MEXICO
Trash towers over Acapulco
Authorities in the south of the country have declared a health emergency due to mountainous piles of uncollected trash piling up in the once-glittering resort of Acapulco. The secretary of health for the state of Guerrero, Carlos de la Pena, on Thursday said that the city government had not acted on previous warnings about the garbage building up. There are “impressive columns of garbage” at several points in Acapulco, but most are not close to the city’s beachfront, he said. Acapulco’s mayor posted videos accusing the state government of not providing more money to solve the problem, but state officials said they give the city more than US$10 million per month. The smell has been so bad that the authorities have begun spraying pesticides and spreading quicklime on the trash piles.
UNITED STATES
Trump staffer blocks journo
A volunteer member of the advance team for President Donald Trump blocked a photojournalist’s camera as he tried to take a photo of a protester during a campaign rally in Indiana. A photo taken by Associated Press photographer Evan Vucci in Evansville on Thursday shows the volunteer stretching out his hand over the lens of a news photographer’s camera after a protester disrupted Trump’s campaign event. Trump paced on stage at the Ford Center as the protester was led out. His campaign had not responded to a request for comment by late Thursday. The president was in town to stump for Republican Senate candidate Mike Braun, who is looking to unseat Democratic Senator Joe Donnelly in what is viewed as one of the nation’s most competitive Senate races.
UNITED STATES
Thieves target rare insects
Philadelphia police said that current or former employees at an insectarium have stolen more than US$40,000 worth of rare insects and reptiles. The suspects stole about 90 percent of the animals at the Philadelphia Insectarium and Butterfly Pavilion on Aug. 22 and possibly other days, authorities said. Staff uniforms were found stabbed into a wall with knives, police said. Police are searching three suspects’ homes for the animals, but no arrests have been made. They say some of the insects, including a Mexican fireleg tarantula, have been returned. Insectarium chief executive officer John Cambridge said he believes the animals were stolen to be resold.
UNITED STATES
Reporters receive icy treat
Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland on Thursday surprised the two dozen journalists covering the trade talks between the US and Canada with a cool treat. On one of her many trips into the office of Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Freeland stopped in front of microphones, cameras and recorders, to make a brief statement on the status of the negotiations and then delivered a paper bag full of popsicles. Sweaty but grateful reporters, some of whom have been camped outside the office every day for two weeks, descended on the lime and raspberry-lemon-strawberry treats. It was nearly 32°C in the US capital, with high humidity, not a cloud in the sky and nowhere nearby to hide from the sun. Freeland, a former Reuters journalist, said she remembered how hard it was to wait for the news. She regularly stops to talk to reporters to update them on the status of the talks. US officials have not addressed the press at all.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of