■ CHINA
Four detained after accident
Four people were detained after a horrific accident in which more than 25 tonnes of molten steel engulfed a room where workers were changing shift, killing at least 32, state media said yesterday. An industrial ladle was moving into the pouring position at the plant in the northeastern province of Liaoning when it sheared off an iron rail, spewing out its 1,500oC contents. "The liquid metal engulfed the room, bursting through the door and windows and burying the workers," the China Daily said of Wednesday's tragedy at a plant belonging to the Qinghe Special Steel Co Ltd.
■ MALAYSIA
Riot police calm tensions
Riot police stepped in to calm political tensions yesterday after rival factions hurled bottles, stones and abuse at each other as the nation geared up for a possible early general election. In heavy rain, thousands of supporters of the ruling coalition and of opposition figure Anwar Ibrahim traded insults in the small town of Ijok outside the capital where a by-election will be held next week. Police moved in to keep the peace after about 2,000 Anwar supporters confronted a pro-government crowd of about 5,000, accusing the coalition of corruption and raising living costs.
■ BHUTAN
Mock elections to be staged
As the isolated Himalayan kingdom prepares for historic elections, many of the 100,000 refugees languishing outside the country are appealing for the chance to return and take part. On Saturday, the kingdom takes a big step towards ending a century of absolute royal rule by staging a mock election, a dress rehearsal with dummy parties, for the real thing in 2008. But this version of democracy will be a tightly controlled affair, critics say.
■ GERMANY
Celebrity cub gets guards
Polar bear cub Knut has received an anonymous death threat, causing alarm at Berlin Zoo yesterday and prompting heightened security. The police said they did not believe the threat was serious. The top-selling Bild newspaper said the zoo had received a hand-written fax from a suspected animal hater with the words: "Knut is dead! Thursday midday." It said the zoo had tripled the number of Knut's minders to 15. Bild published a picture of a security guard in civilian clothes guarding Knut from behind a rock.
■ EGYPT
Arab League picks duo
The Arab League chose Egypt and Jordan to take the lead in approaching Israel to promote the Saudi-drafted peace plan. Arab countries are hoping to pitch the plan as a basis for resuming peace negotiations with Israel. The initiative calls for Israel to withdraw from lands seized in 1967 and negotiate a fair solution to the refugee issue in return for full recognition of Israel by all Arab countries. Jordan and Egypt would try to "initiate direct talks" with Israel and "call on the Israeli government and all Israelis to accept the Arab peace initiative," the Saudi foreign minister said.
■ ISRAEL
Nazi-era heroine honored
An 86-year-old former teacher who risked her life to save more than 300 Jewish children from the Nazis in Belgium was granted honorary Israeli citizenship at an emotional ceremony where she was reunited with dozens of the people she rescued. "What I did was merely my duty. Disobeying the laws of the time was just the normal thing to do," Andree Geulen-Herscovici said softly in French on Wednesday in accepting the honor. Geulen-Herscovici was a teacher in Brussels in 1942 when she witnessed a Gestapo raid on a school, prompted her to join a rescue organization for children.
■ ISRAEL
Bombing footage aired
Television on Wednesday aired for the first time footage of a bombing on an Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981 and minute preparations leading up to the widely condemned attack. The 90-minute film directed by Nir Toyb showed how the secret service and the army planned the attack and prepared the pilots for any eventuality, then showed the actual June 7, 1981, raid on the Tammouz reactor, west of Baghdad. Tammouz was believed to be key to an Iraqi nuclear bomb program. The attack was condemned internationally.
■ UNITED KINGDOM
Dementia patients in focus
Science and Innovation Minister Malcolm Witts suggested on Wednesday that satellites could be used to track people suffering from dementia. Witts told a parliamentary committee that satellite tracking could allow people such as Alzheimer's disease patients to move freely -- while ensuring they were being supervised. More than 700,000 suffer from dementia nationwide, the Alzheimer's Society said.
■ UNITED KINGDOM
Sex `theme park' opens
An adults-only sexual "theme park" opened on Wednesday in London, promising to help visitors improve their sex lives. Amora -- which promotes itself as a "love and relationships academy" -- is located on Piccadilly Circus, across from the statue of Eros, the Greek god of love. Amora features interactive exhibits exploring aspects of sexual relationships ranging from flirting to fetishes.
‘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