MEXICO
Border delays cause worry
The government on Friday expressed fresh concern to the US about delays in the movement of goods and people across their border, after becoming Washington’s biggest trade partner for the first time earlier this year. The diplomatic note from the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs is the latest sign of tension between the North American neighbors since US President Donald Trump last month threatened to close the border if Mexico did not stop illegal immigrants from reaching the US. “During the month of April there has been an economic impact to Mexican and American companies caused by the delays in customs,” the ministry said in a statement.
JAPAN
Police investigating knives
Police have launched an investigation after knives were discovered near the desk of Prince Hisahito, grandson of Emperor Akihito, at a junior-high school in Tokyo, Kyodo News reported. The school alerted police after finding two cooking knives near the prince’s desk on Friday afternoon, the report said. Security camera footage showed a middle-aged man in a helmet and bluish clothes entering the school building at about noon and police are searching for the person, Kyodo said.
UNITED STATES
Children hurt in shoot-out
Three children were on Friday wounded in a police shooting in Oklahoma when an officer fired at a man in a truck who was suspected of robbing a restaurant earlier this month, state investigators said. Gunfire broke out when detectives with the Hugo Police Department were trying to approach the suspect, 21-year-old William Devaughn Smith, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Brook Arbeitman said. Smith is suspected in an April 11 armed robbery at a Pizza Hut in Hugo, which is near the Texas state line, she said.
UNITED STATES
Universities quarantined
More than 1,000 students and staff members at two Los Angeles universities were this week quarantined on campus or sent home in one of the most sweeping efforts yet by public health authorities to contain the spread of measles in the country, where cases have reached a 25-year high. By Friday afternoon, two days after Los Angeles County ordered the precautions, about 325 of those affected had been cleared to return after proving their immunity to the disease, through either medical records or tests, health officials said. The action at the University of California and California State University — which together have more than 65,000 students — reflected the seriousness with which public health officials are taking the outbreak.
CHILE
Footprint’s age determined
A 15,600-year-old footprint discovered in the country’s south is believed to be the oldest ever found in the Americas, researchers said. The footprint was discovered in 2010 by a student at the Universidad Austral de Chile. Scientists worked for years to rule out the possibility that the print might have belonged to some other species of animal and to determine the fossil’s estimated age. Karen Moreno, a paleontologist with the universidad who has overseen the studies, said researchers had also found bones of animals near the site, including those of primitive elephants. Moreno said this was the first evidence of humans in the Americas older than 12,000 years.
‘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