Top News Stories –

Chinese drivers fashion rat-proof car ‘skirts’ –
Residents of a city in southern China have been attaching “skirts” to their cars to protect them from rats. Locals in Nanning, in the Guangxi autonomous region, came up with the unusual solution after rodents were found to be clambering inside the vehicles and gnawing through the wiring. Parked cars have been spotted around the city sporting the makeshift, wraparound shields – dubbed “car maxi skirts” in the Chinese media – some fashioned from fabric and chicken wire, others using bamboo. Many social media users are amused by the curious sight, with one person writing on the popular NetEase web portal: “I like this elevated Guangxi humour.” Some share the locals’ frustrations, but others think they’re overreacting. “Are they preparing against a large-scale rodent invasion?” one user asks. [BBC]

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Procrastination

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

• The Russian Air Force uses an Iranian airbase near Hamadan to launch attacks against Syrian regime opponents. (BBC)
• Houthi shelling kills seven in Saudi Arabia; nine Yemenis from one family die from an airstrike by the Saudi-led alliance. (Reuters)

Arts and culture

• The Westfield World Trade Center opens on schedule, part of the World Trade Center Ground Zero redevelopment in New York City. (CBS NY)

Business and economy

• João Havelange, President of FIFA from 1974 to 1998, dies at the age of 100. (BBC Sport)
• Barnes & Noble fires CEO Ronald Boire after less than a year in the job. Executive Chairman and company founder Leonard Riggio, who is postponing his September retirement, will assume Boire’s duties.(Reuters) (USA Today)
• China launches the first communication satellite that uses photon beam communication. (The New York Times)

Disasters and accidents

• 2016 California wildfires
  • The town of Wrightwood, California, is evacuated due to threats from the Bluecut Fire burning in the Cajon Pass. (KTLA)
  • The Governor of California declares a state of emergency in San Bernardino County due to the Bluecut Fire. (ABC 7)

Law and crime

• California wildfires
  • California authorities charge a Clearlake resident with 17 counts of arson in connection with the wildfires over the last two years. (The Los Angeles Times)
• Medical marijuana
  • A United States Court of Appeals rules that the Department of Justice, per the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment, cannot spend money to prosecute federal marijuana cases if the defendants comply with state medical marijuana laws. (Washington Post) (Reuters)

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