UNITED STATES
Man charged over extortion
Federal prosecutors on Friday charged Devonere Johnson, whose arrest triggered a violent protest in Madison, Wisconsin. Johnson was charged with extorting local businesses after being arrested on Tuesday after he walked into Cooper’s Tavern near the state Capitol building with a megaphone and a bat. The arrest sparked a protest that night during which people tore down two statues and allegedly assaulted Wisconsin Senator Tim Carpenter. Johnson faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted on two counts of extortion. According to court documents, Johnson and an unnamed man had been trying to extort business owners for beer, food and money for two days before Johnson was arrested. FBI Agent Beth Boxwell wrote in an affidavit that the owner of Cooper’s Tavern came up from the bar’s basement on Monday to find Johnson and another man unidentified in the affidavit sitting at a table. The owner told him that he supports the Black Lives Matter movement, to which Johnson replied, according to court documents: “What have you done locally?” He said he would start breaking windows if he did not get money. The owner told police he was afraid that protesters would target his business because he did not give Johnson what he wanted. Johnson allegedly returned twice to the tavern on Tuesday, at one point joined by two other men. He shouted allegations of racism through a megaphone and swung a bat, according to the affidavit. “Just give us some free food and beer and we can end this now,” Johnson said, according to the affidavit. “You don’t want 600 people to come here and destroy your business and burn it down. The cops are on our side. You notice that when you call them, nothing happens to us.”
UNITED STATES
Chinese spy convicted
A federal judge on Friday convicted a Chinese national of economic espionage, stealing trade secrets and engaging in a conspiracy for the benefit of his country’s government. District Judge Edward Davila found Zhang Hao (張浩), 41, guilty of the three counts after a four-day trial. The decision comes five years after Zhang was indicted on charges of conspiring to steal technology from two companies shortly after graduating from the University of Southern California. The trade secrets were heisted from Zhang’s former employer, Skyworks Solutions in Woburn, Massachusetts, and Avago Technologies, a San Jose, California, company later acquired by chipmaker Broadcom. The verdict “is an important step in holding accountable an individual who robbed his US employer of trade secrets and sought to replicate the company’s technology and replace its market share,” Department of Justice assistant attorney general for national security John Demers said.
BANGLADESH
Police kill four Rohingya
Four suspected members of a Rohingya group allegedly involved in kidnapping for ransom were killed in a gunfight with police near refugee camps where refugees from Myanmar live, officials said. The gunfight took place on Friday when a team of security officials was searching for the gang leader in a forest near the Rohingya camps at Cox’s Bazar, Police Inspector Pradeep Kumar Das said. Another inspector, Morzina Akhter, said that the suspects opened fire at police, sparking the gunfight that led to their deaths. According to authorities and local media reports, the gang led by Abdul Hakim has kidnapped many locals for ransom and killed those whose families failed to pay.
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
Dozens of residents have evacuated remote islands in southern Japan that have been shaken by nearly 1,600 earthquakes in recent weeks, the local mayor said yesterday. There has been no major physical damage on hardest-hit Akuseki island, even after a magnitude 5.1 quake that struck overnight, said Toshima Mayor Genichiro Kubo, who is based on another island. However, the almost nonstop jolts since June 21 have caused severe stress to area residents, many of whom have been deprived of sleep. Of the 89 residents of Akuseki, 44 had evacuated to the regional hub of Kagoshima by Sunday, while 15 others also left another
CEREMONY EXPECTED: Abdullah Ocalan said he believes in the power of politics and social peace, not weapons, and called on the group to put that into practice The jailed leader of a Kurdish militant group yesterday renewed a call for his fighters to lay down their arms, days before a symbolic disarmament ceremony is expected to take place as a first concrete step in a peace process with the Turkish state. In a seven-minute video message broadcast on pro-Kurdish Medya Haber’s YouTube channel, Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), said that the peace initiative had reached a stage that required practical steps. “It should be considered natural for you to publicly ensure the disarmament of the relevant groups in a way that addresses the expectations
RSS