UNITED STATES
Africa troops to be reduced
The Pentagon is to trim the number of troops deployed across Africa as it concentrates more on countering threats from “Great Power” competitors Russia and China, officials said on Thursday. About 7,200 US military personnel are based in dozens of African nations, with notable footprints in Somalia, Nigeria and Libya. Pentagon spokeswoman Commander Candice Tresch said that figure would be reduced by about 10 percent over the next few years. The move comes as the Pentagon works on implementing President Donald Trump’s sweeping National Defense Strategy, which highlights a new era of “Great Power competition” with Moscow and Beijing. On Wednesday, a bipartisan congressional panel that reviewed the strategy said that the US’ focus on counterinsurgency operations this century has seen its military advantages slip in other warfighting areas.
MEXICO
Court forbids use of military
The Supreme Court on Thursday invalidated a controversial law signed last year that created a legal framework for the military to work in a policing role in much of the country, ruling that the measure violated the Constitution by trying to normalize the use of the armed forces in public safety. Deep-rooted corruption and ineffectiveness among local and state police forces has led Mexico to rely heavily on the military to combat drug cartels in parts of the country. However, military commanders have long expressed uneasiness about what was essentially an open-ended policing mission. The armed forces have been implicated in a number of human rights abuse cases.
UNITED STATES
EPA official faces charges
The nation’s top environmental official for the southeast was on Thursday arrested on criminal ethics charges in Alabama reported to be related to a scheme to help a coal company avoid paying for a costly toxic waste cleanup. Trey Glenn, 47, was briefly booked into a county jail in Birmingham before being released on a US$30,000 bond. Glenn was appointed in August last year to serve as head of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) regional office in Atlanta, which oversees operations in eight states stretching from the Carolinas to Mississippi. A grand jury earlier this week indicted Glenn and his former business partner, Scott Phillips. Prior to Glenn’s appointment at the EPA, he and Phillips worked for the coal company Drummond Co to build state and local opposition to a federal Superfund cleanup in Birmingham that their client would have had to help fund.
UNITED STATES
Florida orders hand recount
Florida authorities on Thursday ordered a hand recount of the state’s chaotic and closely watched US Senate race after counties filed retabulated vote totals that show the Republican candidate endorsed by President Donald Trump narrowly leading the Democratic incumbent. Results from the Nov. 6 election were too close to call, and a machine recount was conducted in the race between Democratic candidate Bill Nelson and his Republican challenger, Rick Scott, who is Florida’s outgoing governor. Results from that recount, which was beset by technical problems in at least one large county, were due at 3pm on Thursday. They showed Nelson trailing Scott by about 12,600 votes out of more than 8.2 million ballots cast, or 0.15 percentage points. With the difference falling within the 0.25 parameter that triggers a manual recount. The hand recount must be completed by tomorrow.
CHINA
Bishop reported detained
A Catholic news service reported that a bishop who has resisted demands to join the Chinese Communist Party-controlled church body has been taken into custody, despite recent moves by Beijing and the Holy See toward reconciliation. Asia News reported that Peter Shao (邵祝敏) dropped out of sight several days ago, but gave no details. Shao was appointed by the pope in 2016 and posted to the southeastern city of Wenzhou, which has a large Christian community.
CHINA
Premier reassures Suu Kyi
Beijing supports the Burmese government’s efforts to protect domestic stability and approach to resolving the Rohingya issue, Premier Li Keqiang (李克強) told Burmese State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, after US Vice President Mike Pence offered a strong rebuke. Pence on Wednesday voiced Washington’s strongest condemnation yet of Myanmar’s treatment of Rohingya Muslims, telling Aung San Suu Kyi that “persecution” by her country’s army was “without excuse.” Meeting Aung San Suu Kyi on the sidelines of a Southeast Asian summit in Singapore, Li said China attaches great importance to its ties with Myanmar and would build on their tradition of friendship, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday. “The Chinese side supports Myanmar’s efforts in maintaining its domestic stability, and supports Myanmar and Bangladesh appropriately resolving the Rakhine State issue via dialogue and consultation,” the ministry cited Li as saying. China is “willing to provide the relevant parties with necessary support in this regard,” he said, without elaborating. The statement cited Aung San Suu Kyi as expressing thanks to China for the many times Beijing has extended help to Myanmar.
‘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
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
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in