of Tomas Hernandez Martinez, the state police’s director-general and operations coordinator, is a “huge loss” for the force, the Guerrero public security department said in a statement. Guerrero Deputy Attorney General Jose Antonio Bonilla later confirmed to reporters that a woman was also killed. He did not specify whether the couple were married. An agent from the state prosecutor’s office, who was at the crime scene, told reporters on condition of anonymity that the couple had stab wounds in their faces and other parts of their bodies, and their throats were cut in their home in the populous neighborhood of Progreso.
UNITED STATES
Opera amends Asian look
A Philadelphia opera company is agreeing to make changes in its marketing and production of Puccini’s Turandot because of complaints that it perpetuates stereotypes about Asians. A governor’s commission on Asian-Pacific American affairs on Monday said that Opera Philadelphia is modifying or removing narrow drooping Fu Manchu mustaches on several characters. The commission said the opera is also reviewing other makeup designs and has removed promotions featuring Caucasian actors in makeup meant to make them look Asian. A critique of the opera’s depiction of Asians will be included in the program. Opera Philadephia spokesman Frank Luzzi said commission members were invited to a rehearsal so a “meaningful dialogue” can continue.
UNITED STATES
Governor poses with pot
Posing for photographs is part of every governor’s job. Posing with a can of marijuana, not so much. However, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe did just that, inadvertently, when he went to greet country music legend Willie Nelson at the weekend. A picture posted on Twitter shows McAuliffe and Nelson, who was performing in Virginia. On the table between them is a can of Willie’s Reserve, Nelson’s brand of marijuana that is sold in Colorado and Washington. Marijuana possession is illegal in Virginia. McAuliffe spokesman Brian Coy said the governor spent about 10 minutes in Nelson’s trailer and did not realize what was on the table. Coy said McAuliffe would not recognize marijuana or paraphernalia “if it walked up and shook his hand.” Coy said McAuliffe may be cool, “but he’s not that cool.”
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