World news in brief
Musk tried to convince Kanye to stand in 2024
Elon Musk encouraged rapper Kanye West to run for the US presidency, but did his “best to convince him that 2024 would be better”, he has revealed in an interview. Speaking to The New York Times, the Tesla founder spoke about his friendship with West, who recently suffered a public breakdown during his first campaign rally in South Carolina. Mr Musk said he tried to convince the artist, who announced his bid for presidency earlier this month, that running this year may lead to accusations of him trying to split the black vote with Democrat candidate Joe Biden. The two have known each other for “at least 10 years, maybe longer”, said Mr Musk, and text “fairly often”. After West’s breakdown and subsequent tweet storm, where he claimed his wife Kim Kardashian-West had tried to get him hospitalised, Mr Musk said he reached out to check on his friend.
Putin says Russia to get new hypersonic nuclear weapons
Vladimir Putin has said Russia’s navy will be equipped with hypersonic nuclear strike weapons and underwater drones – implying the country was drawing close to deploying the technologies. The Russian premier has repeatedly spoken of his wish to develop a new generation of nuclear weapons that can be targeted anywhere on the planet. While western experts have questioned just how advanced Moscow’s military developments are, the nation’s defence ministry has said the weaponry is now in its final testing phase. The weapons include the Poseidon underwater nuclear drone, designed to be carried by submarines, and the Tsirkon (Zircon) hypersonic cruise missile, which can be deployed on surface ships. The manoeuvrability of hypersonic missiles, which travel at five times the speed of sound, make them difficult to trace and intercept.
Trump takes rain check on Yankees pitch blaming busy schedule
Donald Trump has announced that he will not after all throw out the ceremonial first pitch for the New York Yankees next month, blaming his busy schedule – despite having just spent another weekend at one of his own golf courses. Yesterday afternoon, just days after announcing he would step up to the plate, he tweeted: “Because of my strong focus on the China Virus, including scheduled meetings on Vaccines, our economy and much else, I won’t be able to be in New York to throw out the opening pitch for the @Yankees on August 15th. We will make it later in the season!” Mr Trump had said on Thursday that he would throw out the opening pitch for one of the giants of the MLB, an announcement that came hours before Anthony Fauci was due to throw the first pitch for his own team, the Washington Nationals.
Poland to leave pan-European convention tackling violence against women
Poland has announced it will immediately pull out of a pan-European convention which tackles violence against women – sparking anger and consternation. The Istanbul Convention is the most comprehensive legal framework that exists to tackle violence against women and girls, covering domestic violence, rape, sexual assault, female genital mutilation, so-called honour-based violence and forced marriage. Zbigniew Ziobro, the country’s justice minister who announced the decision to revoke the treaty claimed it “contains elements of an ideological nature, which we consider harmful”.
His ministry will ask the labour and families ministry to start the procedure of withdrawing from the convention on Monday, Mr Ziobro told a news conference. Speaking on Saturday, Mr Ziobro argued the treaty was “harmful” as it necessitates schools to teach children about gender – claiming the convention infringes the rights of parents. But the party distanced itself yesterday from the justice minister’s suggestion and explained not everyone in the coalition supported moves to overhaul the treaty. Anita Czerwinska, PiS spokesperson, said: “Decisions have not been taken. This is not our common stance. The minister has some idea. If he submits (his proposal) we will analyse it”.
Colombian guerrillas are using coronavirus curfews to expand their control
Armed groups in this violence-fraught nation of 50 million are imposing new levels of control during the coronavirus outbreak and enforcing some of the strictest lockdown measures in the world – with harsh penalties for violators. In the port city of Tumaco, a narco-trafficking hub in the Colombian southwest, guerrillas posted pamphlets declaring all curfew violators “military targets”. In a warning to all, a medical transport responding to a call after curfew was torched in early May, its driver and patient killed. “Absolutely no one helped us,” Ms Paredes, a prosecutor in Tumaco who handles domestic abuse cases, said from the safety of a neighbouring city. Human rights groups, community leaders and government officials say a toxic slate of leftist guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries and drug cartels are using the outbreak to
consolidate control over parts of a country still reeling from the aftermath of five decades of armed conflict. The increasingly violent competition shows the power of the pandemic to deepen pre-existing societal challenges and loosen the grip of government in fragile states.
Church volunteer admits arson attack on Nantes cathedral
A church volunteer has been charged after he told investigators that he was responsible for an arson attack that badly damaged a 15th-century Gothic cathedral in western France. The man had previously been questioned and then released after the blaze which destroyed the organ, shattered stained glass windows, and blackened the insides of the Cathedral of St Peter and St Paul in Nantes on 18 July. When he was detained again this weekend for further questioning, he finally admitted responsibility for the fire, said his lawyer, Quentin Chabert. “He confessed to the allegations against him which, as the prosecutor indicated, are causing destruction and damage by fire,” the lawyer told France Info radio. “He regrets the facts. That is certain. He is in a sort of repentance.” French media quoted the Nantes prosecutor as saying that the Rwandan, who had been tasked with the job of locking up the cathedral, told the investigating magistrate that he lit three fires – on two cathedral organs and an electrical box. His motives were unknown. The reports quoted the prosecutor as saying that the arson charge is punishable by a 10-year jail term.