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 Protests turn violent in China after student falls to death

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• Protestors on the street
• Protestors on the street

 Violent pro­tests have erupted in China after the death of a teen­age boy sparked accusations of a cover-up by authorities, videos from the northwestern region of Shaanxi have shown.

In videos verified by CNN, dozens of protesters are seen confronting a wall of riot police outside the Pucheng Vocation­al Technical School, with some hurling batons and other objects towards the officers.

One of the protesters was seen hurling a fire extinguisher at a door, shattering its glass. In response, police are seen aggres­sively handling the demonstrators, beating some and throwing others to the ground.

The trigger for the protests was the death of a teenage student, whose surname was Dang and who was in his third year at the school. Local authorities in Pucheng have claimed Dang’s death on January 2 was an accident and not criminal, but allegations have swirled on social media that there has been a cover-up.

Chinese authorities have been particularly wary of public protests in the country following the widespread “White Paper” demonstrations in late 2022 against Beijing’s hardline policies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to a statement from investigators posted on the Pucheng county government’s website, Dang “had a verbal and physical altercation” with a first-year student surnamed Guo over “disturbing his rest” in his dormi­tory. That night, a school official helped resolve the argument.

At around 3 a.m., another student in Dang’s dormitory went to the restroom, where he found a wooden stool underneath the balcony window, according to the statement.

“The sliding window was open, and the metal mesh screen has been removed. Dang had already fallen from the window to the ground below,” it said.

Human Rights In China, a US-based activist group, reported “suspicious circumstances” leading to Dang’s death, including witness reports of “signs of a struggle in Dang’s dormitory” and the sugges­tion that he was “pushed from the roof.”

The group said Dang’s family has rejected the official explana­tion of his death. The family also claimed that photos from his cell phone had been deleted, Reuters reported. The family’s skepticism has been amplified widely on social media.

It is unclear whether the pro­tests, which began Monday, contin­ued throughout the week.

Calls by CNN to the public secu­rity bureau of Pucheng county, as well as that of Weinan city which the county is part of went unan­swered. —cnn.com

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 Drug violence in Brussels: House shot at 23 times in Anderlecht

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• The scene after the gunshots

 A house in the Brussels mu­nicipality of Anderlecht was shot at in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

The shooting occurred at 1:40 a.m. on the facade of a building, com­posed of a professional room and a dwelling, near Place Lemmens in Anderlecht, the Brussels Public Pros­ecutor’s Office has now confirmed.

Initial reports suggested that the shooting took place on the corner Place Clemenceau, but the scene was later confirmed to be about a ten minutes’ walk away.

The Brussels Public Prosecutor also confirmed that 23 bullet holes and two failed molotov cocktails had been found at the scene. Initial unconfirmed reports suggested 15 shots and one molotov cocktail had been found.

It is not yet known whether there is a link with the shootings that took place in the past few days on Saint-Guidon Square, or with pre­vious shootings at the Clemenceau metro station and in the Peterbos neighbourhood in Anderlecht.

Since the beginning of February, those shootings, linked to the drug environment, have already left two dead and three wounded.

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 Passengers on crashed Toronto plane offered US$30,000 each

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 DELTA Air Lines is offer­ing US$30,000 (£23,792) to each person on board a plane that crash-landed in Toronto on Monday – all of whom survived.

As it landed in the Canadian city, the plane skidded along the runway in flames before flipping over and coming to a halt upside down. Passengers described their amaze­ment as most of them walked away without injuries.

It remains unclear what caused the inci­dent, which is under investigation.

There were 76 passengers and four crew on the flight, which had travelled from the US city of Minneapolis before making its crash-landing in Canada.

A spokesperson for Delta said the money offer had no strings attached and did not affect customers’ rights.

The plane crew and emergency respond­ers were praised for their quick work in removing people from the wrecked vehicle. The plane’s various safety features have also been credited for ensuring no loss of life.

All but one of the 21 passengers who were taken to hospital had been released by Wednesday morning, the airline said.

Delta’s chief told BBC’s US partner CBS News that the flight crew were experienced and trained for any condition.

The airline’s head Ed Bastian told CBS the plane crew had “performed heroically, but also as expected”, given that “safety is embedded into our system”. He said Delta was continuing to support those affected.

Several theories about what caused the crash have been suggested to the BBC by experts who reviewed footage, including that harsh winter weather and a rapid rate of descent played a role.

One passenger recalled “a very forceful event”, and the sound of “concrete and met­al” at the moment of impact. Another said passengers were left hanging upside down in their seats “like bats”.

The cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder have been recovered from the wreckage. The investigation is being led by Canada’s Transportation Safety Board (TSB), supported by US officials.

The accident was the fourth major air in­cident in North America in a space of three weeks – and was followed on Wednesday by a crash in Arizona in which two people lost their lives when their small planes collided.

Experts continue to insist that air travel is overwhelmingly safe – more so than other forms of transport, in fact.

That message was emphasised by US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, who told CBS on Wednesday there was no pattern behind the incidents, each of which he said was “very unique”. -BBC

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Peru declares state of emergency ….following bomb attack against Public Ministry

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Peru declared a state of emer­gency on Monday, following the detonation of explosives attacking the Public Ministry of Tru­jillo. Monday’s incident marks the second attack in Trujillo this year.

During the emergency state de­clared by President Boluarte to stop delinquency, the Presidency of Peru stated that “the Armed Forces and the police will take control of the city due to the state of emergency.” The Superior Court of Justice of La Libertad declared its commitment to “not succumb to any acts of violence.”

An unidentified individual posing as a delivery driver attacked the Pub­lic Ministry of Trujillo by leaving a package with explosive material that later detonated. Two explosions were detected, one originating from the package, which led to another car explosion.

Public Minister Delia Espino­za said in an interview that initial signs link the tragedy with illegal mining. Espinoza also revealed that days earlier, someone threatened a comptroller working on an orga­nized crime case.

According to Espinoza, these events show that the Minister of Interior makes promises he cannot fulfil, stating, “Constitutionally, the labor of prevention is for the police, there is no police intelligence.” Recent research shows that the disapproval of the current Minister of Interior, Juan José Santiváñez, peaked at 80 per cent in December 2024.

Former minister of Interior Oscar Valdés criticised the low efficiency of the state of emergency because of the intelligence system, argu­ing that the government failed to address illegal mining and drug trafficking as the real threats to the country.

Illegal mining has been a contro­versial issue in Peru. On December 1, 2024, the Peruvian Congress ex­tended temporary permits for “in­formal miners,” which critics argue are a part of systemic corruption that legitimised illegal mining and helped circumvent environmen­tal regulations. In April 2024, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights also found that Peru’s failure to regulate mining activities violated inhabitants’ basic right to a healthy environment.

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