NORWAY
Suspect denies murder
A man suspected of killing his stepsister and opening fire at a mosque near Oslo rejects allegations of murder and attempted murder, his lawyer Unni Fries said yesterday. The man, identified by media as 21-year old Philip Manshaus, is suspected of killing his 17-year-old stepsister and attempted murder at al-Noor mosque on Saturday. Police are considering adding a charge of “attempted act of terror.” The suspect was due to appear before a judge at 1pm for a detention hearing. The suspect entered the mosque in Baerum armed with at least two weapons and opened fire before being overpowered by a 65-year-old man who suffered minor injuries.
PORTUGAL
Strike spurs fuel rationing
With fuel-tanker drivers starting a strike, the government yesterday imposed fuel rationing at gasoline stations, promising to prevent the labor action from paralyzing the nation at the height of the tourist season. The National Hazardous Materials Drivers’ Union decided to stop work for the second time this year after talks with their employers over better pay and workers’ rights failed. The government on Friday declared an energy crisis ahead of the strike, allowing it to ensure full supplies to ports, hospitals, airports and other priority users. The fuel rationing for the public restricts drivers to a maximum of 15 liters of gasoline per filling at specially designated stations covered by the government-decreed minimum services scheme, and 25 liters at all other stations.
MEXICO
Governor new party head
Campeche Governor Alejandro Moreno, who is seen as close to President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, apparently won a vote to head the former ruling party. An exit poll by Consulta Mitofsky pointed to a wide victory for Moreno to lead the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). Moreno’s apparent victory suggests the PRI might become a sort of loyal opposition or satellite party for Lopez Obrador. The president’s own Morena party lacks the PRI’s experience, discipline and political machinery. In a speech claiming victory, Moreno pledged that under his leadership, the PRI would be “a strong, critical assertive opposition.”
SPAIN
Arson suspect arrested
A huge fire raging on the island of Gran Canaria has sparked the evacuation of hundreds of people and a man suspected of lighting the blaze has been arrested, authorities said on Sunday. About 1,000 hectares have so far been destroyed in the fire, which erupted on Saturday in the western municipality of Artenara near the provincial capital of Las Palmas. About 1,000 residents evacuated overnight have not yet been allowed to return to their homes, emergency services said in a statement on Sunday. Police said they had detained a man for allegedly starting the fire by using welding equipment.
GREECE
Forest fire under control
Firefighters yesterday brought under control a major forest fire that was threatening homes on the outskirts of Athens, officials said. At least two houses were burned, but there were no reports of injuries as police quickly evacuated the area and blocked roads. The civil protection authority said the blaze started at about 3am in the eastern suburb of Peania, in the pine-forested foothills of Mount Ymittos. “It was a huge fire with flames around 20m high, near homes,” civil protection chief Nikos Hardalias told Antenna TV.
MALAYSIA
Shaman joins hunt for girl
A local shaman yesterday joined police from Ireland, France and the UK in the search for a 15-year-old London girl who mysteriously vanished from the Dusun eco-resort on Sunday last week. Negeri Sembilan Deputy Police Chief Che Zakaria Othman said the team searching for Nora Anne Quoirin, who has learning and physical disabilities, has been expanded to 348 people, with the hunt now shifted to the nearby Berembun forest reserve. Shaman Khalid Mohamad said he believes the teen was lured by a genie, an invisible spirit believed by Muslims to inhabit the Earth and influence mankind by appearing in the form of humans or animals. He said the genie was attracted to the girl because she has special needs and had chosen her as its stepchild.
TURKMENISTAN
President seen at forum
President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov yesterday opened an economic forum on the Caspian Sea, making his first verifiable public appearance since rumors of his death began last month. Berdimuhamedov met the heads of government of Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan as well as Iran’s vice president in footage broadcast for the media at the forum. His most recent previous verifiable appearance had been at a government meeting on July 5.
SYRIA
Troops seize key town
Government forces seized a town on the edge of Idlib Province on Sunday. “Regime forces seized the town of Al-Habeet, in Idlib’s southern countryside, at dawn,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor. According to the observatory’s tally, 70 combatants were killed on Saturday, 32 of them pro-government fighters, and at least another 61 combatants on Sunday, including 21 government fighters.
INDONESIA
Australian sorry for rampage
An Australian tourist arrested in Bali after a drunken rampage that saw him fly-kick a motorcyclist, damage a convenience store and break into a home where he assaulted the owner, apologized yesterday as he was paraded before the media by police. Nicholas Carr’s alleged alcohol-fueled campaign of destruction — caught in a now-viral video — started early on Saturday when he ran barefoot onto a street in Seminyak. As he shouted expletives, he slammed into the hood of a moving car before fly-kicking a motorbike rider, who was thrown from the scooter, sustaining minor injuries. Carr, 26, allegedly shattered a convenience store’s glass door before stealing a motorcycle. He has been charged with assault and property damage, and could face more than two years in jail if convicted, police said. “I was very drunk and I apologize. I don’t remember anything at all,” he told reporters.
NEW ZEALAND
Cocaine source identified
Police yesterday said that 20 packages of cocaine found last week on Bethells Beach, west of Auckland, had been part of a shipment bound for Australia that had been lost at sea for a year. Australian Border Force and defense patrols intercepted an inflatable boat headed toward Australia last year as its two occupants were dumping their cargo into the waters off the northern New South Wales coast. Most of the cocaine was later recovered along parts of the eastern coastline of Australia. “The markings and packaging of the drugs [washed up on Bethells Beach] is consistent with that seized in Australia,” police said.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in 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
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