UNITED STATES
Dick Thornburgh dies
Former Pennsylvania governor and US attorney general Dick Thornburgh has died. He was 88. Thornburgh died on Thursday at a retirement community facility outside Pittsburgh, his son David said. The cause is not yet known. He had a mild stroke in June 2014. As the nation’s top law enforcement official, he prosecuted the savings and loan scandal. He also shepherded the Americans with Disabilities Act. After leaving public office, Thornburgh became a go-to troubleshooter who helped CBS investigate its news practices, dissected illegalities at telecommunications company WorldCom and tried to improve the UN’ efficiency.
PERU
Protesters maintain blockade
Hundreds of agricultural workers were maintaining a blockade of the Pan-American Highway to protest against the death of three people in clashes with police. The workers are demanding an increase in wages and also object to the passage of a new agriculture bill. Authorities said three people, including one minor, were killed in clashes with police. The protesters are blocking a part of the highway about 500km north of the capital, Lima, where they had already been on strike since early last month.
ALGERIA
Road crash kills 20
Twenty people were killed on Thursday when a vehicle carrying mainly African nationals overturned, the civil protection unit said. The crash took place near the town of Tamanrasset and 11 people were also injured, the rescue unit said on Facebook. Those killed were 19 African nationals, including children, and the Algerian driver of the pick-up truck, which was completely destroyed in the accident, it said. People were given first aid at the scene before being transferred to a hospital.
CHINA
Wuhan parties in streets
Thousands of people yesterday packed into the center of Wuhan, the city where COVID-19 was first detected, cheering and releasing balloons to welcome in the new year. Police erected fences to try to prevent congestion around the city’s Customs House clock tower, but the measure was ineffective due to the large turnout of mainly young people. Last year was “a very difficult year for us, because we have experienced the epidemic, especially in Wuhan, which is an unforgettable experience for us,” local resident Xu Du told reporters. “China has controlled the epidemic very well now, but there are still some other countries suffering from the virus,” reveller Li Yusu said. “I hope other countries can get through this difficulty as soon as possible.”
A string of rape and assault allegations against the son of Norway’s future queen have plunged the royal family into its “biggest scandal” ever, wrapping up an annus horribilis for the monarchy. The legal troubles surrounding Marius Borg Hoiby, the 27-year-old son born of a relationship before Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s marriage to Norwegian Crown Prince Haakon, have dominated the Scandinavian country’s headlines since August. The tall strapping blond with a “bad boy” look — often photographed in tuxedos, slicked back hair, earrings and tattoos — was arrested in Oslo on Aug. 4 suspected of assaulting his girlfriend the previous night. A photograph
‘GOOD POLITICS’: He is a ‘pragmatic radical’ and has moderated his rhetoric since the height of his radicalism in 2014, a lecturer in contemporary Islam said Abu Mohammed al-Jolani is the leader of the Islamist alliance that spearheaded an offensive that rebels say brought down Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and ended five decades of Baath Party rule in Syria. Al-Jolani heads Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is rooted in Syria’s branch of al-Qaeda. He is a former extremist who adopted a more moderate posture in order to achieve his goals. Yesterday, as the rebels entered Damascus, he ordered all military forces in the capital not to approach public institutions. Last week, he said the objective of his offensive, which saw city after city fall from government control, was to
IVY LEAGUE GRADUATE: Suspect Luigi Nicholas Mangione, whose grandfather was a self-made real-estate developer and philanthropist, had a life of privilege The man charged with murder in the killing of the CEO of UnitedHealthcare made it clear he was not going to make things easy on authorities, shouting unintelligibly and writhing in the grip of sheriff’s deputies as he was led into court and then objecting to being brought to New York to face trial. The displays of resistance on Tuesday were not expected to significantly delay legal proceedings for Luigi Nicholas Mangione, who was charged in last week’s Manhattan killing of Brian Thompson, the leader of the US’ largest medical insurance company. Little new information has come out about motivation,
‘MONSTROUS CRIME’: The killings were overseen by a powerful gang leader who was convinced his son’s illness was caused by voodoo practitioners, a civil organization said Nearly 200 people in Haiti were killed in brutal weekend violence reportedly orchestrated against voodoo practitioners, with the government on Monday condemning a massacre of “unbearable cruelty.” The killings in the capital, Port-au-Prince, were overseen by a powerful gang leader convinced that his son’s illness was caused by followers of the religion, the civil organization the Committee for Peace and Development (CPD) said. It was the latest act of extreme violence by powerful gangs that control most of the capital in the impoverished Caribbean country mired for decades in political instability, natural disasters and other woes. “He decided to cruelly punish all
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