TURKEY
IS militants to be sent back
The government will send captured Islamic State (IS) group members back to their countries even if their citizenships have been revoked, Minister of the Interior Suleyman Soylu said yesterday, criticizing the approach of European countries on the issue. Ankara last month launched an offensive into northeastern Syria against the Kurdish YPG militia, prompting widespread concern over the fate of IS prisoners in the region. “We will send back those in our hands, but the world has come up with a new method now: revoking their citizenships,” Soylu said. “They are saying they should be tried where they have been caught. This is a new form of international law, I guess,” he said.
BRAZIL
Oil spill likely to worsen
President Jair Bolsonaro on Sunday said that “the worst is yet to come” with an oil spill that has affected more than 200 beaches on the country’s coast. “What came so far and what was collected is a small amount of what was spilled,” Bolsonaro said in an interview with Record television. He said he did not know if additional oil would affect his country’s coastline, but that “everything indicates that the currents went to the coast of Brazil.” Oil slicks have been appearing for three months off the northeast coast and fouling beaches along a 2,000km stretch.
GERMANY
Swingers’ club evacuated
Authorities said a swingers’ club had to be evacuated mid-party after a carbon monoxide alarm went off and several guests reported feeling unwell. Firefighters in the town of Hattingen, between Dortmund and Duesseldorf in North Rhine-Westphalia, said about 300 swingers were brought to safety after the alarm went off late on Saturday night. The swingers, many clad just in bathrobes as they left the club, were taken on buses to be examined by first-aid workers. About 10 complained of feeling unwell and needed treatment. The fire department said no dangerous levels of carbon monoxide were detected once they had arrived. In all, about 160 emergency workers were involved.
TURKEY
Bus driver detained
Police in Istanbul said they have detained a driver who rammed his bus into a crowded stop and attacked people who tried to prevent him from escaping with a knife. At least 13 people have been injured. The 33-year-old bus driver was detained on Sunday after he jumped into the sea to try and get away from the scene, a police statement said. The injured included a man who was stabbed as he tried to prevent the driver from running away after he drove the city bus into the stop. Police said three Iranian nationals and two children were also among the injured.
CANADA
Iconic Niagara boat moves
An iron boat stuck above Niagara Falls for more than a century has moved because of severe weather, a park official said. “We think it’s about 50 meters down the river from its original location,” Niagara Parks senior manager for heritage Jim Hill said in a video posted online, adding that the vessel “flipped on its side.” Rain and strong winds that hit the region on Thursday night were responsible for moving the boat, local media reported. Known as the “Iron Scow,” the boat is an iconic feature of Niagara Falls and had been stuck in the rocks about 600m from the edge of the falls.
THAILAND
Moon, Abe meet at ASEAN
South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe yesterday agreed in their first meeting in 14 months that bilateral relations are important and to ease tensions, the South Korean presidential office said. During the 11-minute meeting at the ASEAN summit in Bangkok, Moon proposed high-level talks, if needed, while Abe said every effort should be made to resolve feuds, Moon’s office said.
INDIA
Delhi car ban takes effect
New Delhi yesterday banned half the city’s private cars from its roads amid the worst pollution in three years, as a new law took effect restricting cars from the capital’s roads to alternative days, depending on if their license plate ends in an odd or even number. However, Delhi’s 7 million motorbikes and scooters, public transport and cars carrying only women are exempt from the new rule, stoking criticism that the measures were ineffective. Authorities also parked a van with an air purifier near the Taj Mahal in Agra, 250km south of Delhi, in a bid to clean the surrounding air.
JAPAN
Fire at second heritage site
A fire yesterday damaged at least one building at a World Heritage site in Gifu Prefecture, a fire department official said. The fire broke out at a site featuring traditional gassho-zukuri houses built hundreds of years ago that are known for their thatched roofs. The official said the fire was out and the damage was very limited. The cause was not known and the official declined to say how many buildings were damaged.
NEPAL
Bus plunge kills 17
An overcrowded bus on Sunday drove off a mountain highway and crashed in the Sunkoshi River, killing 17 people and injuring 50, a police official said yesterday. The bus appeared to have a mechanical problem before skidding off the highway. Among the injured, 21 were still hospitalized yesterday. Police said passengers heard a loud sound and the steering appeared to have failed before the bus went off the road.
SOUTH KOREA
BTS star hit Seoul taxi
BTS megastar Jungkook was responsible for a car accident in Seoul on Saturday, his agency said yesterday, apologizing to the victim and his fans. The singer’s vehicle hit a taxi, and both he and the cab driver were treated for minor injuries, police said. “While driving his vehicle, Jungkook hit another car due to his own mistake,” Big Hit Entertainment said in a statement. “Immediately after the accident took place, Jungkook admitted he had violated the traffic laws ... and reached an amicable settlement with the victim.” A police official said an investigation is ongoing. “We are trying to find out if both parties are mutually at fault,” the official said.
ISRAEL
Shooting inquiry opened
Police on Sunday said an enquiry had been opened and officers suspended after a video emerged online apparently showing a border guard shooting a Palestinian in the back with a sponge-tipped bullet. Channel 13 broadcast the video on Saturday evening, showing guards telling a Palestinian to turn back at a West Bank checkpoint near Jerusalem. As the man walks away, his arms raised, one of the officers fires a sponge-tipped bullet. The man instantly falls to the ground, shouting in pain. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the incident took place a year-and-a-half ago.
‘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