GREECE
New fires force evacuations
Two new brushfires have broken out, forcing the overnight evacuation of four villages on the island of Evia, authorities said yesterday. The new blazes came several hours after a major blaze led to the mobilization of more than 100 firefighters and the evacuation of another village. The island’s fire department said that the two new fires broke out simultaneously shortly before midnight on Thursday. Firefighters managed to limit the spread of the initial blaze, but it continued to burn. A total of 255 firefighters, four water bombers and three helicopters, along with 100 ground vehicles and earth-moving machinery, were battling the three fires.
POLAND
Tax break for young passed
Lawmakers have approved a measure that would exonerate most workers younger than 26 from income taxes as the government seeks to stem the flow of young people to other EU nations in search of better-paying jobs. The Sejm approved the measure introduced by the ruling conservatives in a vote late on Thursday by an overwhelming majority. The bill would exonerate workers younger than 26 from the 18 percent personal income tax for those whose gross earnings do not surpass 85,500 zlotys (US$22,696) per year. That level is higher than the nation’s average income, estimated to be about 60,000 zlotys per year before tax. The approval of the measure by the Senate and its signature by the president is widely expected. About 2 million people could benefit from the measure, said supporters of the legislation, which should enter into force from Aug. 1. The nation has long been hemorrhaging skilled workers to other EU states where they can find better-paying jobs, posing both a long-term demographic risk and a short-term problem to find enough workers to continue a streak of economic growth since the fall of communism in 1989. The measure was one of the campaign promises made by the ruling Law and Justice party ahead of the European parliamentary elections in May and legislative elections scheduled for later this year.
UNITED STATES
City blocks off skate ramp
A homemade skate ramp made in part from ashes of a man shot and killed at an Albuquerque, New Mexico, skate park is now blocked off. KOAT-TV reported that the city government this week temporarily blocked off access to the memorial, because it was built without permission from officials. Albuquerque Parks and Recreation Director Dave Simon said that nothing may be constructed on city property without prior authorization. City officials have said that they want to assess the ramp for safety and structural integrity. Cody Raver was shot and killed at Los Altos skate park in April. His friends built the ramp at the skate park in his honor and mixed some of his ashes in with the cement.
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
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was
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