Hong Kong stages first counterterrorism drill at redeveloped Huanggang crossing

Hong Kong authorities have conducted a counterterrorism drill at the revamped Huanggang border crossing and used a new “crowd flow” test to simulate an unexpected surge in passenger numbers, with about 5,000 civil servants taking part.
The counterterrorism exercise on Saturday was the first such drill to be held at the redeveloped checkpoint building.
A Security Bureau spokesman said civil servants from around 30 bureaus took part in the drill, which aimed to test authorities’ management of…

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In 1968, a California landowner demanded $100 an acre for land that officials valued at $17

In 1968, a California landowner demanded $100 an acre for land inside Pinnacles that officials valued at $17; A long legal and property dispute between the US federal government and Utah businessman Dean Brimhall over commercial activities on protected land ended with a $400,000 buyout and the demolition of several private facilities near the park boundary.According to historical land-management records in the National Park Service Fact Guide for Capitol Reef National Park, federal authorities bought Brimhall's private property and later ordered the demolition of a tourist lodge and petrol station. Commercial stone quarrying on the site was also ended.The settlement closed a period of conflict in southern Utah, where private property rights came into direct conflict with conservation efforts during the mid-twentieth century.Commercial enterprise caused federal conflictThe dispute began in 1964, when Brimhall built a modern service station and visitor lodge along Utah State Route 2..

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Another Queen Elizabeth grandchild set to give up royal titles

Prince Edward and Sophie’s son James is set to begin university this autumn after receiving his A-level results. Buckingham Palace has seemingly confirmed that James, Earl of Wessex, the youngest grandchild of the late Queen Elizabeth II, will not be taking on his royal titles as an adult. The 18-year-old son of Prince Edward and Sophie, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, has earned the necessary grades from his A-level exams to take the next steps towards his future career, but it appears that won’t be as a working senior royal.On Thursday, August 13, the palace announced that James is set to attend the Royal Agricultural University in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, beginning this fall. A palace spokesperson said, “The Earl of Wessex will be going to the Royal Agricultural University to study Rural Land & Property Management. He will head straight there without taking a year out.”The palace’s decision to refer to James as simply the “Earl of Wessex” in an official announcement about hi..

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Trump pleads to Supreme Court for permission to build his $400M White House ballroom

Donald Trump’s administration is asking the Supreme Court for permission to build a massive ballroom to replace the demolished East Wing of the White House after a federal appeals court rejected the president’s attempts to construct the sprawling facility without approval from Congress.
Federal courts have allowed the president to continue construction on what officials have described as an expansive underground bunker while questioning the legality of the entire project after destroying the East Wing to make way for a 90,000 square foot facility that the administration argues is vital to national security and the president’s safety.
In a 2-to-1 ruling last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. said the Constitution gives Congress — not the president — authority to make substantial changes to the White House. That decision upheld an exclamation point-filled injunction by District Judge Richard Leon, who called the president the “steward” of the White House but not “the ow..

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Toxic gas leak kills 8 at Bangladesh ship-breaking yard

At least eight workers have died following a toxic gas leak at a ship-breaking yard in the southeastern Bangladeshi district of Chattogram, officials said on Friday.
The incident occurred at the Ferdaus Steel Shipbreaking Yard in Sitakund subdistrict, an area that hosts many ship-breaking yards where old vessels mostly imported from around the world are dismantled.
Soon after the leak, many workers lost consciousness and were rushed to a local hospital.
Six out of seven people taken to…

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Border chief defends billion-dollar plan to erect barriers in national park to ward off ‘cartel activity’

The head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection is defending a $1.7 billion plan to install barriers and other infrastructure in a national park on the Mexican border — despite opponents who say it would needlessly transform the far West Texas landscape.
Commissioner Rodney Scott said the barriers were needed to keep Big Bend National Park “safe, secure, and pristine so American families can enjoy the beauty of our country, free from fear of cartel activity, for generations to come.”
Scott also reiterated that the project had been scaled back from an earlier plan to erect a controversial border wall, saying, “We are NOT building a 30-foot wall or stadium lighting through Big Bend National Park, Big Bend Ranch State Park, or the Black Gap Wildlife Management Area.”
“What people are seeing right now is survey and design work — NOT construction of a wall through the park,” he said in a statement posted on the CBP website. “We are working to preserve the landscape and protect the access vis..

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China, Brazil to launch 24/7 disaster early warning satellite for South America

After almost four decades of international cooperation in space affairs, Brazil and China have unveiled details of a new project to launch a powerful meteorological and environmental satellite.
It will be capable of monitoring the whole of South America, according to the space sciences department at Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE).
Adenilson Roberto da Silva, general coordinator of engineering and technology with the INPE, said the satellite would provide “improved weather…

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