UNITED STATES
Heavy rains forecast
Tropical Depression Gordon yesterday was expected to dump more heavy rains that could cause flooding in central states, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. Downpours have flooded streets in Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi as the storm headed north and threatened to bring heavy rains to the Mississippi Valley and the Midwest over the next few days, the center said. The storm, which made landfall late on Tuesday, has caused minimal property damage so far, but a two-year-old girl died when a tree fell on a mobile home in Pensacola, Florida, authorities said.
FRANCE
Police clear migrant camp
Police on Tuesday moved in to clear 500 migrants from a camp at Grande-Synthe, just outside the port city of Dunkirk, officials said yesterday. Many people have been drawn to the camp in the hopes of stowing away on trucks or ferries heading to Britain. Authorities said that about 95 percent of those at the camp, which is estimated to house about 800 people, are Iraqi Kurds. Those evacuated on Tuesday were to be offered the chance to apply for asylum or taken to police centers for ID checks.
UNITED STATES
Ex-judge sues comedian
Former Alabama Supreme Court chief justice Roy Moore on Wednesday filed a US$95 million defamation lawsuit against Sacha Baron Cohen, claiming he was duped into appearing on the British comedian’s Showtime series Who Is America?” and falsely portrayed as a sex offender. He also sued Showtime and its parent CBS Corp for defamation, and accused all three defendants of fraud and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The lawsuit arose from a July 29 broadcast where Baron Cohen, disguised as Israeli anti-terrorism expert Erran Morad, interviewed Moore and demonstrated a supposed “pedophile detector” that beeped when waved near him, prompting Moore to walk out. Moore said he had been lured to Washington on the pretense he would receive an award for his support of Israel and would not have met Baron Cohen had he known what was planned.
HAITI
New Cabinet announced
A new government was unveiled on Wednesday night, two months after the prime minister resigned over deadly riots triggered by planned fuel price hikes. The new prime minister appointed by President Jovenel Moise is Jean-Henry Ceant, a notary and two-time presidential candidate. Ceant, 61, was named to the post on Aug. 5, but in a sign of discord between the legislative and presidential branches it took a month to reach agreement on his 18-member Cabinet, including six holdovers from the previous Cabinet.
UNITED STATES
Goop fined over egg ads
Gwyneth Paltrow’s lifestyle company goop.com has agreed to pay US$145,000 in civil penalties over products including egg-shaped stones that are meant to be inserted into the vagina to improve health. Prosecutors in eight California counties announced the settlement on Tuesday after a task-force investigation found some of the health claims were unfounded. The settlement involves advertisements saying the company’s Jade Egg and Rose Quartz Egg could balance hormones, regulate menstrual cycles and improve bladder control. The company must also provide refunds to customers who ask. The company said the settlement acknowledges no liability on its part and addresses only advertising, not the products themselves.
‘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