■ BANGLADESH
Dozens die after ferry sinks
A crowded ferry sank during a tropical storm, killing at least 42 people and leaving more than 40 missing, officials said yesterday. The death toll from the accident late on Monday could rise because some of those missing were feared trapped inside the sunken ferry, local government administrator Sultan Ahmed said. At least 150 people were aboard the MV Chanpur when it was caught in the storm and sank in the Ghorautra River, a police official in the area about 80km north of Dhaka said. More than 60 people either swam to safety or were rescued by area residents, the official said.
■ SOUTH KOREA
Envoy heads to China
The country's chief nuclear negotiator yesterday left for talks in China, the foreign ministry said, as hopes rose that North Korea will soon disclose details of its long-secret nuclear weapons program. The visit by Kim Sook comes three days after a US envoy returned from Pyongyang with documents on the history of a plutonium bomb-making program dating back to 1986. Kim will meet his Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei (武大偉) to discuss issues concerning the six-party talks aimed at ending North Korea’s nuclear programs, foreign ministry spokesman Moon Tae-young said.
■ SINGAPORE
Prodigy goes to polytechnic
An eight-year-old boy has become the youngest student at the Singapore Polytechnic, the institution said yesterday. Among the other accomplishments of Ainan Cawley, a chemistry prodigy, was the creation of a perfume for Mother’s Day. “Our intention is to equip him with the skills needed for a scientist,” his father, Valentine Cawley, told the Straits Times. The child’s parents are supplementing his Singapore Polytechnic courses with home-schooling.
■ UNITED STATES
Cop 'assaulted' with M &Ms
A college student whose friend was being questioned in a hit and run was charged with assaulting an officer with a curious choice of weapons: M&M candies. Sean McGuire was arrested early on Sunday at a convenience store after security guards at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, noticed the colored candies falling on the ground around the officer. When the officer turned around, an M&M hit his shoulder, a police report said. McGuire claimed he threw the candy because he was “sticking up for his friend,” who apparently was the man suspected in the accident, the report said. McGuire was released from jail on Sunday after posting US$1,000 bond.
■ UNITED STATES
Antiques expert indicted
A renowned expert in Asian antiquities has been indicted on fraud charges as part of an ongoing probe into a smuggling ring involving looted art, justice officials said on Monday. Roxanna Brown, 62, the director of the Southeast Asian Ceramics Museum at Bangkok University, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles on Friday for wire fraud, officials said in a statement. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Brown is accused of allowing her electronic signature to be used on appraisal forms that artificially inflated the value of antiquities donated to several museums in southern California for tax purposes, the statement said.
■ UNITED STATES
Police casualties rise
The number of police officers killed criminally or accidentally last year climbed by about 20 percent compared with the previous year, preliminary data released on Monday by the FBI showed. Fifty-seven police officers were killed feloniously in the line of duty last year, up from 48 the previous year, the report said. Most of the officers were shot; two were killed with vehicles. Sixteen were ambushed, 16 died while arresting a suspect and 11 were killed while handling a traffic incident. The remainder died either while responding to disturbance calls, investigating suspicious activities or persons, during tactical situations or while transporting prisoners.
■ UNITED STATES
Byrne transforms building
Former Talking Heads front man David Byrne intends to turn a landmark Manhattan building into a giant musical instrument. The State of New York said Byrne would create a temporary installation called “Playing the Building” in the Great Hall of the Battery Maritime Building. Devices will be attached to ceiling beams, plumbing, electrical conduits and other parts of the structure. Sound will be produced through vibration. New York officials said on Monday that the installation would open later this month along with a new passenger waiting room at the adjacent Whitehall Ferry Terminal.
■ UNITED STATES
Man breaks biking record
A suburban Chicago man has reclaimed the Guinness world record for time spent on a stationary bicycle. George Hood’s time was not official yet, but organizers said he spent about 177 hours over eight days riding a spinning bike at a suburban YMCA. He rode the equivalent of 3,244km, burned more than 46,000 calories and never slept for more than 12 minutes at a time. The retired Drug Enforcement Agency investigator from Aurora, Illinois, began his ride on May 5 and finished early on Monday. He was taken to an area hospital as a precaution. He had held the record until last summer after spending 111 hours, 11 minutes and 11 seconds on a bike.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in 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
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was