NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
1 Yemen talks: Delegations from Yemen’s warring sides discussed expanding a shaky truce in the key port city of Hodeida on Monday, however neither side appeared ready to agree on initial draft proposals hoped for by the United Nations, which is sponsoring talks in Sweden. The talks have so far focused on implementing a prisoner swap between representatives from Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels and the internationally recognized government supported by the U.S. and a Saudi-led coalition. United Nations special envoy Martin Griffiths has said he wants to “take Hodeida out of the war,” in hopes that international aid delivers can be restored through the port and the country can avert famine.
2 Germany strike: A shortterm strike by train workers Monday led to commuter chaos, with hundreds of delays and cancellations. Rail operator Deutsche Bahn said the four-hour strike that began at 5 a.m. affected more than 1,400 trains nationwide, hitting long-distance traffic and also metro rail systems in Berlin, Munich, Hannover and Frankfurt. The EVG labor union called the “warning strike” to put pressure on Deutsche Bahn after wage negotiations broke off Saturday without an agreement. A new round of talks is set to start Tuesday in Berlin.
_3 Russia killings: A court in Russia’s eastern Siberia region on Monday convicted a former police officer of murdering 56 women, bringing the number he is believed to have killed to at least 78. The court found Mikhail Popkov, from the city of Angarsk, guilty of the murders between 1994 and 2000 and sentenced him to life in prison. Popkov, who was arrested in 2012, already is serving life for 22 other killings. The verdict makes him Russia’s most prolific serial killer in at least the past century. Local police have for years been investigating murders in the Irkutsk region, where dozens of women were raped and killed in secluded spots. In order to help the probe, authorities ended up taking DNA samples from 230,000 residents of Angarsk. Sperm found on one of the victims led the investigators to the killer.
4 China church raid: Dozens of Christians have been detained in a raid on a prominent Chinese church that operates outside the Chinese government’s official Protestant organization, a U.S.-based advocacy group said Monday. At least 80 churchgoers and seminary students from the Early Rain Covenant Church were taken away in the city of Chengdu beginning Sunday night, ChinaAid said. The government requires that Protestants worship only in churches recognized and regulated by the Three-Self Patriotic Movement. Even within that framework, the officially atheist ruling Communist Party has been seeking to rein in religious expression, including removing crosses from official and unofficial churches.
5 Runaway bus: At least four people were killed and 11 others injured Monday when an out-of-control school bus rolled down a Hong Kong street after the driver had exited the vehicle. Video footage showed the driver leaving the bus after parking it along a downhill street. The bus immediately begins moving and the man runs in front to try to stop it. The footage shows the bus dragging him about 20 yards, then grazing a taxi and appearing to pick up speed as it heads toward an intersection with King’s Road, one of the city’s main arteries. The bus traveled about 100 more yards, striking pedestrians before crashing into a storefront. The bus driver survived but sustained head, neck and back injuries. Police said the bus’s parking brake had not been properly set.
Chronicle News Services