Former US diplomat Kissinger, still active, marks 100th birthday
Former diplomat and presidential adviser Henry Kissinger marked his 100th birthday Saturday, outlasting many of his political contemporaries who guided the United States through one of its most tumultuous periods, including the presidency of Richard Nixon and the Vietnam War.
Born in Germany on May 27, 1923, Kissinger escaped the Nazi regime with his family as a teenager. He remains known for his key role in American foreign policy of the 1960s and 1970s, including eventual attempts to pull the U.S. out of Vietnam, but not before he became inextricably linked to many of the conflict’s most disputed actions.
In recent years Kissinger has continued to hold sway over Washington’s power brokers as an elder statesman. He has provided advice to Republican and Democratic presidents, including the White House during the Trump administration, while maintaining an international consulting business.
As recently as this month, Kissinger opined that the war in Ukraine is reaching a turning point with China entering negotiations. He told CBS News that he expects negotiations to come to a head “by the end of the year.”
Kissinger also coauthored a book about artificial intelligence in 2021 called “The Age of AI: And Our Human Future.” He has warned that governments should prepare for the potential risks associated with the technology.
During eight years as a national security adviser and secretary of state, Kissinger was involved in major foreign policy events, including the first example of “shuttle diplomacy” seeking Middle East peace, secret negotiations with China to defrost relations between the burgeoning superpowers and the instigation of the Paris peace talks seeking an end to the Vietnam conflict and the U.S. military’s presence there.
Kissinger, along with Nixon, also bore the brunt of criticism from U.S. allies when North Vietnamese communist forces took Saigon in 1975.
Kissinger additionally was accused of orchestrating the expansion of the conflict into Laos and Cambodia, enabling the rise of the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime that killed an estimated 2 million Cambodians.
Among his endorsements, Kissinger was recognized as a central driver in the period of detente, a diplomatic effort between the U.S. and the Soviet Union beginning in 1967 through 1979 to reduce Cold War tensions with trade and arms negotiations including the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks treaties.
Arizona boy starved: An Arizona mother has pleaded guilty to murder and child abuse charges stemming from the death of her 6-yearold son who had been locked in a closet and denied food.
Elizabeth Archibeque reached a plea agreement with prosecutors this month, the Arizona Daily Sun reported Saturday.
Archibeque will be sentenced later this summer. The terms of the plea agreement state that she will not be eligible for probation, and if sentenced to life in prison, she will not be eligible for any kind of parole or work release.
She was charged along with the boy’s father and grandmother, in cases being tried separately.
An autopsy found the boy, Deshaun Martinez, died of starvation in March 2020. Authorities had said he weighed 18 pounds — well below average for his age.
The boy’s parents kept Deshaun and his older brother in a closet for 16 hours a day and gave them little to eat. The brother survived.
Police said the boys’ confinement was punishment for stealing food while the parents slept.
Downing Street crash: A man who was taken into custody after his car crashed into the gates of the British prime minister’s residence in central London was released in that case — but then immediately rearrested on charges of making indecent images of children, police said Saturday.
The 43-year-old suspect was arrested for the unrelated offense shortly after he was released pending further investigation into the crash, the Metropolitan Police Service said in a statement.
The collision Thursday afternoon outside the prime minister’s official residence and offices at 10 Downing St. set off an intense security response.
SKorea flight scare: A passenger who opened an emergency exit door during a flight in South Korea told police that he felt suffocated and tried to get off the plane quickly as it approached landing, reports said Saturday.
Twelve people were injured when the man opened the door of the Asiana Airlines Airbus A321 on Friday, causing air to blast inside the cabin. The plane, which was flying to the city of Daegu from the southern island of Jeju, landed safely.
The Yonhap news agency said the 33-year-old told police he had suffered stress after losing his job recently.
Iran-Afghan tensions: The Taliban and Iran exchanged heavy gunfire Saturday on the Islamic Republic’s border with Afghanistan, killing and wounding troops while sharply escalating rising tensions between the two countries amid a dispute over water rights.
Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency quoted the country’s deputy police chief, Gen. Qassem Rezaei, accusing the Taliban of opening fire first Saturday morning on the border of Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan province and the Afghan province of Nimroz. IRNA said Iran inflicted “heavy casualties and serious damage.”
From the Taliban’s view, Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Nafi Takor accused Iran of shooting first. Takor said the firefight killed two people, one from each country, and wounded others. He described the situation as now being under control.
The clash comes as Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi earlier this month warned the Taliban not to violate Iran’s water rights to the Helmand River. Raisi’s remarks represented some of the strongest yet over the long-running concerns about water in Iran.
Pakistan avalanche: A snowy avalanche in northern Pakistan killed 11 people Saturday, including a 4-year-old boy, and injured 25 from a nomadic tribe as they crossed a mountainous area with their goat herds, police said.
The avalanche struck the nomads in the Chambeli area of Shounter Pass that connects the Astore district of the Gilgit Baltistan region to the bordering Azad Kashmir region.
Four women and the 4-year-old boy were among the dead, said Gilgit Baltistan senior police officer Ziarat Ali.
Gilgit Baltistan, sometimes referred to as the land of glaciers, has frequently seen avalanches in recent years due to climate change.
Rising temperatures are rapidly melting glaciers in Pakistan’s northern mountain ranges, according to the United Nations.