UNITED STATES
Rare bat stages comeback
Wildlife officials say it might be time for a toast now that a once-rare bat important to the pollination of plants used to produce tequila is making a comeback. The Fish and Wildlife Service on Thursday proposed removing the lesser long-nosed bat from the endangered species list. Mexico delisted the bat in 2015, and if approved in the US, this would be the first bat ever removed from the nation’s list of threatened and endangered species. Federal officials said it has taken 30 years of conservation efforts by biologists and volunteers in Mexico and the US, as well as tequila producers in Mexico, to rebuild a healthy population.
UNITED STATES
Mardi Gras season starts
People in greater New Orleans on Friday braved the cold and rain to mark the start of the Mardi Gras season, standing in pre-dawn, windy lines to buy celebratory cakes and closing the evening on a rainy night with costumed street car rides. The holiday season begins on Epiphany, commemorating the day the Bible says the three wise men reached the baby Jesus Christ. Fat Tuesday, which marks the culmination of Mardi Gras season, falls on Feb. 28. Across the city people bought king cake, a traditional holiday bakery treat, to bring to their offices or home to share with family.
UNITED STATES
IS operative killed in raid
The US-based coalition has killed a senior Islamic State (IS) group facilitator in an airstrike in the extremists’ self-proclaimed capital of Raqa, Syria, the US military command said on Friday. Central Command identified the target as Mahmud al-Isawi, an IS operative who managed instructions and finances for IS leaders and provided propaganda and intelligence support. He was killed on Saturday last week, making him the 16th significant member of the network’s external operations killed last year. The long-time IS member provided to the group’s media and intelligence in Fallujah prior to his move to Raqa.
TURKEY
Refugees to be naturalized
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday announced that some of the millions of Syrian and Iraqis who have fled to Turkey would be given Turkish nationality. “Our interior ministry is carrying out work and under this work, some of them will be granted our nationality after all the necessary checks” have been carried out, Erdogan said in a speech broadcast on television. “There are highly qualified people among them, there are engineers, lawyers, doctors. Let’s make use” of that talent, he said.
FRANCE
Refugee helper acquitted
A court on Friday acquitted a man for helping refugees sneak into the country from Italy as immigration issues play a major role ahead of this year’s elections. “In France today we have the right to save people in distress,” said researcher Pierre-Alain Mannoni, who had faced a six-month suspended jail sentence for aiding Eritrean refugees who came into France from Italy. The prosecutor said during the trial in November last year in the southern city of Nice that people had a “duty” to help people, “but not help [illegal refugees] to stay and circulate” in the country. The judge ruled that the 45-year-old researcher at French national research center CNRS had helped three young Eritrean women to “protect their dignity.”
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
‘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