UNITED STATES
Trump ‘first’ racist: Biden
Former vice president Joe Biden on Wednesday said that President Donald Trump was the country’s “first” racist president. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee’s comments came during a virtual town hall organized by the Service Employees International Union. When a questioner complained of racism surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and mentioned the president referring to it as the “China virus,” Biden responded by criticizing Trump and “his spread of racism,” adding: “The way he deals with people based on the color of their skin, their national origin, where they’re from, is absolutely sickening. No sitting president has ever done this. Never, never, never. No Republican president has done this. No Democratic president. We’ve had racists, and they’ve existed. They’ve tried to get elected president. He’s the first one that has.” At a White House briefing later on Wednesday, Trump responded to a question about Biden’s comments by pointing to his administration’s efforts passing criminal justice reform legislation and expanding opportunity zones, as well as the low unemployment numbers for minority groups before the pandemic. “I’ve done more for black Americans than anybody with the possible of exception of [former president] Abraham Lincoln,” he said.
UNITED STATES
Eastwood sues over ads
Actor Clint Eastwood on Wednesday filed two lawsuits seeking millions of dollars in damages from several cannabidiol (CBD) manufacturers and marketers that claimed or made it look like he endorsed their products. The multiple Oscar-winning actor-director said in one of the lawsuits filed in Los Angeles federal court that three CBD companies used fake news articles featuring photographs of Eastwood and attributing quotes to him to promote and sell CBD products. “In truth, Mr Eastwood has no connection of any kind whatsoever to any CBD products and never gave such an interview,” states the lawsuit, which claims defamation. “By this action, Mr Eastwood seeks to hold accountable the persons and entities that wrongfully crafted this scheme, spread false and malicious statements of facts about him, and illegally profited off of his name and likeness.” The three companies accused were named as Sera Labs Inc, Greendios and For Our Vets LLC.
UNITED STATES
Lottery winner arrested
A North Carolina man who won a US$10 million lottery prize in 2017 has been arrested on a murder charge in the death of a woman whose body was found at a hotel. The Shallotte Police Department charged Michael Todd Hill of Leland with murder after the body of 23-year-old Keonna Graham was found on Monday in a hotel room in the Brunwick County town, reports said. Graham worked as a correctional officer at a prison in Burgaw, according to a cousin, Antionette Lee. Before that, Graham worked for a program for people with intellectual disabilities, Lee said.
ISRAEL
Northern border bolstered
The military yesterday said that it was reinforcing the nation’s northern border with infantry troops “in accordance with the situational assessment.” The announcement came after the Hezbollah group in Lebanon threatened to retaliate for a strike earlier this week that killed one of its fighters near Damascus International Airport in Syria.
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
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was
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