World AM News Briefs For Tuesday, 2 July 2019
Hello Australia!! - A wild night in Hong Kong - Iran grows it nuclear stockpile - A freak snow in Mexico in Summer? - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:
Authorities in Hong Kong have retaken the Legislative Council (LegCo) building after pro-democracy protesters occupied it for hours yesterday and overnight, smashing their way inside, ransacking offices, and vandalizing the Parliament chamber. The protest making the anniversary of Hong Kong's transfer of sovereignty to China from Britain fell right after weeks of unrest over a bill that would have allowed authorities to send people to Beijing for criminal trials, which critics said was a flagrant attempt to crack down on the pro-democracy movement. Lawmakers had pleaded with police to allow protesters to just go home, and there are no reports of arrests so far.
Iran says it has gone beyond the limit of set on its stockpile of low-enriched uranium by the 2015 international deal called the Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action (JCPOA), or simply the "Iran Nuclear Deal", a year after Donald Trump pulled the United States out. The International Atomic Energy Agency verified the 300 kilogram limit had been exceeded. Iran blamed Trump and the new economic sanctions. This is only for the kind of nuclear material that is used in power reactors - separately, Tehran is threatening to increase its uranium enrichment closer to weapons-grade levels on 7 July if Europe fails to offer it a new economic deal.
London Metro Police say a body found in a garden in Clapham likely was an attempted stowaway who hid in the wheel well of an intercontinental flight from Kenya. A bottle of water and a bag with some personal items were found in the Jet's wheel compartment at Heathrow. Poverty and social repression in Africa have prompted some to attempt this perilous way to escape to Europe, but few have survived the intense cold and thin air of a high-altitude plane ride over the hours it takes to get to the north.
The mob beating of a female forestry police officer over a land dispute in southern India's Telangana state has resulted in at least 16 arrests. Video went viral showing the men attacking the cop with bamboo rods as other officers take their time in stopping it. The police woman is in hospital being treated for severe injuries. Among those arrested is the brother of a local ruling party official.
France's Interior Ministry is investigating after Paris cops were caught on video dousing peaceful protesters with tear gas. Members of the Extinction Rebellion environmentalist group staged a sit-in at the Pont de Sully bridge during sweltering heat on Friday. Police were recorded waking up to the group and spraying several members in the face without provocation. Although police have claimed it was necessary to "restore traffic", the video has provoked outrage. Teenage environmental icon Greta Thunberg tweeted, "Watch this video and ask yourself; who is defending who?"
Despite temperatures well into the 30s, Guadalajara, Mexico found itself buried under one to two meters of hail and ice from a freak storm. "I've never seen such scenes in Guadalajara," said Governor Enrique Alfaro. "Then we ask ourselves if climate change is real. These are never-before-seen natural phenomenons," he added. Several vehicles were swept down the hilly streets by the ice, but at least the kids got to play in the mounds of frost.