GURNEE, Illinois (Reuters) -- Three people were injured following gunfire outside the Six Flags theme park in Gurnee, Illinois on Sunday, the Gurnee Police Department said. Two victims were transported to the area medical center with non-life-threatening injuries after the shooting at the theme park, while the third victim declined transport to the hospital, the police department said in a statement. Based on the initial investigation, police said suspects in a white sedan entered the Six Flags parking lot, exited the vehicle and began shooting toward another individual, and then got back in the vehicle and quickly left the area. Six Flags Great America describes itself on its website as a 300-acre (121-hectare) theme park between Chicago and Milwaukee with 17 roller coasters, entertainment and three themed areas for children. Gurnee is also about 15 miles (24 km) north of Highland Park, the Chicago suburb where a shooter opened fire on a Fourth of July holiday parade, killing seven people.

 

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TOKYO (AFP) -- Two Japanese ministers paid respects Monday at a controversial war shrine, infuriating China and South Korea where the site is seen as a symbol of past militarism, especially during World War II. The Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo honors 2.5 million war dead, mostly Japanese, who perished since the late 19th century -- but it also enshrines convicted war criminals. Trips to the shrine by government officials have long angered countries that suffered at the hands of the Japanese military before and during the war, particularly South Korea and China. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin reacted angrily to Monday’s visits, calling them a “serious provocation”. “China urges Japan to seriously learn from history, cut off militarism, and avoid further losing trust with its Asian neighbors and the international community,” he said. The South Korean government also expressed “deep disappointment” at the visit to the shrine, “which glorifies Japan’s past wars of aggression and enshrined war criminals”, according to a foreign ministry statement.

 

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KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) -- Lawyers for former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak sought on Monday to introduce fresh evidence for a re-trial, a final bid to overturn a 12-year jail term over a corruption case linked to the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal. Najib, 69, has pleaded not guilty to dozens of charges over the alleged theft of $4.5 billion from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a state fund he co-founded as premier in 2009.  The scandal has ensnared high-ranking officials and financial institutions around the world. Prosecutors say more than $1 billion in 1MDB funds made its way into Najib’s personal accounts. In July 2020, he was convicted in the first of several trials of criminal breach of trust, abuse of power and money laundering, for illegally receiving about $10 million from SRC International, a former 1MDB unit. An appeals court upheld the conviction last year.

 

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 MANILA (Reuters) -- The Philippines is looking to buy heavy-lift Chinook helicopters from the United States, after scrapping a deal with Russia worth 12.7 billion pesos ($227.35 million) in order to avoid sanctions, Manila’s ambassador to Washington said on Monday. In June, days before President Rodrigo Duterte ended his six-year term, the Philippines scrapped a deal to buy 16 Mi-17 Russian military transport helicopters because of fears of U.S. sanctions linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “This cancellation of this contract is precipitated mainly by the war in Ukraine. While there are sanctions expected to come our way, from the United States and western countries, obviously it is not in our interest to continue and pursue this contract,” ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez told journalists in a virtual forum. Moscow says it is conducting a “special military operation” in Ukraine. Romualdez said the Chinooks would replace existing hardware used for the movement of troops and in disaster preparedness in the Southeast Asian country.

 

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SYDNEY (Reuters) -- Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has sought legal advice following reports that his predecessor Scott Morrison was secretly appointed to key ministerial roles during the COVID-19 pandemic, duplicating some portfolios. Ministers are traditionally sworn in at a ceremony by the governor-general, but that did not happen in the case of the additional roles, and Albanese said it was unprecedented that key cabinet members were not aware of the appointments. “This was a centralization of power by the former Prime Minister,” Albanese, who has sought advice from the solicitor-general, Australia’s second law officer, told reporters on Monday. “This isn’t some, you know, local footy club,” he added.

 

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YEREVAN (AFP) -- The death toll from an explosion at a bustling market in the Armenian capital Yerevan rose to six on Monday as search operations continued for people believed trapped under rubble. Another 61 people were injured and 15 were missing after Sunday’s blast that led to the collapse of a building at the Surmalu wholesale market, Armenia’s Emergency Situations Minister Armen Pambukhchyan said. Rescue operations were continuing “very carefully” with people still believed to be trapped beneath the debris, he added. Pambukhchyan told reporters that video footage of the incident showed that “there can be no talk of a terrorist attack” as the fire started before the explosion. He said the fire spread to “pyro materials”. Local media had earlier said the explosion went off at a place that stored fireworks. The cause of the fire was being established.