NEWS OF THE DAY
e1 China landslide: The search continued Friday for more than two dozen people missing since a landslide buried homes in southwestern China as the death toll rose to 24, state media said. The landslide buried 21 houses Tuesday in the city of Liupanshui in Guizhou province, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Two women and three children were among the latest victims. Eleven people have been rescued, and 27 others remain missing. Heavy seasonal rains have caused extensive flooding and landslides across much of southern China.
2 Missile test: Iran testlaunched a mediumrange ballistic missile inside its borders, U.S. officials said Friday, defying Trump administration demands that it curtail the weapons program and demonstrating its intent to further push back against U.S. sanctions. The test came amid heightened tensions between Iran and the West, mainly over the safety of commercial shipping in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. A White House spokesman called the test launch an example of Iran “acting out” as a result of intense pressure from U.S. economic sanctions. The Shahab3 missile test launch could be considered another signal from Tehran that it will not back down.
_3 Cuban cardinal: Cardinal Jaime Lucas Ortega, a sugar worker’s son who oversaw the first papal visit to Cuba, helped lower barriers to believers in the communist country and played a role in mediating improved U.S.Cuba ties, died Friday at age 82. His death was announced by his successor, Havana Archbishop Juan de la Caridad Garcia. Ortega helped open a dialogue between Havana and the U.S. that led the countries to resume relations in 2014, after presidents Raul Castro and Barack Obama secretly turned to Pope Francis for help. He served as a messenger for both sides, carrying secret letters and responses that helped thaw relations.
4 American rapper: The man allegedly assaulted by American rapper A$AP Rocky and two other men in Stockholm was kicked while on the ground and hit with a bottle, Swedish prosecutors said in court documents obtained Friday. The Grammynominated rapper and the two others “deliberately, together and in agreement” attacked the man, identified as Mustafa Jafari, on June 30, prosecutors said in a Stockholm court. Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, has said he acted in selfdefense. He faces a maximum sentence of two years in prison.
5 Asylum restrictions: President Trump says Guatemala signed an agreement to restrict asylum applications to the U.S. from Central America. The socalled “safe third country” agreement would require migrants, including Salvadorans and Hondurans, who cross into Guatemala on their way to the U.S. to apply for protections in Guatemala instead of at the U.S. border. It could potentially ease the crush of migrants overwhelming the U.S. immigration system.
6 Lethal soap suds: A man trying to take a selfie next to a towering hill of soap suds floating atop a heavily polluted stream in Mexico was found dead Friday, five days after he fell into the quivering mass and disappeared. Authorities in the central state of Puebla had used fire hoses and large fans to try to clear the towering mound of suds 20 feet high, without luck. Authorities say excess detergents from homes that drain into streams feeding the Valsequillo reservoir caused the suds to accumulate.