GERMANY
Saxony police conduct raids
Police yesterday searched several locations in the eastern state of Saxony as part of an investigation into what they said was a plot to murder state Premier Michael Kretschmer by anti-vaccine advocates. The searches in the city of Dresden targeted individual members of a group on the messaging program Telegram, where plans for the killing were discussed in connection with the state government’s COVID-19 curbs, police said. The group “Dresden Offlinevernetzung” came to the attention of authorities after an investigation published last week by broadcaster ZDF. Special forces took part in the raids launched after statements by members of the Telegram group suggested that they might be in possession of sharp weapons and crossbows, Saxony police wrote on Twitter.
UNITED STATES
Woman to head NYC police
New York City appointed the first-ever female police chief to head the largest force in the nation, local media reported on Tuesday. Keechant Sewell, who would also be only the third black person in the post, would have to restore community trust in a police department that has faced accusations of harboring violent, racist and corrupt officers in its ranks. Former police officer and New York mayor-elect Eric Adams, who would be the city’s second black mayor, announced the key appointment two weeks before formally taking office on Jan. 1, with security one of the main issues during his campaign. “Sewell is a proven crime fighter with the experience and emotional intelligence to deliver both the safety New Yorkers need and the justice they deserve,” Adams told the New York Post. Commanding approximately 36,000 police officers, Sewell, 49, would shoulder the tough task of maintaining security in New York at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has been accompanied by a surge in crime.
MALAYSIA
Boat sinking kills 11
At least 11 Indonesian migrants died and 27 are believed to be missing after a boat yesterday sank in stormy weather off the southern state of Johor, authorities said. The vessel, believed to be carrying 60 migrants, went down in the morning, the coast guard said. Soldiers discovered the bodies of seven men and four women on the shore, Maritime Enforcement Agency Director-General Admiral Mohamad Zubil Mat Som said. Another 20 men and two women were found alive following the voyage from a nearby Indonesian island, and have been taken into custody, he said. Those missing are believed to have fled into hiding or drowned, and authorities have deployed boats and an aircraft to hunt for them. “We deeply regret this deadly tragedy,” Mohamad Zubil said. “I urge migrants not to enter Malaysia illegally.”
PHILIPPINES
Omicron cases detected
The nation is retaining its second-most lenient movement restrictions through the Christmas holidays amid easing COVID-19 cases, even as it detected its first cases of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2. The entire nation is to be placed under alert level 2 from today until Dec. 31, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said yesterday in a televised briefing. Indoor restaurants, gyms, cinemas can operate at half capacity, while outdoor businesses can open at 70 percent capacity. The Department of Health also announced that it had detected the Omicron variant from a returning Filipino from Japan, and a Nigerian national from his home country. They are isolating, and their close contacts are being tracked, authorities said.
GLORY FACADE: Residents are fighting the church’s plan to build a large flight of steps and a square that would entail destroying up to two blocks of homes Barcelona’s eternally unfinished Basilica de la Sagrada Familia has grown to become the world’s tallest church, but a conflict with residents threatens to delay the finish date for the monument designed more than 140 years ago. Swathed in scaffolding on a platform 54m above the ground, an enormous stone slab is being prepared to complete the cross of the central Jesus Christ tower. A huge yellow crane is to bring it up to the summit, which will stand at 172.5m and has snatched the record as the world’s tallest church from Germany’s Ulm Minster. The basilica’s peak will deliberately fall short of the
FRAYED: Strains between the US-European ties have ruptured allies’ trust in Washington, but with time, that could be rebuilt, the Michigan governor said China is providing crucial support for Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and could end the war with a phone call, US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said. “China could call [Russian President] Vladimir Putin and end this war tomorrow and cut off his dual-purpose technologies that they’re selling,” Whitaker said during a Friday panel at the Munich Security Conference. “China could stop buying Russian oil and gas.” “You know, this war is being completely enabled by China,” the US envoy added. Beijing and Moscow have forged an even tighter partnership since the start of the war, and Russia relies on China for critical parts
Two sitting Philippine senators have been identified as “coperpetrators” in former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s crimes against humanity trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC), documents released by prosecutors showed. Philippine senators Ronald Dela Rosa and Christopher Go are among eight current and former officials named in a document dated Feb. 13 and posted to the court’s Web site. ICC prosecutors have charged Duterte with three counts of crimes against humanity, alleging his involvement in at least 76 murders as part of his “war on drugs.” “Duterte and his coperpetrators shared a common plan or agreement to ‘neutralize’ alleged criminals in the Philippines
In a softly lit Shanghai bar, graduate student Helen Zhao stretched out both wrists to have her pulse taken — the first step to ordering the house special, a bespoke “health” cocktail based on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). “TCM bars” have popped up in several cities across China, epitomizing what the country’s stressed-out, time-poor youth refer to as “punk wellness,” or “wrecking yourself while saving yourself.” At Shanghai’s Niang Qing, a TCM doctor in a white coat diagnoses customers’ physical conditions based on the pulse readings, before a mixologist crafts custom drinks incorporating the herbs and roots prescribed for their ailments.
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