UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Iranian’s sentence upheld
An appeals court has upheld a 10-year jail sentence against an Iranian convicted of breaching international sanctions against Tehran, state media reported yesterday. The State Security Court upheld the man’s conviction on charges of “sharing intelligence with Iran, importing electricity generators and devices used in the Iranian nuclear program from the UK and attempting to illegally re-export these devices to Iran,” WAM news agency reported. The man, whose identity has not been disclosed, was found guilty by a lower court in April and sentenced to 10 years in jail to be followed by deportation.
UNITED STATES
Trump’s FCC pick confirmed
The Senate on Monday confirmed President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), despite Democratic complaints that Ajit Pai would undermine Internet neutrality. The vote was 52-41 for Pai, who has served as a commissioner at the commission since 2012. The nomination turned into a proxy fight over Internet neutrality rules established in 2015. Those rules mean service providers such as Verizon, AT&T and Comcast must treat all content the same and not favor their own Web sites and apps over others, such as a movie streaming service. Pai has tried to roll the rules back, drawing more than 22 million comments and ire from Democrats.
UNITED STATES
Judge upholds abortion law
An Iowa district court judge has upheld a new state law that requires a three-day waiting period for abortions, a move that sends the issue to the Iowa Supreme Court. Polk County District Judge Jeffrey Farrell said in a ruling issued on Monday that the law does not place an undue burden on women. The Republican-controlled Iowa Legislature passed legislation earlier this year that banned most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Planned Parenthood of the Heartland and the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa are challenging the constitutionally of provisions within the law that require the waiting period and an additional clinic visit. They have filed an appeal.
UNITED STATES
Drone delivers to convicts
A Michigan State Police report says a drone that sneaked contraband into a prison in May went undetected for nearly two months. Michigan Department of Corrections spokesman Chris Gautz said video surveillance shows that inmates at Richard A. Handlon Correctional Facility received two packages dropped by a drone on May 29. Prison officials suspect the packages contained mobile phones that were found inside the prison in July. The report said a third package containing phones, tobacco and marijuana was delivered that day, but prison officials recovered it.
UNITED STATES
Trevor Noah wins award
Trevor Noah is so funny he is getting an award. The Daily Show host’s memoir, Born a Crime, has won the Thurber Prize for American Humor. Prize officials made the announcement on Monday night. Judges chose Noah’s reflections on growing up in South Africa over a pair of novels — Ken Pisani’s Amp’d and Aaron Thier’s Mr Eternity. Noah is to be given US$5,000 and a crystal plaque. The award is named after the late James Thurber, the celebrated writer and illustrator.
‘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