COLOMBIA
Arrest of ex-rebels ordered
The Peace Tribunal has ordered the arrest of four rebel leaders who on Thursday appeared in a video pledging to resume their insurgency. The tribunal said in a statement that Luciano Marin, the former chief negotiator for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, and top allies who appeared alongside him while heavily armed immediately lost their benefits under a 2016 peace deal on ending a half-century of bloody fighting. Under terms of the accord, rebels who confess their war crimes and compensate victims are spared jail sentences and protected from extradition to the US. The rebels said that they were taking up arms again because the conservative government of President Ivan Duque has not been upholding the accord and stood by as hundreds of leftists and 150 demobilized rebels were slain over the past three years.
EGYPT
Alexandria faces rising sea
The coastal city of Alexandria has survived invasions, fires and earthquakes since it was founded by Alexander the Great more than 2,000 years ago. However, the fabled port city now faces a new menace from climate change. Rising sea levels threaten to inundate poorer neighborhoods and archeological sites, prompting authorities to erect concrete barriers out at sea to hold back the surging waves. A severe storm in 2015 flooded large parts of the city, killing at least six people as two dozen homes collapsed, exposing weaknesses in the local infrastructure. The nation’s second-largest city is surrounded on three sides by the Mediterranean and backs up to a lake, making it uniquely susceptible to the rise in sea levels caused by global warming and the melting of the polar ice caps.
UNITED STATES
Escaped pigs return to farm
About 250 pigs have been causing a ruckus in a Vermont town over the past month after they escaped from their enclosure, but most of them had been returned as of Thursday thanks in part to a trail of hot dog buns and good old-fashioned corralling. Several farm workers and a couple of volunteers trudged up and down a dirt road trying to drive any pigs back to Sugar Mountain Farm in Orange, Vermont. They chased the animals into the brush and ditches, working together to position themselves so that they could corral the large sows and boars. Farm owner Walter Jeffries said that the fence was damaged by vandalism on Aug. 11. About 50 adult pigs and 200 piglets escaped, he said. Town Clerk Angela Eastman said that some pigs could still be spotted on or along a road near the farm, which is creating a nuisance for drivers and walkers and could be dangerous for the pigs. Jeffries faces a fine of nearly US$82,000, because the animals have been or are in the town right of way, she said.
China’s military news agency yesterday warned that Japanese militarism is infiltrating society through series such as Pokemon and Detective Conan, after recent controversies involving events at sensitive sites. In recent days, anime conventions throughout China have reportedly banned participants from dressing as characters from Pokemon or Detective Conan and prohibited sales of related products. China Military Online yesterday posted an article titled “Their schemes — beware the infiltration of Japanese militarism in culture and sports.” The article referenced recent controversies around the popular anime series Pokemon, Detective Conan and My Hero Academia, saying that “the evil influence of Japanese militarism lives on in
DIPLOMATIC THAW: The Canadian prime minister’s China visit and improved Beijing-Ottawa ties raised lawyer Zhang Dongshuo’s hopes for a positive outcome in the retrial China has overturned the death sentence of Canadian Robert Schellenberg, a Canadian official said on Friday, in a possible sign of a diplomatic thaw as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney seeks to boost trade ties with Beijing. Schellenberg’s lawyer, Zhang Dongshuo (張東碩), yesterday confirmed China’s Supreme People’s Court struck down the sentence. Schellenberg was detained on drug charges in 2014 before China-Canada ties nosedived following the 2018 arrest in Vancouver of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou (孟晚舟). That arrest infuriated Beijing, which detained two Canadians — Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig — on espionage charges that Ottawa condemned as retaliatory. In January
A sign hanging from a rusty ice-green shipping container installed by Thai forces on what they say is the border with Cambodia reads: “Cambodian citizens are strictly prohibited from entering this area.” On opposite sides of the makeshift barricade, fronted by coils of barbed wire, Cambodians lamented their lost homes and livelihoods as Thailand’s military showed off its gains. Thai forces took control of several patches of disputed land along the border during fighting last year, which could amount to several square kilometers in total. Cambodian Kim Ren said her house in Chouk Chey used to stand on what is now the Thai
NEW RULES: There would be fewer school days, four-day workweeks, and a reduction in transportation services as the country battles a crisis exacerbated by US pressure The Cuban government on Friday announced emergency measures to address a crippling energy crisis worsened by US sanctions, including the adoption of a four-day work week for state-owned companies and fuel sale restrictions. Cuban Deputy Prime Minister Oscar Perez-Oliva Fraga blamed Washington for the crisis, telling Cuban television the government would “implement a series of decisions, first and foremost to guarantee the vitality of our country and essential services, without giving up on development.” “Fuel will be used to protect essential services for the population and indispensable economic activities,” he said. Among the new measures are the reduction of the working week in
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