COLOMBIA
Blast kills eight officers
A blast killed at least eight police officers early on Wednesday in the northwestern town of San Pedro de Uraba, where armed drug smugglers are active, officials said. “The partial toll is eight policemen killed and a vehicle ... affected,” the police said in a statement. A team of police had been escorting officials tasked with handing back land to rural residents who were displaced by the nation’s half-century-long conflict between the government and Marxist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels, which came to an end under a November 2016 peace deal. The area where the blast occurred has seen operations by the so-called Golfo Clan, the nation’s biggest drug-trafficking organization, the statement said. Security forces have kept up intense pressure on the group, which has attracted a number of former ultra-right-wing paramilitaries who had fought the FARC during the conflict. The Ministry of National Defense has previously said the clan had about 1,800 members, less than half its original strength following a major offensive by the administration of President Juan Manuel Santos. The government had talks with the leadership of the clan in September last year in a bid to get them to turn themselves in.
MEXICO
Troops evacuate 92 civilians
Soldiers and police in the troubled southern state of Guerrero have escorted a convoy of 92 people terrorized by drug cartels out of their mountain hamlet. Guerrero state security spokesman Roberto Alvarez on Wednesday said that the convoy of mostly the elderly, women and children left Laguna de Huayanalco in the township of Totolapan because they fear the drug gangs that operate in the area. Alvarez said in a statement on Wednesday that the residents loaded into 11 private vehicles and were escorted out of town. Photographs showed army Humvees leading the convoy. Last month, 13 people were evacuated from Totolapan, because they feared for their safety. Alvarez said that the convoy went to the town of Atoyac, across the state near the Pacific coast. It was not immediately clear why that destination was chosen. Also on Wednesday, the Green Party said that a female state assembly candidate was killed in the neighboring state of Michoacan. In February, two female state assembly candidates were slain in Guerrero. Violence threatens to mar local races that are being held simultaneously with the presidential election on July 1. Both Michoacan and Guerrero states have been plagued by drug gang violence.
UNITED STATES
‘Christmas’ house to expand
A Cleveland house known for its appearance in the holiday classic A Christmas Story is planning to expand. The owners of A Christmas Story house have purchased the home next door. WJW-TV reported that the next-door property was also featured in the film as the home of the Parker family’s neighbors, the Bumpuses. The A Christmas Story house bgan offering overnight rentals last year. By acquiring the Bumpus house, more people will be able to stay overnight, the report said. The 1983 film is based on childhood stories from radio and television personality Jean Shepherd. The founder of A Christmas Story house, Brian Jones, said he was “always striving to offer new ways to make visiting Ralphie’s house on Cleveland Street a unique and memorable experience.”
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