UNITED STATES
Commuter train derails
A Long Island Rail Road passenger train derailed on Saturday near New Hyde Park, New York, injuring as many as 29 people and halting service on the key transit line in both directions, railroad officials and police said. Official details were not available on the precise circumstances of the incident, which occurred at about 9pm, when a passenger train struck a work train about 32km east of Manhattan, according to police. Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano told a news conference 29 people were treated in hospitals for non-life-threatening injuries such as broken bones and concussions. Scores more were evaluated or treated at the scene for scrapes or bruises, he said.
GEORGIA
Ruling party declares win
The ruling Georgian Dream party won Saturday’s parliamentary polls, early results showed yesterday, but accusations of vote rigging from the opposition sparked fears of political instability. With votes from more than 67 percent of precincts counted, the central election commission said Georgian Dream was leading the main opposition force, the United National Movement (UNM), by 49.76 percent to 26.69 percent. Georgian Dream was quick to declare victory after the polls closed, based on exit polls which gave it a strong lead over the UNM. However, the UNM accused the government of attempts to “steal elections” and held a protest rally outside the central election commission. Several other opposition parties — such as Democratic Georgia, the Labour Party, and the Alliance of Patriots — also cried foul, accusing the government of massive vote rigging.
UNITED STATES
Two police officers killed
Two police officers were fatally shot and one injured on Saturday in Palm Springs, California, while responding to a domestic disturbance call. Two officers went to a home after receiving a report from a woman that her adult son was causing a disturbance, police chief Bryan Reyes said. “The male refused to open the door and threatened to shoot the officers through the closed doors,” Reyes said. Approximately 10 minutes after they first responded, the two officers called for emergency reinforcement and said that shots had been fired. “It was a simple family disturbance and [the gunman] elected to open fire,” Reyes said. “I’m awake in a nightmare right now.” Three officers were wounded in the gunfire and taken to a local hospital, where two of them died. Reyes said the third victim was still at the hospital, but was assisting investigators.
FRANCE
Refugee relocation protested
Demonstrators on Saturday took to the streets in several towns nationwide to protest the government’s plan to relocate refugees from the squalid Calais “Jungle” camp that is being shut down to their communities. About 250 people joined a march in Forges-les-Bains, about 30km southwest of Paris, against a refugee center that opened on Monday, housing 44 Afghans. “The state forced this center on us, but I for one don’t intend to just put up and shut up,” said Lea, a young mother of two, who declined to give her surname. Valerie Rigal, a leader of the marchers who are calling for a “moratorium” on further arrivals, insisted the villagers were not opposed to all refugees. “We’re not against migrants. We would have happily taken migrant families. What we didn’t want was single men only,” she said. “My daughter takes the bus outside the center every day. She’s worried about running into groups of strange men.”
INDIA
Radioactive leak probed
A section of the cargo terminal at New Delhi’s international airport was cordoned off yesterday and clearing operations were under way after a suspected radioactive leak. The leak at Indira Gandhi International Airport was suspected to have occurred from a package containing cancer medicines that had arrived as cargo on an Air France plane, New Delhi fire chief Atul Garg said. The area was cordoned off and a disaster management team was investigating the nature of the suspected radioactive material. Workers at the cargo terminal were asked to move out of the building as a preventive measure, Garg said. Rao Narender, an official with the fire service, said the situation was under control. The cargo terminal is about 2km from the airport’s passenger area.
NIGERIA
Judges targeted in graft raid
The country’s secret police on Saturday seized hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and assets in a series of anti-corruption raids targeting senior judges, drawing sharp condemnation from the bar association and rights groups. Police also detained several judges during the nationwide operation, although the number was not exactly clear. The raids prompted the Nigerian Bar Association to declare a state of emergency, denouncing the “Gestapo-style” operation. In a statement, the Department of States Services said it had seized US$800,000 in cash during the operation which was launched on the basis of “allegations of corruption and professional misconduct” by a number of judges. “The searches have uncovered huge raw cash of various denominations, local and foreign currencies, with real estate worth several millions of naira and documents affirming unholy acts by these judges,” it said.
AFGHANISTAN
Seven die in chopper crash
An air force helicopter crashed in northern Afghanistan yesterday, killing at least seven people on board, Afghan Ministry of Defense officials said. Four crew members and three soldiers were among those killed in the crash of the Russian-made Mi-17 helicopter, Ministry of Defense spokesman Dawlat Waziri said. “An Afghan army helicopter crashed in northern Baghlan Province due to some technical problem,” he said. “An investigation is under way.” However, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the Muslim group’s fighters had shot down the helicopter, saying the aircraft had been trying to resupply an Afghan government checkpoint that was surrounded by insurgents. The Taliban often exaggerate claims about attacks on Afghan government targets, as well as against the NATO-led coalition assisting Afghan forces.
MALI
Tuareg leader killed in blast
A Tuareg militant leader in the volatile northern city of Kidal was killed on Saturday when his car exploded about 300m from a UN base where he had been talking with French and UN troops, witnesses and officials said. A cameraman saw the car still burning after the blast that killed Cheikh Ag Aoussa. A spokeswoman for the country’s UN mission confirmed the incident, which is likely to further ignite tensions between rival pro and anti-government factions of ethnic Tuaregs in Kidal. A spokesman for French forces did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Tuareg-led Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA) and rival pro-government “Gatia” militia fighters have clashed sporadically since a power-sharing deal, in place since February, began to crumble.
‘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
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
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in