NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
Rights violations: Russia has committed “multiple and grave” human rights abuses in Crimea since reclaiming the territory three years ago, the United Nations said Monday, including arbitrary arrests, torture and the imposition of Russian citizenship on residents of the former Ukrainian region. U.N. investigators have documented evidence of arbitrary detentions, torture and abductions since Russian troops annexed the Crimean Peninsula, according to a report presented in Geneva on Monday and linking abuses to the Federal Security Service, Russian police officers and a paramilitary group.
Syria fighting: U.S.-backed forces in eastern Syria say Russia bombed their positions on Monday in a major natural gas field they recently captured from Islamic State militants. The Syrian Democratic Forces said a Russian air strike killed one of its fighters and wounded two others in the Conoco gas field in Deir el-Zour province. Russia’s Defense Ministry denied the report. It was not the first time the SDF has accused Russia of targeting its forces in oil and gas-rich Deir el-Zour, where Russian backed Syrian troops are waging a separate offensive against the extremists. The two sides are racing to defeat the militants and snap up oil and gas fields, fueling fears of conflict between the two groups and their superpower sponsors.
Severe storm: Tropical Storm Pilar moved northward in the Pacific just off Mexico’s western shore on Monday, raking coastal areas with rain and high winds. Pilar had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph near the city of Mazatlan. The storm is projected to stay close to land over the next few days while dropping rain on Nayarit and Sinaloa states. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Pilar could drop 3 to 7 inches of rain on coastal areas.
Bus scare: Austrian police say a passenger in a bus with 23 others on board narrowly averted tragedy after the driver lost consciousness, helping stop the vehicle before it ran over an Alpine precipice. The driver fainted Saturday as the bus carrying French tourists was heading downhill at an elevation of about 6,600 feet east of the city of Innsbruck. It gathered speed, repeatedly banging into the mountainside lining the road. The passenger dashed forward and applied the brakes. That, and a guide rail piercing the front of the bus, brought it to a halt, but only after the front end was already jutting over a 330-foot cliff. Ten people needed medical treatment.
Critic jailed: An Egyptian court on Monday sentenced a prominent opposition leader widely expected to run against President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi in next year’s elections to three months in prison for offending public morals. Khaled Ali didn’t attend the trial in Cairo. He was convicted of making an obscene finger gesture. The verdict can be appealed but if it stands will bar him from electoral candidacy. The incident allegedly occurred outside a courthouse in January where Ali and other lawyers had just won a landmark case against the government, blocking its attempts to hand over control of two strategic Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia. The presidency has since ratified the islands’ transfer.
Space technology: Australia announced on Monday it will create its own space agency to increase its share of the $330 billion space economy. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the agency would be part of Australia’s development of an innovation and science economy. The government has yet to announce how much it will invest in the new agency.
Chronicle News Services