UNITED STATES
Bond to pay for pipes fix
New Jersey’s biggest city on Monday announced a plan to borrow US$120 million to reduce the time it will take to replace pipes causing elevated lead levels in drinking water. Newark, state and county officials said the plan is expected to cut the time needed to replace about 18,000 lead lines in from 10 years to under 30 months. Newark earlier this month began distributing bottled water to residents in about 14,000 homes, after water from two houses tested positive for lead above the federal threshold of 15 parts per billion. Newark and county officials were scheduled to vote on the bond proposal yesterday.
BARBADOS
Vigilance urged over storm
The government yesterday urged residents to remain vigilant even as Tropical Storm Dorian appeared to have done little damage as it heads toward the Windward Islands and Puerto Rico. The US National Hurricane Center had tropical storm warnings in effect for Martinique, St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica, Grenada, Saba and St Eustatius and Puerto Rico.”
AUSTRALIA
An OD death each 5.4 hours
Fatal drug overdoses (ODs) are more common in regional Victoria and New South Wales than anywhere else in Australia, and those deaths are increasingly linked to heroin, an annual report released yesterday by the Penington Institute found. The number of deaths owing to unintentional drug overdose nationwide increased 38 percent from 2001 to 2017 and is growing by 3.4 percent a year, the report said. There were 1,612 unintentional overdose deaths in 2017, or one death every 5.4 hours.
JAPAN
N Korea has new missile
Pyongyang appears to be developing warheads to penetrate a ballistic missile shield defending the country, Minister of Defense Takeshi Iwaya said yesterday, pointing to the irregular trajectories of the latest missiles launched by North Korea. The minister told a news conference that the government believes the rockets were a new short-range ballistic missile, according to a ministry spokesman who confirmed his comments carried by domestic media.
CHINA
Sichuan pig output renewed
Sichuan Province, the country’s top pig-farming province, is removing some restrictions on hog production to stabilize supply after an epidemic of African swine fever reduced herds. Many farms have been hit by African swine fever. The province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said in a notice on Monday that it was setting “red lines” for pig output in the province, with city mayors responsible for ensuring self-sufficiency of pork. To achieve a provincial target of 40 million hogs a year, local authorities should support farms that produce 2 million hogs or more each year with integrated feed plants and slaughtering facilities, the notice published on the department’s Web site said.
PHILIPPINES
Gaming ban’s impact probed
The country’s anti-money-laundering body is studying the scope of the online gambling industry to determine the impact on the economy if it stopped operating, its chairman said yesterday. Benjamin Diokno, governor of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and head of the Anti-Money Laundering Council, has ordered the agency and the central bank’s financial stability team to “put some sense to this online gambling.” China has urged the country to ban online gaming to support its crackdown on cross-border gambling. “What if all of a sudden they decide to pack up and leave? What will be the impact of that on the property sector, also the food industry, the restaurants? This is part of my job as BSP governor,” Diokno told an economic forum yesterday.
SYRIA
Strikes kill civilians: groups
Airstrikes targeted the last major rebel stronghold in the northwestern province of Idlib on Monday, killing at least four people, including a woman and her child, the opposition’s Syrian Civil Defense rescue group, also known as White Helmets, said. The attacks come as government forces turn their focus on another rebel-held town in Idlib, Maaret al-Numan, following gains made last week. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that 15 people, including four children, were reportedly killed over the weekend. People have sought shelter in more than 100 schools, with hundreds of thousands staying in the open air outside overcrowded camps and reception centers, he said. “As the new school year is scheduled to begin soon, access to education will be compromised for many children,” he added.
FRANCE
EU court condemns Russia
The European Court of Human Rights yesterday condemned Russia for “multiple violations” against Sergei Magnitsky, an anti-fraud crusader and whistle-blower who died in custody in 2009 while awaiting trial. The court’s seven judges for the case — including a Russian — ruled unanimously that the authorities “deprived Mr Magnitsky of important medical care and had failed to comply with their duty to protect his life” following his arrest for alleged tax evasion. They said Magnitsky had been ill-treated by guards and been unjustly held for too long in pre-trial detention. The judges also denounced an “inherently unfair” posthumous trial that found the accountant guilty. They ordered Russia to pay 34,000 euros (US$37,800) to Magnitsky’s wife and mother.
RUSSIA
Robot reaches space station
An uncrewed spacecraft carrying the nation’s first humanoid robot to be sent into orbit docked yesterday at the International Space Station, following a failed attempt over the weekend, the Roscosmos space agency said. The life-sized robot, called Fedor, is due to stay on the station until Sept. 7, learning to assist astronauts.
ARGENTINA
IMF meets with opposition
An IMF team met on Monday with opposition presidential candidate Alberto Fernandez, a spokesperson for Fernandez said. Fernandez, a critic of the nation’s US$57 billion IMF standby agreement negotiated last year, has pledged to “rework” the program if elected. “The loan received by the country and the raft of conditions associated with it has not generated any of the hoped-for results,” his office said.
UNITED STATES
Lawmakers want gun action
Black state lawmakers are asking Missouri Governor Mike Parson, a Republican, to allow the House of Representatives and Senate to consider during a special session next month legislation that would let cities adopt their own gun control measures. In a letter dated Saturday, Representative Steven Roberts Jr, a St Louis Democrat who chairs the Missouri Black Caucus, told Parson that local leaders need the autonomy to act as they see fit on “this pressing crisis.” Kansas City has recorded 97 homicides this year and 68 of the victims were black, while St Louis has seen about 128 homicides, and 112 of the victims were black.
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
FRAUD ALLEGED: The leader of an opposition alliance made allegations of electoral irregularities and called for a protest in Tirana as European leaders are to meet Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late on Tuesday. The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Albanian Central Election Commission. Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there. According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the
CANCER: Jose Mujica earned the moniker ‘world’s poorest president’ for giving away much of his salary and living a simple life on his farm, with his wife and dog Tributes poured in on Tuesday from across Latin America following the death of former Uruguayan president Jose “Pepe” Mujica, an ex-guerrilla fighter revered by the left for his humility and progressive politics. He was 89. Mujica, who spent a dozen years behind bars for revolutionary activity, lost his battle against cancer after announcing in January that the disease had spread and he would stop treatment. “With deep sorrow, we announce the passing of our comrade Pepe Mujica. President, activist, guide and leader. We will miss you greatly, old friend,” Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi wrote on X. “Pepe, eternal,” a cyclist shouted out minutes later,
Myanmar’s junta chief met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) for the first time since seizing power, state media reported yesterday, the highest-level meeting with a key ally for the internationally sanctioned military leader. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing led a military coup in 2021, overthrowing Myanmar’s brief experiment with democracy and plunging the nation into civil war. In the four years since, his armed forces have battled dozens of ethnic armed groups and rebel militias — some with close links to China — opposed to its rule. The conflict has seen Min Aung Hlaing draw condemnation from rights groups and pursued by the
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