UNITED STATES
Body in barrel sparks arrest
A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a body was found stuffed inside a plastic barrel that was dumped in front of Sonoma’s City Hall in northern California. Sheriff’s officials said Friday night’s discovery of the blood-stained barrel led detectives to a mobile home where they thought Ronald Sauvageau, 64, was killed. They served a search warrant and arrested Christopher McNatt, 40. An autopsy is to be conducted today to determine the cause of death. Sheriff’s Sergeant Cecile Focha told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat that a weapon thought to be used in the killing was recovered, but she declined to elaborate on the type of weapon, the relationship between the men or a motive.
CHILE
Girl drops euthanasia plea
An ailing Chilean girl who made a public plea for permission to end her life has changed her mind, according to her father. Fredy Maureira told reporters on Sunday that his 14-year-old daughter, Valentina, has changed her mind after meeting people who responded to her plea for euthanasia to escape cystic fibrosis. “Yes, she is thinking about it,” Maureira said. The girl told the El Mercurio newspaper that “there are people who have led me to change my way of thinking.” A video in which Valentina asked Chilean President Michelle Bachelet to let her undergo euthanasia gained global attention last month after it was posted on YouTube. Bachelet, a pediatrician, visited the girl and her family, but the government said it could not approve her request.
CHILE
Earthquake rattles north
The US Geological Survey says a magnitude 6.1 earthquake has struck in far northern Chile. There were no immediate reports of damage and no tsunami warning. The USGS said the epicenter was 33km southeast of Putre at a depth of 128km. It hit at 1:51am yesterday.
GUINEA
Truck accident kills 10
At least 10 people were killed and 11 injured when a truck overturned in the nation’s east, a security source said on Saturday. The accident happened on Friday near the town of Beyla, the source told reporters from the capital, Conakry, adding that the 11 people were “seriously injured.” The truck was headed to a weekly market, but “turned over when the driver approached a turn,” the source said. According to an initial probe, “speeding and reckless driving” appeared to be behind the accident, the source added. It was not clear how many people were on the truck at the time.
THAILAND
Briton shoots self at range
Police yesterday said they were probing the death of a British tourist who apparently shot himself dead at a firing range on Phuket. Officers are examining CCTV footage from the Thalang Shooting Range which appears to show the Briton standing alongside a staff member before turning a gun on himself on Saturday afternoon. The visibly distraught employee is seen walking away from the scene holding his head in his hands. “We are investigating the CCTV images. We have not yet concluded whether it was an accident or suicide,” said police Colonel Chanuchan Chonsuwat of the Thalang district on the island. A spokesman for the British Embassy in Bangkok said it was aware of the incident and providing consular assistance to the family. The spokesman could not immediately provide any further details.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is to visit Russia next month for a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) said on Thursday, a move that comes as Moscow and Beijing seek to counter the West’s global influence. Xi’s visit to Russia would be his second since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but it has backed the Kremlin’s contentions that Russia’s action was provoked by the West, and it continues to supply key components needed by Moscow for
Japan scrambled fighter jets after Russian aircraft flew around the archipelago for the first time in five years, Tokyo said yesterday. From Thursday morning to afternoon, the Russian Tu-142 aircraft flew from the sea between Japan and South Korea toward the southern Okinawa region, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said in a statement. They then traveled north over the Pacific Ocean and finished their journey off the northern island of Hokkaido, it added. The planes did not enter Japanese airspace, but flew over an area subject to a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia, a ministry official said. “In response, we mobilized Air Self-Defense
CRITICISM: ‘One has to choose the lesser of two evils,’ Pope Francis said, as he criticized Trump’s anti-immigrant policies and Harris’ pro-choice position Pope Francis on Friday accused both former US president Donald Trump and US Vice President Kamala Harris of being “against life” as he returned to Rome from a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific region. The 87-year-old pontiff’s comments on the US presidential hopefuls came as he defied health concerns to connect with believers from the jungle of Papua New Guinea to the skyscrapers of Singapore. It was Francis’ longest trip in duration and distance since becoming head of the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Roman Catholics more than 11 years ago. Despite the marathon visit, he held a long and spirited
China would train thousands of foreign law enforcement officers to see the world order “develop in a more fair, reasonable and efficient direction,” its minister for public security has said. “We will [also] send police consultants to countries in need to conduct training to help them quickly and effectively improve their law enforcement capabilities,” Chinese Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong (王小洪) told an annual global security forum. Wang made the announcement in the eastern city of Lianyungang on Monday in front of law enforcement representatives from 122 countries, regions and international organizations such as Interpol. The forum is part of ongoing
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