IRAN
Nuclear inspections stopped
A government newspaper yesterday warned that overly radical actions in the nuclear wrangling with the West might lead to the country’s isolation after Tehran ended snap inspections by the UN. Iran’s envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Kazem Gharibabadi, said it had ended implementation of the so-called Additional Protocol at midnight on Monday. The agreement allowed the UN agency to carry out inspections of nuclear facilities on short notice. The state-run daily newspaper Iran criticized lawmakers who protested on Monday at Tehran’s decision to permit “necessary” monitoring by UN inspectors for up to three months, saying that this broke a law passed by parliament in an apparent effort to pressure the US to lift sanctions.
CHINA
Sit-ups lead to blackout
A man scaled a utility pole to do sit-ups off the top of it, stunning onlookers and causing a power cut to thousands of homes, media reported yesterday. The unnamed man was taken away by police following his antics on Sunday evening on the outskirts of the city of Chengdu, the People’s Daily said. It published a video on social media showing the man suspended about 10m in the air as he did a stomach crunch off the top of the pylon. “The local power company initiated an emergency power cut ... affecting tens of thousands of households,” the People’s Daily reported. Emergency services, including medical personnel, rushed to the scene, the Paper in Shanghai reported. It was not clear why the man decided to do sit-ups off the pole, but state media warned against anyone copying him. “The man’s behavior is too dangerous,” one outlet reported.
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
The US deployed a reconnaissance aircraft while Japan and the Philippines sent navy ships in a joint patrol in the disputed South China Sea yesterday, two days after the allied forces condemned actions by China Coast Guard vessels against Philippine patrol ships. The US Indo-Pacific Command said the joint patrol was conducted in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone by allies and partners to “uphold the right to freedom of navigation and overflight “ and “other lawful uses of the sea and international airspace.” Those phrases are used by the US, Japan and the Philippines to oppose China’s increasingly aggressive actions in the
‘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,
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