News in Brief
BEIJING (Sputnik) -- China’s newly commissioned nuclear-powered submarine, dubbed the Type 094A, is equipped with ballistic missiles capable of hitting targets at a distance of 10,000 kilometers (6,200 miles) — the most powerful in the country, the South China Morning Post reported, citing a military source. The new nuclear submarine, showcased last week as part of the celebration to mark the 72nd anniversary of the Chinese navy, is armed with the JL-3, or Julang, submarine-launched ballistic missile, the newspaper said. "The Type 094A is an upgraded version of Type 094 that overcame one of the key problems – noise – by improving hydrokinetic and turbulent systems, allowing it to carry the more powerful JL-3,” the source was quoted as saying on Sunday. Before the upgrade, the submarine was capable of firing the inferior JL-2 that could only hit the northeast United States, the source said, noting that currently it is able to cover the whole American continent. The newspaper also reported, citing a military expert, that the new weapon would boost China’s ability to retaliate after a nuclear strike. The Asian country currently has six Type 094 and Type 094A submarines, with each able to carry 16 JL-3 missiles. According to Forbes quoted by SCMP, before entering striking distance of the mainland U.S., the Type 094A subs would have to get past a cordon of U.S. military bases in the Pacific exposing PLAN submarines to possible detection by U.S. P-8 Poseidon patrol planes, surface warships and other undersea surveillance equipment.
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MEXICO CITY (AP) — An elevated section of the Mexico City metro collapsed and sent a subway car plunging toward a busy boulevard late Monday, killing at least 20 people and injuring about 70, city officials said. A crane was working to hold up one subway car left dangling on the collapsed section so that emergency workers could enter to check the car to see if anyone was still trapped. Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said 49 of the injured were hospitalized, and that seven were in serious condition and undergoing surgery. Sheinbaum said a motorist had been pulled alive from a car that was trapped on the roadway below. Dozens of rescuers continued searching through wreckage from the collapsed, preformed concrete structure. The overpass was about 5 meters (16 feet) above the road in the southside borough of Tlahuac, but the train ran above a concrete median strip, which apparently lessened the casualties among motorists on the roadway below. In March of last year, a collision between two trains at the Tacubaya station left one passenger dead and injured 41 people. In 2015, a train that did not stop on time crashed into another at the Oceania station, injuring 12 people.
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BOGOTA (AFP) -- At least 19 people died and more than 800 were wounded in clashes that broke out in Colombia during five days of protests against a proposed government tax reform, authorities said. The Ombudsman’s Office said 18 civilians and one police officer died in violence during the protests that began throughout the country on April 28, while 846 people, including 306 civilians, were injured. Authorities have detained 431 people while the government deployed the military in the worst affected cities. Some NGOs accused the police of firing at civilians. Defense Minister Diego Molano claimed the violence was "premeditated, organized, financed by FARC dissidents” and members of the ELN. Faced with the unrest, the government of President Ivan Duque on Sunday ordered the proposal be withdrawn from Congress where it was being debated. Duque has hit out at protesters’ "vandalism” at a time when the country is battling a lethal second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
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MIAMI (AP) — The teenage killer who lured a friend into a bathroom stall at their suburban Miami middle school 17 years ago and cut his throat has died in prison. Florida Department of Corrections online records show Michael Hernandez, 31, died Thursday. He had been incarcerated at Columbia Correctional Institute, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of Jacksonville. No cause of death was released, but WFOR-TV said Hernandez was seen on video collapsing, and no foul play is suspected. Hernandez was serving a life sentence for the February 2004 murder of Jaime Gough when they were both 14-year-old students at Southwood Middle School in Palmetto Bay, just outside Miami. Hernandez had lured Jaime into a handicapped stall before school with a promise to show him something. He then pulled out a knife, stabbed him more than 40 times and slit his throat. He then hid the knife in a secret compartment in his backpack and went to class.
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CANBERRA (Reuters) -- Australia opened embassies in the Marshall Islands and French Polynesia on Tuesday as Canberra accelerates its efforts to counter growing competition from China for influence in the Pacific. "Australia is committed to continuing to work closely with our Pacific partners for a region that is prosperous and secure,” a joint statement from Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Minister for the Pacific Zed Seselja read. Australia now has 19 embassies in the Pacific, including new ones opened in the last three years in Tuvalu, the Cook Islands, Palau and Niue. It claims to have the largest diplomatic presence in the Pacific of any country.
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MEXICO CITY (AP) — An elevated section of the Mexico City metro collapsed and sent a subway car plunging toward a busy boulevard late Monday, killing at least 20 people and injuring about 70, city officials said. A crane was working to hold up one subway car left dangling on the collapsed section so that emergency workers could enter to check the car to see if anyone was still trapped. Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said 49 of the injured were hospitalized, and that seven were in serious condition and undergoing surgery. Sheinbaum said a motorist had been pulled alive from a car that was trapped on the roadway below. Dozens of rescuers continued searching through wreckage from the collapsed, preformed concrete structure. The overpass was about 5 meters (16 feet) above the road in the southside borough of Tlahuac, but the train ran above a concrete median strip, which apparently lessened the casualties among motorists on the roadway below. In March of last year, a collision between two trains at the Tacubaya station left one passenger dead and injured 41 people. In 2015, a train that did not stop on time crashed into another at the Oceania station, injuring 12 people.
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BOGOTA (AFP) -- At least 19 people died and more than 800 were wounded in clashes that broke out in Colombia during five days of protests against a proposed government tax reform, authorities said. The Ombudsman’s Office said 18 civilians and one police officer died in violence during the protests that began throughout the country on April 28, while 846 people, including 306 civilians, were injured. Authorities have detained 431 people while the government deployed the military in the worst affected cities. Some NGOs accused the police of firing at civilians. Defense Minister Diego Molano claimed the violence was "premeditated, organized, financed by FARC dissidents” and members of the ELN. Faced with the unrest, the government of President Ivan Duque on Sunday ordered the proposal be withdrawn from Congress where it was being debated. Duque has hit out at protesters’ "vandalism” at a time when the country is battling a lethal second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
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MIAMI (AP) — The teenage killer who lured a friend into a bathroom stall at their suburban Miami middle school 17 years ago and cut his throat has died in prison. Florida Department of Corrections online records show Michael Hernandez, 31, died Thursday. He had been incarcerated at Columbia Correctional Institute, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of Jacksonville. No cause of death was released, but WFOR-TV said Hernandez was seen on video collapsing, and no foul play is suspected. Hernandez was serving a life sentence for the February 2004 murder of Jaime Gough when they were both 14-year-old students at Southwood Middle School in Palmetto Bay, just outside Miami. Hernandez had lured Jaime into a handicapped stall before school with a promise to show him something. He then pulled out a knife, stabbed him more than 40 times and slit his throat. He then hid the knife in a secret compartment in his backpack and went to class.
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CANBERRA (Reuters) -- Australia opened embassies in the Marshall Islands and French Polynesia on Tuesday as Canberra accelerates its efforts to counter growing competition from China for influence in the Pacific. "Australia is committed to continuing to work closely with our Pacific partners for a region that is prosperous and secure,” a joint statement from Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Minister for the Pacific Zed Seselja read. Australia now has 19 embassies in the Pacific, including new ones opened in the last three years in Tuvalu, the Cook Islands, Palau and Niue. It claims to have the largest diplomatic presence in the Pacific of any country.