IRAN
Tehran warns US over deal
Tehran can resume high-level uranium enrichment within five days if the US tears up the nuclear deal, Atomic Energy Organization head Ali Akbar Salehi said yesterday. “If we make a determination, at most in five days we can start 20 percent enrichment in Fordo [nuclear plant],” he said in an interview with state broadcaster IRIB. “Of course we would not like such a thing to happen as we made a lot of effort to achieve the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action],” he said, referring to the nuclear deal.
INDIA
Effluent turns dogs blue
Authorities in Mumbai have shut down a manufacturing company after it was accused of dumping untreated industrial waste and dyes into a local river that resulted in 11 dogs turning blue. The group of strangely colored canines was first spotted on Aug. 11, according to the Hindustan Times, prompting locals to complain to the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board about dyes being dumped in the Kasadi river, where the animals often swim. The board investigated, shutting down the company on Wednesday last week after confirming that canines were turning blue due to air and water pollution linked to the plant. An animal welfare agency managed to capture one of the dogs and wash some of the blue dye off. The group concluded that the dog seemed unharmed in all other ways.
UNITED STATES
Train crash injures 42
A train crash in Philadelphia early yesterday injured 42 people, authorities said. Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority spokeswoman Heather Redfern said a high-speed train ran into another one that was stationary and unoccupied at the 69th Street Terminal in the city’s Upper Darby suburb. “All 42 people on board the train that was moving were injured and all appear to be non life-threatening,” she said, adding the cause of the crash just after midnight was being investigated.
UNITED STATES
Two Kennedys arrested
Two members of the Kennedy family have been arrested in Massachusetts following complaints about a loud party and fireworks. Barnstable police said officers responded to a home near the family compound in Hyannis Port early on Sunday morning on noise complaints. Police said 52-year-old Matthew Kennedy and his daughter, 22-year-old Caroline Kennedy, were taken into custody and charged with disorderly conduct and violating the town’s noise law. They were later released on their own recognizance. Matthew Kennedy pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on Monday in Barnstable District Court. Caroline Kennedy is to be arraigned at a later date. Matthew Kennedy is an author and the ninth child of Robert and Ethel Kennedy.
UAE
Man hides pills in intestines
A man found himself in a legal mess after allegedly trying to smuggle 5.7 million amphetamine pills into the sheikhdom hidden inside sheep intestines, a state-owned newspaper in Dubai reported yesterday. The man appeared in court on charges he hid the pills in intestines packed into drums heading into Dubai’s massive Jebel Ali port, al-Bayan newspaper reported. Prosecutors said the man said his brother had told him to try to bring the intestines into the country. Customs authorities discovered the pills when they inspected the cargo before it was to be released and taken to a warehouse.
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