HAITI
Scores flee in prison break
At least 172 inmates escaped a prison near Port-au-Prince during an armed mutiny, killing one guard and many escaping with police weapons, local media reported. Arcahaie prison manager Heurtelou Paul Colson on Saturday said a guard was shot dead and two other police officers were wounded. One prisoner climbed over a wall and fell to his death, while two other detainees were wounded and in hospital. Authorities said Yvener Carelus, who was serving time for kidnapping, was the mastermind behind the escape. He was arrested. Human rights activist Pierre Esperance said the prison housed “a lot of big-name prisoners, major criminals sentenced for theft, rape, kidnapping, drug trafficking, etc.” Authorities have launched a manhunt for the escapees, with police checking all roads near the prison, and increased security at other prisons.
UNITED STATES
Baby, not kidney stones
Abdominal pain on Tuesday sent Georgia resident Stephanie Jaegers to the hospital. She told her husband, Michael, she believed it was due to kidney stones. When they arrived at the hospital in Stockbridge doctors asked if she might be pregnant. She said no and doctors began preparing her for X-rays. However, after some observations, they began preparing her for an ultrasound instead. Michael Jaegers said doctors told him his wife was pregnant — 38 weeks to be exact. He said there are no words to describe being told you are having a baby — in 30 minutes. At 3:50am on Wednesday, Shaun Jude Jaegers was born, weighing 3.26kg and measuring 48cm.
UNITED STATES
Comedian attacks hackers
Comedian Leslie Jones weighed in on cybersecurity in a commentary on Saturday Night Live, saying cybercriminals could put their talents to far better use than hacking celebrities. Jones, whose own Web site was hacked in August, offered her perspective during her recurring gig as a contributor to the show’s “Weekend Update” news segment. “I am very comfortable with who I am. I am an open book,” Jones said, adding “I keep my porn in a folder labeled porn. If you wanna see Leslie Jones naked, just ask.” Jones scolded hackers by saying: “If you want to hurt anybody these days, you’re going to have to do way more than leak their news or call them names. You can’t embarrass me more than I have embarrassed myself. At a certain point you got to stop being embarrassed and just start being you, and I have been me for 49 years. Because the only person who can hack me is me. My firewall is a crazy-ass bitch with a shovel.”
COLOMBIA
Warplane triggers incident
Avianca airline on Saturday briefly suspended flights to and from Venezuela after a Venezuelan fighter jet caused a diplomatic incident by approaching one of its planes, the company said. The fighter briefly approached the airliner flying from Madrid to Bogota on Friday, prompting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to order an investigation. However, President Juan Manuel Santos early on Saturday downplayed the incident. “The ministers have spoken and cleared it all up, everything is normal,” he said. “There’s no need to worry.” On the Venezuelan side, lawmaker Diosdado Cabello later called it a “regrettable misunderstanding.” “It was nothing planned against Avianca in any way at all. It will be taken care of,” said Cabello, who is also the No. 2 person in Maduro’s administration.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in 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
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