BAHAMAS
Debris found could be plane
Authorities on Wednesday lost track of a small airplane with six people on board as it traveled between two islands and searchers later found a debris field, suggesting the aircraft might have crashed into the ocean, officials said. The twin-engine Piper PA-23 Aztec was en route from Andros to New Providence in the morning when it turned back and then disappeared from the radar of air traffic controllers in Nassau, Bahamas Air Accident Investigation Department chief investigator Delvin Major said. The US Coast Guard later said that a helicopter crew found a debris field about 8km east of Andros Island, and the Royal Bahamas Defence Force was heading to the area to investigate. There was fog and low visibility around New Providence at the time that air traffic control first registered the airplane on radar, but it was not known why the aircraft apparently turned back toward Andros, Major said.
PALESTINE
Man killed in Israeli raid
A man was killed during clashes with Israeli forces in the north of the occupied West Bank late on Wednesday, the Ministry of Health said. Israeli forces entered Jenin late on Wednesday, according to eyewitnesses, with violent clashes breaking out, in which Israeli police said there were a “number of injuries.” The ministry named the dead man as 22-year-old Ahmed Jarrar. The Israeli Security Agency said shots were fired during a raid by border guards to capture the alleged perpetrators of an attack earlier this month, in which a rabbi was shot dead. “During the clashes, one of the suspects was killed while others were arrested,” the agency said in a statement, without giving further details.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Volcanic eruption expected
Seismic activity beneath a volcano could mean that a major eruption is imminent, a vulcanologist said yesterday. Thousands of people have been evacuated from islands surrounding Kadovar Island off the north coast since a volcano there began erupting on Jan. 5, spouting ash. Flights nearby have been canceled due to the risk posed by ash plumes and ships were warned to stay away from the island. Steve Saunders, principal geodetic surveyor at the Rabaul Volcano Observatory, said seismic activity had recently increased beneath the volcano. “The reason we’re getting activity is probably because new magma is moving up from deeper down,” Saunders told Australian Broadcasting Corp. Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has said relevant state resources were being made available to support evacuations and he warned northern coastal communities to be alert for possible tsunamis.
UNITED STATES
‘Psychic’ receives jail term
A purported psychic who charged an elderly Massachusetts woman US$3.5 million for exorcisms and “spiritual cleansing” has been sentenced for evading taxes. Federal prosecutors said 41-year-old Sally Ann Johnson was on Wednesday sentenced to 26 months in jail. She was ordered to repay the woman and pay US$725,000 to the Internal Revenue Service. Prosecutors said Johnson ran businesses that claimed to offer psychic readings and spiritual cleansing and strengthening. They said a Martha’s Vineyard woman from 2007 to 2014 paid Johnson about US$3.5 million for services that claimed to rid the woman of demons. She did not report the income and tried to hide the money to avoid paying taxes, they added. Johnson in October last year pleaded guilty to attempting to interfere with the administration of tax laws.
‘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
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