CANADA
Murder trial pushed to 2020
A man facing murder charges in the deaths of eight men with ties to Toronto’s gay village is not to stand trial until January 2020. Bruce McArthur said little in a brief court appearance on Friday and avoided looking at the family members of his alleged victims. Early this year, police found the remains of seven of the men in large planters at a property where the 67-year-old worked as a landscaper. The remains of the eighth alleged victim were found in a ravine behind the same property in midtown Toronto. The prosecution said that it was ready to start the trial in September next year, but the defense said it would not be available until January 2020. The trial was then scheduled to begin on Jan. 6, 2020.
UNITED STATES
Brangelina ink custody deal
Hollywood superstars Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have reached an amicable agreement on the custody of their six children, avoiding a potentially messy public trial, US media reported on Friday. Pitt and Jolie announced their separation in September 2016 after two years of marriage and 11 years together. Three of their children are their biological children and the other three are adopted. “A custody arrangement was agreed two weeks ago, and has been signed by both parties and the judge,” Jolie’s lawyer, Samantha Bley DeJean, said in a statement. “The agreement, which is based on the recommendations of the child custody evaluator, eliminates the need for a trial.” The couple had been set for a trial on Tuesday. Jolie originally wanted to have sole custody of the children, while Pitt asked for shared custody. The terms of the agreement are confidential, DeJean said. The couple is still working out the details of their divorce, with the distribution of assets reportedly proving especially thorny.
UNITED STATES
TV networks to probe Tyson
TV networks Fox and National Geographic are to investigate renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson after allegations of sexual misconduct were leveled against him. Patheos.com on Thursday published accounts from two women who said that Tyson behaved in a sexually inappropriate manner with them. Tyson was host of Cosmos on Fox in 2014 and a new edition of the series was to air on National Geographic next year. Tyson has not commented publicly and an e-mailed request for comment to his representative was not immediately returned. In a statement, the producers of Cosmos said: “The credo at the heart of Cosmos is to follow the evidence wherever it leads. The producers of Cosmos can do no less in this situation.” They said that they would conduct a thorough investigation. Fox and National Geographic on Friday evening said that they only recently learned of the allegations and were reviewing the allegations.
VENEZUELA
Do not give gold: opposition
Key opposition leaders have urged the Bank of England not to hand over US$550 million of gold reserves requested by President Nicolas Maduro. A letter sent on Friday to the bank said that Maduro’s government would steal the 14 tonnes of gold or use it to oppress and kill Venezuelans. The letter was from former National Assembly president Julio Borges and opposition party leader Carlos Vecchio, who are both living in exile. Critics have said Maduro is draining the country’s gold reserves to make up for plummeting crude production. The government has been repatriating gold reserves since 2012. The letter highlighted that the UK and the US consider Maduro’s government illegitimate.
‘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