San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Cairo collapse of apartment tower kills 18
A ninestory apartment building collapsed in the Egyptian capital early Saturday, killing at least 18 people and injuring two dozen others.
Rescue workers searched the rubble for possible survivors in the elSalam neighborhood, said Khalid AbdelAl, the administrative head of Cairo governornate.
It was not immediately clear what caused the building’s collapse. An engineering committee was formed to examine the structural integrity of neighboring buildings, AbdelAl said.
Building collapses are not uncommon in Egypt, where shoddy construction is widespread in poor neighborhoods.
With real estate at a premium in big cities like Cairo and Alexandria, developers seeking profits frequently violate building permits. Extra floors often are added without proper government permits.
The government recently began a crackdown on illegal building across the country, jailing violators and in many cases destroying the buildings.
IRAN
China signs economic pact
Iran and China on Saturday reached a 25year strategic cooperation agreement addressing economic issues amid crippling U.S. sanctions on Iran, state TV reported.
The agreement covers a variety of economic activity from oil and mining to promoting industrial activity in Iran, as well as transportation and agricultural collaborations, according to the report.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Chinese counterpart Wang Yi took part in a ceremony marking the event.
Reportedly, Iran and China have done some $20 billion in trade annually in recent years. That’s down from nearly $52 billion in 2014, however, because of a decline in oil prices and U.S. sanctions imposed in 2018 after thenPresident Donald Trump pulled the U.S. unilaterally out of a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, saying it needed to be renegotiated.
BRITAIN
Protest over police bill
Police in the city of Bristol arrested 10 people during a third night of protests against a new policing law. Hundreds of demonstrators against the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill staged a protest outside a police station in the city on
Friday night, and some scuffled with officers who tried to break up the gathering.
The Avon and Somerset Police force said Saturday that eggs, bottles and bricks were thrown at officers and a police horse was daubed with paint.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson condemned what he called “disgraceful attacks against police officers in Bristol.”
The contentious bill, which is currently going through Parliament, gives police stronger powers to restrict protests.
Two other “Kill the Bill” demonstrations against the legislation in Bristol last week also saw clashes. Police blamed a minority of troublemakers among the largely peaceful demonstrators.
WISCONSIN
55 charged in violent protests
Fiftyfive people are facing charges related to violent demonstrations in Kenosha following the police shooting of Jacob Blake last summer, police said.
Officer Rusten Sheskey shot Blake seven times in August during a domestic dispute, leaving him paralyzed. Blake, who is Black, was holding a pocketknife that had fallen from his pocket during a scuffle with police. Sheskey has not been charged, but Blake filed a lawsuit last week accusing him of using excessive force.
The shooting, captured on bystander video, turned the nation’s spotlight on Wisconsin during a summer marked by nationwide protests against police brutality and racism. The violent protests in Kenosha lasted for several nights.
“Large numbers of people engaged in lawful protest; however, many engaged in unlawful and dangerous activity,” Police Chief Daniel Miskinis said in a statement.
Miskinis said 49 adults and six minors are facing charges including arson, burglary and disorderly conduct. VIRGINIA
Shootings injure 8, kill 2
At least 10 people were shot, two of them fatally, during a “chaotic” night of violence in Virginia Beach, police said Saturday.
Officers were first called to a shooting involving several gunmen late Friday that erupted after “some type of conflict,” police said. Eight people were taken to a hospital with serious or lifethreatening wounds, police said.
Minutes later, officers heard additional gunshots nearby and found a woman — identified as Deshayla Harris, 29 — who died at the scene.
Authorities said they did not believe the two shootings were linked.
While officers were responding to the second call, an officer “encountered an armed citizen, which resulted in a policeinvolved shooting,” police said. That person — Donovon Lynch, 25 — died at the scene. Officials did not identify the officer who shot him.
Police Chief Paul Neudigate said several people were in custody.