BRAZIL
Sao Paulo zoo reopens
Officials have reopened Sao Paulo’s zoo and botanical gardens after a monkey was killed by the yellow fever virus. The Sao Paulo secretariat for the environment said the virus that killed a monkey was an isolated case and the transmission risk was low. The virus has not been detected in the area occupied by the two parks. Both have been closed since Jan. 23 and were reopened on Thursday. A total of 29 other parks in the city of Sao Paulo remain closed as a preventive measure. On Wednesday, the Ministry of Health said that 900 cases of yellow fever had been reported nationwide since July last year and 300 people had died from the disease.
SPAIN
Clashes over vendor’s death
Street clashes erupted on Thursday night in central Madrid over the death of a 35-year-old African vendor, who witnesses said died trying to escape from police cracking down on illegal street sales. Hundreds of protesters burned plastic trash bins, blocking narrow streets in the Lavapies neighborhood of the Spanish capital. A reporter saw protesters throw stones at dozens of riot police officers. Rioters also set fire to the facade of a bank and broke glass partitions at a bus stop. Madrid’s emergency service said 16 police officers and four civilians were treated for minor injuries. News agency Europa Press quoted police as saying the vendor died of cardiorespiratory arrest while running from officers. “I regret very much the death of a citizen in Lavapies,” Madrid Mayor Manuela Carmena tweeted, adding that the municipal government would “investigate thoroughly what happened and act accordingly.” One resident, who gave his name only as Marcos, said that earlier in the day he saw police officers on foot and on motorbikes pursuing a group of African street vendors. He said the chase began in Puerta del Sol square and headed toward the Lavapies neighborhood.
UNITED STATES
Patient killed in crash
Authorities said an out-of-control ambulance ran off a road and crashed in Ohio, killing a patient and injuring the driver and an emergency medical service attendant. Ohio Highway Patrol said the crash occurred on Thursday afternoon just outside Vermilion. Patrol Lieutenant Brett Gockstetter said the driver might have suffered a medical emergency before losing control of the vehicle. Gockstetter said the patient’s wife was following the ambulance and saw the crash. No other vehicles were involved. Authorities said the driver’s injuries were not life-threatening, but the attendant was seriously injured.
UNITED STATES
Compromised lobbyist quits
An Iowa statehouse lobbyist has resigned from her job days after a video was released that showed her kissing a state senator, a newspaper reported. Iowa League of Cities executive director Alan Kemp on Thursday confirmed the resignation of Lindsey McCune to the Des Moines Register, but he declined to give more information. The league promotes policy in the statehouse on behalf of cities. The Web site Iowa Starting Line on Monday published video that showed McCune kissing Iowa Senator Bill Dix at a Des Moines bar. The married Republican resigned from office hours later. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds on Thursday announced that a special election would be held on April 10 to fill Dix’s seat.
‘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