UNITED STATES
Fiesta balloon rides halted
High winds led officials at the 45th Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta to ground pilots on Monday, a day after two balloons hit power lines, sparking an explosion and knocking out electricity to hundreds of residents. The explosion and outage occurred when the Outlander alien-themed balloon hit a line on Sunday and knocked out power for about 1,200 residents. Crews with the Public Service Co of New Mexico had to cut the gondola from the balloon to rescue the pilot and passengers. Photos and video of the crash posted on social media showed the balloon dangling from utility lines as crews worked to remove it. No one was injured. The only damage appeared to be a hole in the balloon, officials said. Another balloon landed on a power line to the south. A photo released by Albuquerque police showed a balloon hanging from a power line. Balloon fiesta spokesman Tom Garrity said a female passenger suffered superficial injuries after the gondola was on the ground. She was treated and released from a hospital, he said.
UNITED STATES
Child dies in patrol car
Two police officers in Mississippi are on paid leave after a three-year-old daughter of one of the officers died unattended in a patrol car. Hancock County Chief Deputy Sheriff Don Bass said Long Beach police officer Cassie Barker’s daughter died on Friday after being left in the car for four hours while her mother was visiting with Long Beach patrolman Clark Ladner. Both officers were off-duty at the time. Long Beach Police Chief Wayne McDowell told the Sun Herald that Barker and Ladner were placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation. Hancock County Sheriff Ricky Adam said the car was running and the air conditioning was on when investigators found the child, who died in a hospital.
UNITED STATES
Dad in SUV death on trial
Obsessed with seeking sex outside his marriage, a Georgia man left his toddler son to die inside a hot sport utility vehicle (SUV) so he could “escape from one life into another,” prosecutors said on Monday. Justin Ross Harris is charged with malice murder and other crimes in the June 2014 death of his 22-month-old son, Cooper. Assistant District Attorney Chuck Boring called Harris a deceptive man who saw his wife and child as obstacles to fulfilling his sexual desires. He said Harris sent about 30 phone messages — mostly to women and mostly about sex — on the day his son died. Harris’ defense attorneys were to get their first chance to speak to the jury yesterday morning. The defense team’s opening statement got pushed back after court was delayed for 90 minutes late on Monday afternoon. Superior Court Judge Mary Staley Clark recessed for the evening without giving an explanation.
UNITED STATES
Wild pigs eating lawns
Wild pigs are eating front yards in at least one northern California neighborhood. KNTV reports that the pigs strike in the middle of the night, digging up front lawns in the Evergreen neighborhood in South San Jose. Resident Rod Murchison said there were about 20 wild boars that had destroyed more than half a dozen lawns in the neighborhood over the past week. Some pigs have also eaten geranium plants. Residents said they believe the pigs are coming from a nearby ranchland. One resident put up a device that shines a red light, simulating a pig predator, hoping it would be enough to keep the hungry grub hunters away.
‘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