JAPAN
Arrest made after girl’s death
Police have arrested a local man in connection with the death of a nine-year-old Vietnamese girl near Tokyo, weeks after her body was found near a trench. Chiba prefectural police yesterday said that they arrested 46-year-old real-estate salesman Yasumasa Shibuya on suspicion that he abandoned the girl’s body in Aiko City. Police are continuing to investigate him in the girl’s murder and say he has been silent about the case. Japanese media said Shibuya headed a parents’ association at the school the girl attended. The body of Le Thi Nhat Linh was found on March 26, two days after she disappeared on her way to school.
UNITED STATES
Easter Sunday threat probed
Authorities said they were investigating a letter purportedly sent by fugitive Joseph Jakubowski that threatens violence at Wisconsin churches on Easter Sunday tomorrow. Police in Waukesha County say the letter was sent through the Postal Service and mentions churches in the Sussex area, about 40km northwest of Milwaukee. The Rock County Sheriff’s Office said the letter was being analyzed and “its authenticity is in question.” A search has been under way since police said Jakubowski robbed a gun store in Janesville, Wisconsin on April 4. They have warned that the fugitive is considered armed and dangerous and the public should not approach him. Earlier, WTMJ-TV posted 35 pages of handwritten documents to its Web site that it said were verified as Jakubowski’s writings by an unidentified law enforcement official. The documents called the government a band of terrorists controlled by churches, saying: “We need to spill their blood.”
UNITED STATES
Restaurant appeals for cows
A California Chick-fil-A franchise is waiting for its cows to come home after thieves absconded with three mascot costumes from a storage shed this week. The shop on Tuesday posted news on Facebook of the Sunday night theft from a store in the city of Folsom. The post pleaded with customers to help find the kidnapped cows. James Daack, the store’s hospitality director, on Thursday said they just want the cows back with no questions asked. “We’re hoping that through us reaching out in numerous ways, that the people who took the cows will come to their senses and bring the cows back to us,” he said. “We’re hoping it’s a prank.” The Chick-fil-A fast food chain based in Georgia specializes in chicken sandwiches. Its ads feature spelling-challenged cows that urge customers to “Eat Mor Chikin.” Folsom police were investigating. Police Sergeant Andrew Bates said he expects the cow costumes to turn up given the media attention. “It’s not like somebody can dress up for Halloween in that and it’s not money that someone can spend,” he said.
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