Rise in deadly border patrol chases renews concerns about accountability
The number of migrants crossing into the United States illegally has soared, with the Border Patrol recording the highest number of encounters in more than six decades in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. With the surge has come an increase in deaths and injuries from high-speed chases by the Border Patrol, a trend that Customs and Border Protection, which oversees the Border Patrol, attributes to a rise in brazen smugglers trying to flee agents. From 2010 to 2019, chases by the Border Patrol resulted in an average of 3.5 deaths a year, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. In 2021, there were 21.
At least 19 killed in Bronx apartment building fire
At least 19 people, including nine children, were killed in a fire in a Bronx apartment building Sunday morning, in what officials described as one of New York City’s worst fires in recent memory. Mayor Eric Adams said it was probably caused by a malfunctioning space heater. The fire started just before 11 a.m. in a duplex apartment on the second and third floors of the building, on East 181st Street, according to the Fire Department. Firefighters arrived within three minutes and encountered smoke that extended the entire height of the 19-story building. Fire officials said the number of fatalities is likely to climb.
Prehistoric rock art ‘irreparably damaged’ by vandals, officials say
Abstract geometric designs at Big Bend National Park in Texas that had survived for thousands of years were “irreparably damaged” by vandals who scratched names and dates into the prehistoric designs, the National Park Service said. The park service said on its website that the ancient rock art was damaged Dec. 26 in the Indian Head area of the park, which encompasses more than 800,000 acres in southwest Texas. Since 2015, archaeologists at the park have documented more than 50 instances of vandalism, the park service said. Defacing rock art and ancient cultural sites violates the Archaeological Resources Protection Act.
Russia warns that US doesn’t understand its goals on Ukraine
Russian and American officials met for a preliminary dinner Sunday night to begin a high-stakes negotiation over threats to Ukraine and a widening gulf between Moscow and the West, but there was deep pessimism on both sides that a diplomatic solution was within reach. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei A. Ryabkov warned that the United States had a “lack of understanding” of the Kremlin’s security demands, and the United States voiced doubts over whether Russia was “serious” about de-escalating the Ukraine crisis. The comments by Ryabkov maintained the hard-line rhetoric that some analysts and Western officials see as a possible prelude to new Russian military action against Ukraine.
Cliff collapses on boaters in Brazil, killing 10
Ten people were killed in southeast Brazil when the face of a massive cliff collapsed at a popular tourism spot, authorities said Sunday. Boaters who narrowly escaped being crushed captured videos of the giant slab falling into Lake Furnas in Minas Gerais state Saturday. The rock peeled off about 12:30 p.m. after days of intense rain. One video showed panicky boaters who could see boulders tumbling into the lake urging others, “Get away!” But their calls appeared to be drowned out by the sound of a waterfall and music blaring from the boats. Ten people were killed and no one remained missing Sunday afternoon, Marcos Pimenta of the Minas Gerais civil police said.
Bob Saget, beloved TV dad of ‘Full House,’ dead at 65
Bob Saget, the actor-comedian known for his role as beloved single dad Danny Tanner on the sitcom “Full House” and as the wisecracking host of “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” has died, according to authorities in Florida. He was 65. The Orange County, Florida, sheriff’s office was called Sunday about an “unresponsive man” in a hotel room at the Ritz-Carlton in Orlando, according to a sheriff’s statement on Twitter. “The man was identified as Robert Saget” and death was pronounced at the scene, the statement said, adding that detectives found “no signs of foul play or drug use in this case.
Nearly 6,000 detained amid unrest in Kazakhstan
At least 5,800 people have been detained and more than 2,000 injured during several days of violence last week in Kazakhstan, government officials said Sunday, after protests ignited by a fuel price hike set off a political crisis and prompted the president to seek help from a Russia-led security alliance to restore order. The protests, which started last weekend in western Kazakhstan and spread thousands of miles east, also left the country’s most populous city, Almaty, in disarray. On Sunday, government officials said that the chaos had been “gradually stabilizing” and that thousands of people had been swept up in an “anti-terrorist” operation.
Chinese city starts testing all residents after omicron surfaces
Officials in the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin, near Beijing, said Sunday that its entire population of 14 million would be tested for the coronavirus after it was found in 20 residents, at least two of whom were infected with the fast-moving omicron variant. Mass testing over the weekend revealed another 20 people with the coronavirus, according to a report late Sunday by the city’s official news service. The city also announced a raft of restrictions in an effort to contain the outbreak and trace its source. The first infections were confirmed Saturday, in a 10-year-old girl and a 29-year-old woman who works at an after-school center.
India bans election rallies as virus cases soar
India’s election commission banned public campaign rallies for a week as coronavirus cases, fueled by the omicron variant, soared in large parts of the country. But the local assembly elections in five states, representing a population of about 250 million, would proceed as planned starting in February, the commission said. India recorded 160,000 known cases Sunday, with the number of new cases rising sixfold in one week. The major urban centers of Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata have been hit hardest. Sushil Chandra, India’s chief election commissioner, said the moratorium on rallies would be reviewed next Saturday based on the pandemic trends.
By wire sources
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