■ PAKISTAN
Thousands mourn Bhutto
About 10,000 mourners gathered at the tomb of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto yesterday to mark the end of the mourning period for her death, as her party prepared to resume campaigning for crucial Feb. 18 elections. Supporters from across her native Sindh Province and other parts of Pakistan visited the Bhutto family's grand marble mausoleum to cap 40 days of mourning for the former prime minister, who died in a gun and bomb attack in the northern city of Rawalpindi on Dec. 27. Following yesterday's religious ceremonies, Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party, now led by her husband Asif Ali Zardari, is set to resume campaigning with a major rally tomorrow.
■ THAILAND
No change toward Myanmar
The new government will not change the country's policy of non-interference in Myanmar and working with Southeast Asia to push the junta towards democracy, Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama said yesterday. "Non-interference in others' internal affairs remains the thrust of our diplomacy," Noppadon said. An Oxford graduate, Noppadon said democracy and human rights were internal affairs of Myanmar. Thailand would rely on the ASEAN, one of the few international groups willing to have Myanmar as a member, to bring change about, Noppadon told a news conference.
■ JAPAN
Shootings up 25% last year
The National Police Agency said that shootings rose by nearly a quarter last year as a series of high-profile gang-related incidents stirred concern in a country that has long prided itself on crime-free streets. A total of 66 shooting incidents occurred last year, up 24.5 percent from 53 incidents the previous year, the agency said. Deaths by shooting rose sharply to 22 last year from two the previous year, while the number of wounded by gunfire was 18, down from 19 in 2006. Most cases of gun violence were gang-related, with gangsters involved in 42 of the incidents last year, six more than the year before, the report said.
■ NORTH KOREA
Centenarian feted
The nation's reclusive leader Kim Jong-il sent a feast to a woman who reached her 100th birthday, the Korean Central News Agency said yesterday, adding that the communist state's welfare system had ensured a comfortable retirement. Pyongyang resident Pak Hwak-sil this month "greeted the centenary of birth under the benevolent socialist system," the report said. Pak worked as a plasterer during the reconstruction of the capital after the 1950 to 1953 Korean War before retiring, it said. "As a pensioner, she has enjoyed a happy life for over 40 years, benefiting from the popular health care policy of the Workers' Party of Korea," it said.
■ JAPAN
Paper planes for space
A spacecraft made of folded paper zooming through the skies may sound far-fetched, but Japanese scientists plan to launch paper planes from the International Space Station to see if they make it back to Earth. University of Tokyo researchers on Wednesday tested small, origami planes made of special paper for 30 seconds in 250?C heat and wind at seven times the speed of sound. The planes survived the wind tunnel test intact. The theory is that paper craft, being much lighter than space shuttles, may escape the worst of the friction and heat that much heavier space shuttles face on re-entry to the atmosphere.
‘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