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- China does not disclose details following plane crash into CITIC Tower
- Palestinian committee concludes productive talks in Cyprus on Gaza recovery
- Couple arrested after scaling Empire State Building for marriage proposal
- Manitoba cuts provincial sales tax on grocery and convenience store food
- Justice Department files lawsuits against Virginia and California over gun laws
- Police officer jailed after assaulting 13-year-old boy in Wiltshire
- Rocket debris discovered on beach in Palawan, Philippines
- European people’s party calls for more free pollution allowances in ets
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China does not disclose details following plane crash into CITIC Tower
12:00 am
Get you up to speed: China won’t reveal why a plane crashed into Beijing’s highest building | News World
A small aircraft, identified as a B-12PP, crashed into the CITIC Tower in Beijing on Friday, resulting in one fatality and 13 injuries. The crash occurred within a no-fly zone, and the building has been boarded up as authorities investigate the incident.
Beijing district authorities have initiated an investigation into the crash, although the deceased pilot has not been identified. The plane had deviated from its intended flight path shortly after taking off from Shifosi Airport and lost tracking signals shortly before the incident.
Beijing district authorities have confirmed an investigation into the crash is underway, although the identity of the deceased pilot has not been released. Aviation firms have suspended light aircraft operations, with a source noting they were instructed not to discuss the incident further.
What remains unclear — The cause of the aircraft crash into Beijing’s CITIC Tower has not been disclosed by Chinese authorities.
China does not disclose details following plane crash into CITIC Tower
The world is still waiting for answers about why a plane slammed into Beijing’s tallest building.
The small aircraft crashed into Beijing’s famous CITIC Tower skyscraper on Friday, killing the only person on board and wounding 13 others.
The jet – identified as a B-12PP – plummeted to the ground and left holes in the 109-storey building, which has since been boarded up.
However, China has not revealed the cause of the crash and has reportedly made it impossible to access footage of the incident from within the country.
The only official statement to come out of China is a 60-word report detailing the basic facts in Beijing Daily.
The crash happened within a no-fly zone (Picture: AP Photo/Han Guan Ng)
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Aviation firms have also suspended light aircraft operations, the outlet said, with a source telling them: ‘We were told not to speak about it’.
Other national media outlets, including Xinhua news agency and China Central Television, have not reported on the incident, according to Reuters.
The plane involved in the crash had deviated from its intended flight path after taking off from Shifosi Airport half an hour earlier, according to Global.hk.
It was due to turn around and return to the airport for 5.45pm, but flight monitoring lost the tracking signal around Beijing’s East Fifth Ring Road.
After this, the aircraft could not be reached and moments later it crashed into the skyscraper.
The crash took place within a no-fly zone just a few kilometres from Zhongnanhai, the Communist Party’s heavily guarded headquarters.
The CITIC Tower, also known as China Zun, is a popular tourist attraction in China’s capital (Picture: REUTERS)
China analyst Bill Bishop wrote on X that the crash was a ‘massive security breach’.
He said: ‘Not many more seconds of flying and [the crash] could have been at Zhongnanhai… [That would have been] an earthquake in Beijing’s security system.’
Beijing district authorities have said an investigation into the crash is underway, but have not named the pilot who died.
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Palestinian committee concludes productive talks in Cyprus on Gaza recovery
11:00 pm
Palestinian committee concludes productive talks in Cyprus on Gaza recovery
Productive Talks
The Palestinian National Committee for the Administration of Gaza concluded two days of talks in Cyprus aimed at easing humanitarian suffering and planning for reconstruction in the territory.
The Palestinian National Committee for the Administration of Gaza concluded two days of talks in Cyprus aimed at easing humanitarian suffering and planning for reconstruction in the territory.
Reconstruction funds
Over $71 billion is estimated to be required for Gaza’s reconstruction over the next decade, highlighting a significant financial necessity amid a critical humanitarian situation.
Over $71 billion is estimated to be required for Gaza’s reconstruction over the next decade, highlighting a significant financial necessity amid a critical humanitarian situation.
Official Commitment
“We held a series of working meetings in Cyprus to relieve the suffering of Gazans and develop plans for immediate project implementation,” stated the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza.
“We held a series of working meetings in Cyprus to relieve the suffering of Gazans and develop plans for immediate project implementation,” stated the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza.
Committee tasked with post-war Gaza governance says Cyprus talks ‘highly productive’
Published on •Updated
The Palestinian technocratic committee tasked with administering post-war Gaza said on Wednesday it concluded two days of “highly productive” talks in Cyprus on easing humanitarian suffering and advancing plans to rebuild the territory.
The National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) said in a post on X that it held “a series of working meetings in Cyprus with experts and advisers of the Board of Peace, the Office of the High Representative for Gaza (Nikolai Mladenov) and the Tony Blair Institute.”
The talks focused on efforts to “relieve the suffering” of Gazans, the committee said, including through projects that “can be done immediately.”
Participants also reviewed plans for reconstruction, security and governance, while developing a framework to ensure transparency and accountability for international donors.
The committee reiterated its commitment to US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan and said it remained prepared to assume its responsibilities in coordination with the Board of Peace.
It gave no timeframe, saying further steps would be announced “once the right conditions are met.”
The Board of Peace was established by Trump earlier this year as part of a US-backed ceasefire plan for Gaza endorsed by the UN Security Council.
The initiative aims to facilitate a transition away from Hamas rule while supporting the restoration of civilian administration and basic services across the territory of over 2 million Palestinians.
However progress has been slow and the technocratic committee has yet to even enter Gaza.
In May, a source familiar with the board told the AFP news agency that it had no cash in its official Gaza reconstruction fund, despite member countries pledging billions of dollars.
Since the board was set up, its fund, administered by the World Bank and endorsed by the United Nations, has received no money from donors, the source said.
And the International Stabilisation Force for Gaza that was announced at the inaugural Board of Peace meeting has still not been assembled with none of the five countries that pledged troops coming through with any significant contributions.
The board’s creation also quickly raised eyebrows after Trump sent out wide invitations, including to Russian President Vladimir Putin and to countries far removed from traditional Middle East diplomacy.
Major European nations have shunned the board, which is heavy on longstanding US partners in the Middle East, ideological allies of Trump and smaller countries eager for Trump’s attention.
The board is unambiguously led not just by the United States but by Trump personally, who holds the final say and can remain in charge past his presidency.
Under the second phase of the US-backed deal, Israel was to gradually pull out of the territory and Hamas was to hand over its weapons, neither of which has happened.
The Gaza war was triggered by Hamas’ 7 October 2023 surprise attack on Israel, prompting Israel to launch a retaliatory campaign against the territory.
The war lasted two years until the ceasefire went into effect last October, though it has not completely quelled the violence.
Israel still retains control of over 60% of the Gaza Strip, including all entry and exit points, while the population is concentrated on the coast.
An EU-UN assessment published in April estimated that more than $71 billion (€60 billion) will be needed over the next decade for the reconstruction of Gaza, where the UN says the humanitarian situation is “critical.”
Additional sources • AFP
Couple arrested after scaling Empire State Building for marriage proposal
10:01 pm
Media Lens: Couple arrested after scaling Empire State Building for marriage proposal
Police arrest two climbers at the Empire State Building.
Police arrested two climbers at the Empire State Building after an apparent marriage proposal. The incident was reported by multiple news outlets, according to coverage in latest US news and US and global politics.
What happened
Two climbers were arrested after scaling the Empire State Building’s antenna, allegedly to make a marriage proposal. The couple, Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus, was taken into custody shortly after their ascent.
This incident has drawn attention due to the unconventional nature of their engagement attempt, highlighting the risks associated with such stunts. Authorities responded promptly, ensuring the safety of both the climbers and the surrounding area.
Key facts
- Two climbers were arrested at the Empire State Building.
- The climbers scaled the building’s antenna.
- They were reportedly attempting a marriage proposal.
- The incident occurred in New York City.
- Couples engaging in similar activities have gained media attention.
Where coverage differs
- CBS News emphasizes the couple’s engagement, while The New York Times emphasizes the climbing aspect of the incident.
- Anchorage Daily News foregrounds the arrests made after the climbing, rather than the couple’s intentions.
- ABC7 New York prioritizes the couple’s daredevil nature over the legal consequences of their actions.
One story, four angles
CBS News – 2 Empire State Building climbers in custody after apparently getting engaged at the top
Publication: CBS News | Primary framing pattern: legal | Tone: sensational | Intensity: 7/10 | Sentiment: neutral | Legal precision: moderate
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Espresso Shot: CBS News highlights the dramatic nature of the event, detailing the couple’s ascent and subsequent arrest while downplaying the legal implications of their actions. The reporting emphasizes the spectacle of the situation more than its serious consequences.
Publication emphasis: The focus revolves around the couple’s daring climb and dramatic circumstances of their engagement.
Framing analysis: The climbers’ audacity and moment of engagement are foregrounded, while the potential legal consequences of their actions remain secondary.
Bias: Selection: Focus on the adventurous aspect with vivid descriptions. Language: Use of sensational phrases like “daredevil”. Omission: Little attention given to the potential penalties they may face.
Assessment: The report primarily entertains rather than critically examines the serious legal implications of the couple’s actions.
The New York Times – Couple Climbs Needle of Empire State Building
Publication: The New York Times | Primary framing pattern: political | Tone: analytical | Intensity: 6/10 | Sentiment: cautious | Legal precision: high
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Espresso Shot: This report articulates the couple’s climb as a political commentary on urban space and regulation. While detailing the event, it examines broader implications for public safety and law enforcement policies in New York City.
Publication emphasis: The lens is focused on the regulatory and safety concerns surrounding such daredevil acts.
Framing analysis: The climbers’ actions are presented as a challenge to public safety norms, highlighting the authorities’ responses as a central theme, overshadowing the personal aspect of the engagement.
Bias: Selection: Highlights public safety over personal narrative. Language: Utilizes formal and serious terminology. Omission: Minimal focus on the couple’s feelings or the romance of the occasion.
Assessment: This outlet frames the incident within a critical view of societal norms and public safety, making it a broader societal commentary.
ABC7 New York – Daredevil couple Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus climb to top of Empire State Building in NYC, gets engaged, taken into custody
Publication: ABC7 New York | Primary framing pattern: moral | Tone: critical | Intensity: 8/10 | Sentiment: negative | Legal precision: low
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Espresso Shot: ABC7 frames the incident as a reckless breach of public safety, criticizing the couple’s actions while noting their engagement. The language is charged, emphasizing the potential dangers not only to the climbers but to others around them.
Publication emphasis: The report critiques the couple’s decision to climb without regard for safety or legal rules.
Framing analysis: The moral implications of their actions are heavily emphasized, overshadowing the story of romance with the potential peril both to the climbers and to the public.
Bias: Selection: Highlights dangers and legal irresponsibility. Language: Includes negative descriptors of their actions. Omission: Little detail about personal motivations behind the climb or engagement.
Assessment: The report offers a stern perspective on the couple’s actions, casting them in a negative light regarding public safety issues.
Food for thought
CBS News employs the strongest legal framing by emphasizing the arrests of the climbers, focusing on the implications of their actions as unlawful across the backdrop of New York’s laws. In contrast, ABC7 New York takes the most escalatory framing, portraying the couple’s climb as an audacious stunt, evoking themes of daring defiance and potential chaos. While CBS underscores the legal ramifications and procedural seriousness, ABC7 amplifies the drama of the event, suggesting a sensational clash between romance and law enforcement. The facts do not change. What changes is where scrutiny lands.
Manitoba cuts provincial sales tax on grocery and convenience store food
7:00 pm
Get you up to speed: Manitoba’s provincial sales tax cut on store-bought food takes effect
A tax cut has been implemented for food sold at grocery and convenience stores in the UK. This measure does not extend to restaurants, bakeries, and bars.
The tax cut for food applies specifically to purchases made at grocery and convenience stores, leaving dining establishments unaffected. Investigations into the broader economic impact of the tax adjustment are still ongoing, with no definitive timeline set for their completion.
The government has officially implemented a tax cut for food sold at grocery and convenience stores while maintaining the tax on food purchased at restaurants, bakeries, and bars. Authorities plan to monitor the impact of this measure on consumer spending and inflation in the coming months.
What remains unclear — It is not specified whether the tax cut will be extended to other types of food retailers in the future.
Manitoba cuts provincial sales tax on grocery and convenience store food
The tax cut applies to food sold at grocery and convenience stores, but it’s still charged at restaurants, bakeries and bars.
Justice Department files lawsuits against Virginia and California over gun laws
5:00 pm
Get you up to speed: Justice Department sues Virginia, California over gun laws
The Justice Department has filed lawsuits against Virginia and California over alleged unconstitutional restrictions on gun sales. The Virginia suit targets a law banning automatic weapons, while the California lawsuit challenges a newly enacted law restricting certain firearms sales that took effect on July 1.
The Justice Department’s lawsuits against Virginia and California aim to halt enforcement of gun sales restrictions that it deems unconstitutional. Concurrently, the Supreme Court is set to examine whether the Second Amendment protects the right to own AR-15-style rifles, with hearings scheduled for its upcoming term.
The Justice Department has initiated lawsuits against Virginia and California, claiming that both states’ laws impose “unconstitutional” restrictions on firearm sales. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche stated that the department aims to halt enforcement of these laws, asserting that they violate the Second Amendment rights of citizens.
What remains unclear — It is not specified when the lawsuits against Virginia and California will be heard in court.
Justice Department files lawsuits against Virginia and California over gun laws
The Justice Department announced Wednesday that it had filed lawsuits against two states for what the department alleged are “unconstitutional” restrictions on sales of certain types of guns.
In Virginia, the department is targeting a law that banned the sale of automatic weapons. In California, it is suing over a newly enacted law that restricts the sale of some firearms with a trigger that could be modified into a “machinegun-convertible pistol.” The California law went into effect on July 1.
In a statement, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said that “the Constitution is not a suggestion” and “the Second Amendment is a sacred right belonging to all Americans, even those in California.”
The DOJ said its Virginia suit, filed against both the state and the state police, alleges that the state’s law “unconstitutionally bans the purchase and sale of ordinary semi-automatic rifles owned by millions of Americans.”
“The Virginia law makes the commercial purchase of AR-15-style rifles a crime,” the Justice Department said in a news release. “The AR-15 rifle is the most popular rifle in America. Virginia’s enforcement of the new ban is a pattern or practice of conduct by the commonwealth’s law enforcement officers that deprives the citizens of Virginia of their constitutional right to buy and sell arms protected by the Second Amendment.”
The department said in a separate news release that its suit against California seeks to halt the state’s Glock ban and prevent enforcement of California’s “Handgun Roster,” which limits what legal firearms can be legally purchased. It characterized both the ban and the roster as unlawful.
On Tuesday the Supreme Court said it will consider in its next term whether the Second Amendment guarantees the right to have AR-15-style rifles. It will hear two cases challenging local and state laws outlawing AR-15s and similar semi-automatic rifles. One involves an ordinance in Cook County, Illinois, and the other centers on a Connecticut law.
In two separate rulings last month, the Supreme Court struck down a law in Hawaii that restricted guns on private property that is open to the public and the high court sided with a Texas man who challenged the federal ban that barred certain drug users from having firearms.
Police officer jailed after assaulting 13-year-old boy in Wiltshire
4:00 pm
Get you up to speed: Police officer attacked 13-year-old boy in school uniform on duty | News UK
PC Daniel Rusling was jailed for assaulting a 13-year-old boy who sought help at Monkton Park police station in Wiltshire. The officer received an eight-week custodial sentence, suspended for 12 months, after admitting to one count of assault by beating, while the teenager was not injured.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) concluded its investigation, passing evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service. Rusling will face a gross misconduct hearing, with the timeline for this process yet to be confirmed.
Deputy Chief Constable Mark Cooper condemned PC Daniel Rusling’s actions as “in no way representative” of the police organisation and pledged to remove individuals with such attitudes. Rusling is scheduled to face a gross misconduct hearing, with further measures under consideration to rebuild trust in the police.
What remains unclear — It is not specified when Daniel Rusling’s gross misconduct hearing will take place.
Police officer jailed after assaulting 13-year-old boy in Wiltshire
A police officer has been jailed after beating up a teenage boy asking for help while he was on duty.
PC Daniel Rusling assaulted his 13-year-old victim as he reported being threatened by people in a car in Wiltshire.
Rusling repeatedly swore at the young boy, who was in a group of six children who had presented at Monkton Park police station in school uniform after calling 999, when he asked for a lift home.
He shoved him with both hands six times before pulling him by his clothing towards the building’s exit, according to a report from the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
A clip showed Rusling then telling the boys: ‘F*** out the way. All of you need to f*** off!’
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At one point, Rusling appeared to goad the teenager into a fight, telling him: ‘Do you wanna get yourself nicked or do you want to go?’
When asked why he was assaulting them, the PC did not attempt to diffuse the situation, replying: ‘This is private property, you d***head.’
The officer added he ‘didn’t give a f***” the conversation was being recorded.
Derrick Campbell, director of engagement at the IOPC, said while Rusling was justified in trying to move the boy away from the police vehicle, his behaviour escalated into an ‘unacceptable and a wholly disproportionate response’.
He said: ‘His [Rusling’s] language, body language, and attitude were aggressive.
‘The boy had said he was missing from home and showed he was wearing school uniform. He asked to be taken home, and from there, PC Rusling escalated the situation by placing his hands on him and there was no attempt by the officer to de-escalate the situation.
‘The judge described it as persistent; it went on and on. It was not just a momentary loss of temper. These children had asked for help, but one ended up being assaulted, repeatedly sworn at, and told to get out of the way.
‘The way he responded was totally inappropriate when dealing with a boy of that age and his actions will have damaged trust and confidence in policing.’
Following an investigation by the watchdog, evidence was passed to the Crown Prosecution Service.
Rusling was sentenced on Tuesday to an eight-week custodial sentence suspended for 12 months and an order requiring him to undertake unpaid work after admitting to a charge of assault by beating at Bristol Crown Court.
The teenager was not injured as a result of the attack.
Deputy Chief Constable Mark Cooper said: ‘I want to stress that his actions are, in no way, representative of our organisation nor the vast majority of our officers, staff and volunteers who come to work every day with the sole intention of serving our communities.
‘We will continue to identify and remove from our organisation anyone with the attitude clearly demonstrated by Daniel Rusling.
‘We will also continue to ensure we learn from such appalling matters and make our stance on them unequivocally clear to the rest of our organisation, our partners and our communities.’
Rusling now faces a gross misconduct hearing at a later date.
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