■ China
Mao up for auction
Mao Zedong (毛澤東) is for sale. A painting of Mao that was used as a model for portraits hung above Beijing's Tiananmen Square in the 1950s and 1960s will be sold at auction on June 3, an auction house said yesterday. The painting, measuring 91cm-by-68cm, is expected to bring 1 million yuan to 1.2 million yuan (US$120,000 to US$150,000) at the sale, which is open to both Chinese and foreign bidders, said a spokesman for Beijing Huachen Auctions.
■ China
Mine safety checks ordered
Beijing has ordered a new safety crackdown in coal mines after a string of accidents killed at least 90 people despite repeated promises to improve working conditions, the official Xinhua news agency said yesterday. The State Administration of Work Safety ordered local authorities to step up patrols,improve unsafe mines and close illegal operations, Xinhua said. The report added that between April 26 and May 10, there were four disasters that killed at least 10 miners each, while one killed more than 30.
■ China
`Times' man charged again
Prosecutors have refiled charges against detained New York Times researcher Zhao Yan (趙岩), accusing him of leaking state secrets and fraud just two months after identical charges against him were dropped, his lawyer Mo Shaoping (莫少平) said yesterday. Zhao's case had been dismissed in March ahead of a US visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤), but he was never released from custody. Last week Mo was told the court had "resumed the case" against Zhao, but he wasn't able to confirm the specific charges until Wednesday.
■ Japan
Old timer on top of the world
A 70-year-old man has climbed Mount Everest, laying claim to be the oldest person ever to conquer the world's highest peak, a news report said yesterday. Takao Arayama made the final ascent on Wednesday, beating the record of his fellow countryman Yuichiro Miura, who was three days younger and climbed the peak in 2003, Kyodo news agency reported. Miura now plans to beat the record by attempting a climb in 2008 at the age of 75.
■ Japan
School treats boy as girl
A primary school is allowing a seven-year-old boy with a gender identity disorder to take part in school life as a girl, local media said yesterday. According to media reports, the boy in Hyogo was diagnosed with gender identity disorder before starting school after complaining that he felt uncomfortable with being a boy. Based on the diagnosis and consultations with the boy's parents, the school is allowing him to participate as a girl, including using girls' bathrooms and attending swimming class in a girl's bathing suit.
■ Philippines
Indonesian seamen nabbed
Nine Indonesian seamen were arrested in the southern Philippines, more than two months after they commandeered a tugboat off Indonesian waters, police said yesterday. Senior Superintendent Nestor Quinsay said the Indonesians were intercepted aboard the stolen tug boat on Tuesday by coast guard officials and policemen off the town of Maco in Compostela Valley Province. Quinsay said Indonesia had sought the help of Filipino authorities in finding the missing tug boat. Jakarta authorities suspected the suspects fled with their vessel to Philippine waters after leaving North Sumatra.
■ Singapore
Maid chopped up compatriot
A Filipina maid was convicted yesterday of culpable homicide not amounting to murder over the grisly killing of a fellow domestic worker. Guen Aguilar, 29, escaped the death penalty for killing and chopping up 26-year-old compatriot Jane La Puebla when her murder charge was lowered due to her mental state. Aguilar faces possible life imprisonment or a jail term of up to 10 years under the penal code. Aguilar was arrested after the severed head and limbs of La Puebla were found in a sports bag in the upmarket Orchard Road area on Sept. 9. The victim's torso was later discovered at a nature park. Court documents showed that Aguilar strangled La Puebla after an argument over money she had lent the victim, part of which was borrowed from a loan shark.
■ Australia
Boxing bout sparks brawls
Bar brawls broke out across the nation on Wednesday night following a much-hyped televised bout between boxers Anthony Mundine and Danny Green. Mundine won the super middleweight fight in Sydney, but not everyone was happy. Police in Perth said they were called to 13 brawls involving up to 60 people. One man died after being punched to the ground in a hotel carpark and hitting his head on the pavement. In South Australia, police were called to break up 14 fights and police in the state of Queensland had to sort out three brawls involving some 50 people. Police said the fights were fuelled by alcohol and, depending on who you supported, the fight outcome. A police spokesman said, "Either it wasn't a popular win and they were fighting over the result or they were just fuelled by too many drinks and then suddenly everyone thinks they're Rocky Balboa."
■ Zimbabwe
Street marches banned
Police have banned street marches planned by churches to mark the plight of thousands of people left homeless by a government crackdown on slums a year ago, activists said on Wednesday. University lecturer John Makumbe -- a prominent critic of President Robert Mugabe -- said he had been detained by police for helping rights groups to draw up a program to commemorate the slum demolitions. "I was detained for about five hours and warned that I should not get involved in this commemoration. The fear is that these could spark anti-government protests," he said.
■ France
Parachute leap of faith
A 34 year-old Belgian jumped with a parachute from near the top of the Eiffel Tower at dawn on Wednesday and was whisked off by friends in a car after landing unharmed at the base. Johan Vervoort, an experienced "base-jumper," was filmed by the private Belgian television channel VTM which is using the exploit to promote a comedy show. Tower officials confirmed that a jump had taken place, and said Vervoort must have evaded security by concealing himself at closing time on Tuesday night. A year ago to the day a Norwegian man died performing a similar stunt, when he crashed into the lower part of the tower.
■ Germany
Drunk, stupid and caught
Officers were dumbfounded when they stopped a Polish woman drunk at the wheel of a stolen car, driving on the wrong side of a motorway and without a license, police said Tuesday. "I don't think I've ever encountered such an accumulation of traffic offences," said Helmuth Klinger, a police spokesman in Wiesbaden. "The normal combination would be to drink and then drive against the traffic, but people who steal a car tend to be a bit more discreet as rule," he added. The 28-year-old woman was four times over the legal alcohol limit when she was stopped on the highway outside Frankfurt.
■ United States
Spy Moo pleads guilty
A South Korean national pleaded guilty to spying for China and seeking to illegally export missiles and aircraft parts from the US, the US District Attorney's office in Miami said on Wednesday. Moo Ko-suen (慕可舜) is an ethnic Chinese citizen of South Korea living in Taiwan. He was arrested last November and formally accused in February of being an agent for China, and of conspiring to buy and export military equipment. Court documents allege that during a trip to Florida, Moo inspected an F-16 aircraft engine and transferred US$140,000 to cover costs for its delivery to an airstrip in China. Moo faces up to 30 years in jail.
■ South Africa
Treatment getting through
More than 210,000 South Africans are now receiving anti-AIDS treatment, the highest number in the world, the government said on Wednesday. Nearly 135,000 people were being given anti-retroviral medicines in the public health sector, and 80,000 more in the private sector, government spokesman Joel Netshitenzhe said. He described the figures as an "important milestone." The country has 600,000 people living with the HIV virus that causes AIDS, the highest number anywhere in the world. The government has been criticized by health activists for doing too little too late.
■ United States
Thief steals entire front yard
It was a sod story for a homeowner in the Mojave Desert whose entire front yard -- grass, bushes and sprinklers -- was hauled away by a thief. The homeowner in Adelanto, California, telephoned law officials to report the yard in front of his under-construction home on was gone, a sheriff's spokeswoman said on Tuesday. Witnesses told the homeowner they saw the thief taking the sod, plants and irrigation system to a nearby residence, she said. David Roger Bowers, 34, was arrested at the home and booked for investigation of grand theft and possession of stolen property, the spokeswoman said. The landscaping materials were returned to the victim.
■ United States
Home listed for record price
A Southern California oceanfront home would break a record if sold for its US$75 million listing price, an analyst with the National Association of Realtors said on Tuesday. The 2,700m2 custom-built estate belongs to Frank Pritt, founder of software company Attachmate Corp. The estate features a car museum, entertainment complex, gymnasium and mini water park. "It's a trophy home," said Carrie Williams, media director for the McMonigle Group, which listed the estate for sale. "It's secure and private -- for a celebrity, sports star or someone of that ilk."
■ Cuba
Pianos `not a threat' to US
Benjamin Treuhaft believes pianos are not a threat to US national security even if they are played in Cuba. Risking fines and jail for "trading with the enemy," the New York piano tuner has shipped 237 pianos to Cuba since 1995 to replace old Soviet-made pianos damaged by tropical humidity and termites. This week he returned to Havana with 100kg of tools and a dozen music lovers to help tune the second-hand pianos donated by Americans through his non-profit "Send a Piano to Havana" program. The 58-year-old bandana-clad activist opposes US trade sanctions against Cuba on humanitarian grounds and has been to Cuba 16 times defying a travel ban for Americans.
■ United States
Lawmakers probe bribes
With a burst of activity that ended 16 months of inaction, the ethics committee in the House of Representatives opened investigations on Wednesday of a Republican and a Democrat who are subjects of federal bribery inquiries. The Republican is connected to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, once one of the most powerful influence peddlers in Washington. Representative Bob Ney, the Republican, who accepted favors from Abramoff, will be investigated along with Democratic Representative William Jefferson of Louisiana.
■ United States
Boy Scouts to sell tall ship
The Boy Scouts of America are auctioning off a 101-year-old wooden tall ship, once used to teach sailing techniques and maritime history, because it needs costly repairs. For the past 35 years, the Boy Scouts have used the Danish-built Argus as a floating classroom. In February, it was found to have dry rot and the estimated US$1.5 million needed for repairs made the vessel too costly to keep, Boy Scouts spokeswoman Lara Fisher said on Tuesday. The ship will be listed on www.ebay.com this week with a starting bid of US$75,000, unless a benefactor appears before then. "It is heartbreaking to us," Fisher said.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese