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Here is a round-up of the top developments around the world today.
El Salvador plans to build the world’s first “Bitcoin City”, funded initially by bitcoin-backed bonds, President Nayib Bukele said on Saturday. The city will be planned in the eastern region of La Union and would get geothermal power from a volcano and not levy any taxes except for value added tax (VAT).
“Invest here and make all the money you want,” Bukele said.wearing a reversed baseball cap, in the beach resort of Mizata. “This is a fully ecological city that works and is energized by a volcano.”Half of the VAT levied would be used to fund the bonds issued to build the city, and the other half would pay for services such as garbage collection, Bukele said, estimating the public infrastructure would cost around 300,000 bitcoins.
An SUV plowed into a Christmas parade in the Milwaukee suburb of Waukesha on Sunday killing some people and injuring more than 20 people, the city’s police chief said. The exact number of fatalities are yet to be determined.Those injured appeared to include children, members of a marching band and a dance troupe, according to witnesses and videos of the incident posted online. Eleven adults and 12 children were transported to area hospitals following the incident, city authorities said.
Chief Dan Thompson said the investigation was ongoing, but that a “suspect vehicle” was recovered. Some of the injured were taken by police to hospitals, and others were taken by family members, Thompson said. “We have a person of interest that we are looking into at this time,” Thompson said. It wasn’t clear if the person was in custody; Thompson deferred questions until a later briefing.
Police and protesters clashed on the streets of Brussels on Sunday in demonstrations over government-imposed COVID-19 restrictions, with police firing water cannon and tear gas at demonstrators throwing rocks and smoke bombs, witnesses said.
Around 35,000 people took part in demonstrations, police said, which began peacefully before violence broke out. Protesters wearing black hoods threw stones at police as they advanced with water cannon at the main junction in front of the European Union Commission headquarters, Reuters journalists said. Facing up to the police lines, the protesters held hands and chanted “freedom”.
The woman who was engaged to marry Jamal Khashoggi has asked singer Justin Bieber to cancel his scheduled December 5 performance in Saudi Arabia’s second-largest city Jeddah, urging him to not perform for the slain Saudi journalist’s “murderers.
Hatice Cengiz wrote an open letter to the singer published on Saturday in the Washington Post in which she urged Bieber to cancel the performance to “send a powerful message to the world that your name and talent will not be used to restore the reputation of a regime that kills its critics.
Austria went into a nationwide lockdown early Monday to combat soaring coronavirus infections, a step being closely watched by other European governments struggling with national outbreaks that are straining health care systems.
The measures are expected to last for a maximum of 20 days but will be reevaluated after 10. They require people to stay home apart from basic reasons like getting groceries, going to the doctor and exercising. Restaurants and most shops must close and larger events will be canceled. Schools and day care centers can remain open, but parents are encouraged to keep their children home.
Austria hopes to lift the measures on Dec. 13 but may keep a further lockdown on the unvaccinated.
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