Hong Kong blames outsiders for protests
HONG KONG – Hong Kong’s leader has claimed that “external forces” are participating in student-led pro-democracy protests that have occupied parts of this financial capital for more than three weeks – but provided no evidence to back his accusation.
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying’s statement in a televised interview Sunday was the first time he has alleged foreign involvement in the unrest, echoing accusations by China’s central government, which also has not backed them with any evidence. Leung’s statement comes just before his government is scheduled to hold talks with student leaders on Tuesday.
When asked on the “Newsline” program about a Chinese official’s comments on outside involvement, Leung said, “There is obviously participation by people, organizations from outside of Hong Kong.” Leung added that the foreign actors came from “different countries in different parts of the world” but didn’t specify which countries.
On Monday, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei repeated the charges without specifying who was inciting the protesters.
Earth heading for hottest year on record
WASHINGTON – Earth is on pace to tie or even break the mark for the hottest year on record, federal meteorologists say.
That’s because monthly global heat records have kept toppling in 2014, with September the latest example. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Monday that, last month, the globe averaged 60.3 degrees Fahrenheit. That was the hottest September in 135 years of record keeping.
It was the fourth monthly record set this year, along with May, June and August.
NASA, which measures temperatures slightly differently, had already determined that September was record-warm.
Indiana suspect hints at more killings
GARY, Ind. – Police investigating the slayings of seven women whose bodies were found in northwest Indiana over the weekend said Monday they believe it is the work of a serial killer, and that the suspect has indicated there could be more victims going back 20 years.
The Lake County prosecutor’s office on Monday charged 43-year-old Darren Vann of Gary, Indiana, in the strangulation death of 19-year-old Afrikka Hardy. Her body was found Friday night at a Motel 6 in nearby Hammond.
Gary officials were expected to charge Vann later this week in the deaths of six more women, whose bodies were found Saturday and Sunday. Hammond Police Chief John Doughty said at a news conference that Vann confessed to Hardy’s slaying and gave police information that led to the other bodies in Gary, including three on the same block.
Vann was a convicted sex offender in Texas, where he pleaded guilty in 2009 to raping a woman and was released from prison in July 2013.
The Austin Police Department issued a statement Monday saying it would review missing persons and cold cases to determine if there could be a link to Vann and asked anyone with information to come forward.
Associated Press
