
Chinese official dies by apparent suicide during probe into deaths of 21 runners
CBSN
A Chinese county official appears to have jumped to his death during a probe into the deaths of 21 runners last month when freezing rain and gale-force winds hit the mountain on which they were competing in an ultramarathon, state television reported Friday.
CCTV said police were notified Wednesday that a man had jumped from his apartment and died. Upon investigation, he was found to be Jingtai County Communist Party Secretary Li Zuobi. Homicide has been ruled out, it said. On Friday, the Gansu provincial government in western China handed down punishments to 27 officials, posthumously exempting Li but sacking his deputy, Zhang Wenling, CCTV reported. Two other lower-ranking officials were detained pending a further investigation, while the others were given administrative punishments, demotions, warnings and demerits.
Johannesburg — President Trump doubled down Friday on his offer to grant U.S. citizenship to White Afrikaner farmers in South Africa, accusing their government of treating them "terribly." Mr. Trump said the U.S. would offer them "safety" and that they would be given a "rapid pathway to citizenship."

Toronto — Canada's Liberal Party has chosen veteran central bank leader Mark Carney as its new leader, meaning he will quickly replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the country's top office. The transition, and Trudeau's political downfall, comes amid the chaotic trade war with Canada's closest ally launched by President Trump.

The death toll from two days of clashes between Syrian security forces and loyalists of ousted President Bashar Assad and revenge killings that followed has risen to more than 1,000, a war monitoring group said Saturday, making it one of the deadliest acts of violence since Syria's conflict began 14 years ago.

International Women's Day protests demand equal rights and an end to discrimination, sexual violence
Women across the world will call for equal pay, reproductive rights, education, justice and decision-making jobs during demonstrations marking International Women's Day on Saturday.