CHINA
Six killed in knife attack
A man armed with a knife killed six people and wounded 14, state media reported yesterday. The attack occurred on Saturday afternoon in the streets of Anqing, Anhui Province, 430km west of Shanghai, China Central Television (CCTV) said. The suspect was arrested and an investigation was under way to determine the circumstances of the attack that unfolded in a pedestrian shopping street, Anqing Public Security Bureau said in a statement released on the Sina Weibo social network. Quoting the bureau, CCTV said the suspect was 25 years old, unemployed and “angry.” The authorities had earlier reported five dead. A badly injured victim died in hospital on Saturday, CCTV said.
NIGERIA
Cattle thieves kill 88
A gang of cattle thieves killed 88 people in raids on seven villages in the northwestern Kebbi State, police told reporters on Saturday. Dozens of assailants on motorcycles attacked seven neighboring villages in Danko-Wasagu District on Thursday, state police spokesman Nafiu Abubakar said. “Initially 66 bodies were recovered, but 22 more have been found,” Abubakar said. “Investigation is still going on to ascertain the extent of destruction wrought by the bandits and search for more bodies is still on,” he added. Police were deployed to the area to forestall further attacks, while residents of the affected villages fled their homes, Abubakar said.
UNITED STATES
Fired worker shoots boss
An 86-year-old Florida sugar mill worker with 31 years on the job fatally shot his boss after he was refused another year at the mill, authorities said on Saturday. The Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office said in a news release that Felix Cabrera was jailed without bail on a first-degree murder charge following the Friday morning shooting at the Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative in Belle Glade. Jail records did not list an attorney for Cabrera. The victim’s name was not released by the sheriff’s department. He was a 67-year-old man from nearby Martin County. Cabrera sought to work one additional year for financial reasons, but was turned down, authorities said. That is when he allegedly pulled out a handgun and shot the boss several times, killing him.
BRAZIL
Drought measures revealed
National grid operator ONS on Saturday said that it has taken measures to guarantee power supplies in the country this year, dismissing shortages in hydroelectricity due to the country’s worst drought since 1930. Among the actions being taken, the agency highlighted the easing of hydro restrictions for dams in the Sao Francisco and Parana river basins, increased thermal generation with guaranteed fuel supplies and the importation of energy from Argentina and Uruguay. The agency said that the country is going through a water crisis due to a lack of rainfall.
IRAQ
Two drones shot down
The army on Sunday said that two drones were destroyed above a base housing US troops, one month after the same base was targeted by an armed drone. The US military’s C-RAM defense system was activated to shoot down the drones above the Ain al-Assad base, located in the country’s western desert, the military said. Several hours earlier a rocket was shot down above Baghdad International Airport, without causing casualties or damage.
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
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
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
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