UNITED KINGDOM
US spin doctor to aid Labour
David Axelrod, the mastermind behind US President Barack Obama’s 2008 and 2012 election victories, is to advise Britain’s Labour Party in the run-up to next year’s general election, the party announced on Thursday. He is to work alongside shadow foreign secretary and election strategist Douglas Alexander until the vote, expected to take place in May next year. The party is also to use Axelrod’s consultancy firm AKVD as it looks to regain power from the Conservative-led coalition following election defeat in 2010. Labour Party leader Miliband called the appointment “excellent news.”
UNITED STATES
Chelsea Clinton pregnant
Chelsea Clinton announced on Thursday that she is pregnant with the first grandchild of former president Bill Clinton and former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton. “Marc and I are very excited that we have our first child arriving later this year,” said Chelsea Clinton, 34, referring to her investment banker husband, Marc Mezvinsky, 36. Chelsea Clinton delivered the news with a broad smile at a New York City event on empowering women. The audience at “Girls: A No Ceilings Conversation,” organized by the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, immediately broke into applause and cheers.
IRAN
President touts moderacy
The nation’s president has underscored his moderate policies and outreach to the West during a military parade marking the country’s National Army Day. President Hassan Rouhani said yesterday that Iran has no hostile intentions toward anyone in the world, including the US, which has long been considered an enemy. “We are not after war, we are after logic, we are after talks,” he said. The remarks were a stark contrast to his belligerent predecessor, former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Rouhani made no mention of archfoe Israel, but said Iran “will not invade any country,” although it would “resist any invasion.”
UNITED STATES
Wrongfully jailed awarded
Thirty years ago, a 16-year-old girl, Theresa Fusco, was found raped and strangled near the roller skating rink on Long Island where she worked. Not long afterward, prosecutors charged three men, who were convicted and went on to spend 18 years in prison. On Thursday afternoon, a federal jury awarded two of those men, John Restivo and Dennis Halstead, US$18 million each for a wrongful conviction by Nassau County and for the years they lost. The county dismissed charges against the three men in 2003 after DNA evidence indicated that the rape had been committed by someone else, who has never been identified. One of the three men, John Kogut, was retried and acquitted, but he lost his wrongful conviction lawsuit and is appealing.
UNITED STATES
Laptop lent to Clinton sold
The laptop computer that former president Bill Clinton used in 1998 to send the first-ever US presidential e-mail has sold for US$60,667 in an online auction, the Boston auction house that handled the transaction said on Thursday. RR Auction did not disclose the name of the buyer of the still-functional Toshiba Satellite that Clinton borrowed to e-mail astronaut John Glenn, who was orbiting Earth. The laptop, with accessories and full documentation, originally belonged to White House physician Robert Darling, who lent it to Clinton when NASA informed the president that Glenn wanted to swap e-mails.
FLYBY: The object, appears to be traveling more than 60 kilometers per second, meaning it is not bound by the sun’s orbit, astronomers studying 3I/Atlas said Astronomers on Wednesday confirmed the discovery of an interstellar object racing through the solar system — only the third-ever spotted, although scientists suspect many more might slip past unnoticed. The visitor from the stars, designated 3I/Atlas, is likely the largest yet detected, and has been classified as a comet, or cosmic snowball. “It looks kind of fuzzy,” said Peter Veres, an astronomer with the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center, which was responsible for the official confirmation. “It seems that there is some gas around it, and I think one or two telescopes reported a very short tail.” Originally known as A11pl3Z before
Hundreds of protesters marched through the Mexican capital on Friday denouncing gentrification caused by foreigners, with some vandalizing businesses and shouting “gringos out!” The demonstration in the capital’s central area turned violent when hooded individuals smashed windows, damaged restaurant furniture and looted a clothing store. Mexico City Government Secretary Cesar Cravioto said 15 businesses and public facilities were damaged in what he called “xenophobic expressions” similar to what Mexican migrants have suffered in other countries. “We are a city of open arms... there are always ways to negotiate, to sit at the table,” Cravioto told Milenio television. Neighborhoods like Roma-Condesa
‘CONTINUE TO SERVE’: The 90-year-old Dalai Lama said he hoped to be able to continue serving ‘sentient beings and the Buddha Dharma’ for decades to come The Dalai Lama yesterday said he dreamed of living for decades more, as the Buddhist spiritual leader prayed with thousands of exiled Tibetans on the eve of his 90th birthday. Thumping drums and deep horns reverberated from the Indian hilltop temple, as a chanting chorus of red-robed monks and nuns offered long-life prayers for Tenzin Gyatso, who followers believe is the 14th reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. Looking in good health, dressed in traditional maroon monk robes and a flowing yellow wrap, he led prayers — days after confirming that the 600-year-old Tibetan Buddhist institution would continue after his death. Many exiled Tibetans
BRICS leaders are to meet in Rio de Janeiro from today, with the bloc depleted by the absence of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), who is skipping the annual summit of emerging economies for the first time in 12 years. The grouping meets as its members face imminent and costly tariff wars with the US. Conceived two decades ago as a forum for fast-growing economies, the BRICS have come to be dominated by Beijing, which grew much faster and larger than the rest. China has not said why Xi would miss the summit, a first since he became president in 2013. “I expect there
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