NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
1 Trade negotiations: Free trade talks between the European Union and the United States have failed, Germany’s economy minister said Sunday, citing a lack of progress in the long-running negotiations. Both Washington and EU leaders have pushed for a deal by the end of the year, despite strong misgivings among some EU member states over the TransAtlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. “In my opinion, the negotiations with the United States have de facto failed, even though nobody is really admitting it,” Sigmar Gabriel, who is also Germany’s Vice Chancellor, said in Berlin.
2 Zika outbreak: At least 41 people have been infected locally by the Zika virus in Singapore, but most have fully recovered, Ministry of Health officials said Sunday. Singapore announced its first Zika infection in May, with the virus imported by a man who had traveled to Brazil. The ministry said the patients were “not known to have traveled to Zika-affected areas recently, and are thus likely to have been infected in Singapore.” Zika has mild effects on most people, but infection during pregnancy can result in babies with small heads — a condition called microcephaly — and brain defects.
3 Minister slain: Bolivian authorities have accused the president of a mining federation and two of his top officials in the killing of deputy interior minister Rodolfo Illanes amid a bitter strike, officials said. Forty miners have been detained in the case. Illanes was kidnapped and beaten to death by striking mine workers Thursday after going to the town of Panduro, 80 miles south of La Paz, to mediate in the dispute. The Attorney General’s Office has detained 40 miners, among them protest leader Carlos Mamani, president of the National Federation of Mining Cooperatives of Bolivia. On Saturday, Mamani and two other federation officials were accused by the Public Ministry in Illanes’ death.
4 Spain politics: The conservative Popular Party signed a deal Sunday with the smaller, business-friendly Ciudadanos that could help avoid a possible third round of elections and end the country’s eight-month political deadlock. The deal is a package of reforms proposed by Ciudadanos, which will allow 32 of its lawmakers to vote for acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy at a parliamentary session on Aug. 31. Both parties are now increasing pressure on the Socialist Party, second with 85 seats in parliament, to vote in favor of Rajoy and avoid a third round of elections on Christmas Day.
5 Pilots arrested: Two United Airlines pilots have been arrested for suspected intoxication before they were to fly 141 passengers from Scotland to Newark, N.J., police said. United Airlines officials confirmed Saturday’s arrest of the pilots, ages 45 and 35, at Glasgow Airport. The Police Service of Scotland said both are expected to be arraigned Monday on charges connected to Britain’s transport safety laws.
6 Ailing leader: Uzbekistan’s government issued an unusual statement Sunday announcing the hospitalization of President Islam Karimov, who has ruled the former Soviet republic in Central Asia for more than 25 years. The statement gave no details about the nature of the illness suffered by the 78-year-old president, saying only that “a full medical examination and subsequent treatment will require a certain amount of time.” Karimov, who tolerates no dissent, has ruled Uzbekistan since Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev made him the republic’s Communist Party chief in 1989.
Chronicle News Services