International
Corgi killing by health workers sparks outrage in China
AFP
Video of Chinese health workers killing a pet dog with a crowbar after its owners were sent into Covid quarantine has sparked outrage, with social media users voicing concern about the extremes local authorities will go to enforce Beijing’s zero-case strategy.
The owners had been ordered to isolate themselves in a hotel after a Covid case was discovered in their apartment compound in Shangrao, Jiangxi province — a typically uncompromising response by authorities desperate to eliminate outbreaks.
The next day, health officials in hazmat suits entered their apartment, and security footage showed one of them hitting the woman’s pet corgi in the head with a crowbar.
“Even if they thought the doggy was a threat or it was carrying the virus, they should at least have given it a test first,” the corgi’s owner, who identified herself only as Ms Fu, told a Shanghai TV station.
The video of the killing, shared last week, prompted a wave of anger against the way authorities have treated animals while enforcing Covid prevention rules.
“If a government that claims to serve the people enforces the law so brutally, can the government still be believed?” one user asked on the Twitter-like Weibo platform.
The local government said in a statement Saturday that it had apologised to the woman for the workers’ “harm-free disposal of the pet dog without adequate prior communication” with the pet owner — referring to getting rid of biohazardous waste through methods including cremation and burial.
Officials had said they would enter the woman’s home to disinfect it and had promised not to hurt the dog, according to screenshots of a now-deleted Weibo post shared by an acquaintance of the owner.
The Shangrao workers have been “reprimanded and educated”, and removed from their posts, the local government said.
– No mercy shown to pets –
State-run broadcaster CCTV weighed in on Monday, urging people “not to treat others’ pets as livestock” and calling for more humane and flexible treatment of pets during mandatory quarantines.
China has squashed domestic Covid-19 cases down to a trickle through aggressive lockdowns and mass testing, with local governments often showing no mercy to pets left behind by quarantined owners.
Three cats belonging to a Covid-19 patient in northeastern China’s Heilongjiang province were euthanised after testing positive for the virus in September, local media reported.
Dog ownership was denounced as bourgeois by Communist China’s founder Mao Zedong, but the country’s population of pampered companion animals has ballooned in recent years.
Authorities in some major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai have been forced to make special concessions for pet owners during Covid-19 lockdowns.
International
Suspect Armed With Shotgun and Knives Detained at White House Correspondents Dinner
U.S. authorities confirmed Saturday that the suspect who stormed into the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner while President Donald Trump was attending acted alone, adding that there is no ongoing threat to the public following the incident, which left one Secret Service agent injured.
Acting Metropolitan Police Department chief Jeff Carroll said during a press conference that the suspect was carrying “a shotgun, a handgun, and multiple knives” when he attempted to pass through a Secret Service security checkpoint inside the hotel lobby at approximately 8:36 p.m. local time.
“At this point, everything indicates that this was a lone actor, a lone gunman,” Carroll stated, adding that investigators have found no preliminary evidence suggesting the involvement of additional suspects.
During the exchange of gunfire inside the hotel corridors, the suspect was not struck by bullets but was subdued by law enforcement officers and later transported to a hospital for medical evaluation.
A member of the United States Secret Service Uniformed Division was shot during the incident, though the bullet was stopped by the officer’s ballistic vest, preventing serious injuries. The agent was taken to a hospital and is reportedly “in good spirits,” according to Carroll.
The shooting prompted the immediate evacuation of President Trump, Melania Trump, and several senior officials attending the event after multiple gunshots were heard outside the hotel’s main ballroom.
International
U.S. allows Venezuela to fund Maduro and Cilia Flores’ legal defense
Until now, the U.S. administration had blocked the Venezuelan government from covering the legal fees of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who is also jailed and facing drug trafficking charges, due to international sanctions imposed on Venezuela.
The couple’s legal team had relied on that argument in an attempt to have the indictment dismissed, claiming that preventing a defendant from accessing counsel of their choice violates rights guaranteed under the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
However, the U.S. Treasury Department will now allow “defense attorneys to receive payments from the Government of Venezuela under certain conditions,” New York prosecutor Jay Clayton wrote in a letter dated Friday to Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who is overseeing the case.
According to the letter, the funds must have become available after March 5, 2026, and cannot come from Venezuelan oil sales regulated in the United States.
Since Maduro’s removal from power in early January, former Vice President Delcy Rodríguez has served as Venezuela’s interim leader.
The United States effectively controls Venezuelan crude exports, with revenues deposited into special accounts supervised by Washington.
Court documents filed on Friday show that the defense acknowledged the sanctions exemption and, for now, withdrew its motion seeking dismissal of the charges.
International
U.S. Sanctions Network Linked to Fentanyl Trafficking Across India, Guatemala and Mexico
The United States Department of State announced sanctions on Thursday against 23 individuals and companies allegedly linked to an international fentanyl production and smuggling network operating in India, Guatemala and Mexico.
According to the State Department, the network supplied precursor chemicals to the Sinaloa Cartel, which the United States has designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
Washington declared fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, a weapon of mass destruction last year due to its role in the ongoing overdose crisis in the United States.
“By targeting the entire supply chain — from chemical suppliers in Asia to logistical intermediaries in Central America and cartel-linked networks in Mexico — the Trump Administration is dismantling networks that destabilize governance across our hemisphere and threaten U.S. security,” the State Department said.
In a separate statement, the Office of Foreign Assets Control detailed sanctions against three Indian chemical and pharmaceutical companies: Sutaria, Agrat and SR Chemicals, along with a sales executive accused of supplying precursor chemicals to contacts in Guatemala and Mexico.
In Guatemala, authorities sanctioned J and C Import and Central Logística de Servicios, as well as intermediary Jaime Augusto Barrientos.
The OFAC also designated several intermediaries and import companies operating in the Mexican state of Sinaloa.
As part of the investigation, U.S. authorities identified Ramiro Baltazar Félix as a member of Los Mayos, a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, and Alejandro Reynoso, accused of operating clandestine drug laboratories in Guadalajara.
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