■PHILIPPINES
Arroyo vows easy transition
President Gloria Arroyo yesterday sought to calm fears that she was secretly plotting to hold on to power, promising a smooth transition when her term ends in June. In a speech to the military, Arroyo said she would respect the nation’s democratic process, which requires her to make way for a new president who is due to be elected on May 10. “The people come first. Our accomplishments and progress to date must be passed on to new leaders to continue the forward march of progress,” she said.
■CHINA
Landslide kills three
Three people were killed and 20 reported missing when the side of a mountain in Shaanxi Province came tumbling down shortly after midnight yesterday, burying more than 10 homes, state press reported. Rescuers have dug out about 20 survivors and were continuing to search for the missing, Xinhua news agency said.
■AUSTRALIA
Cancer-free devils found
Scientists said yesterday that the discovery of a genetically distinct colony of Tasmanian devils may save the species from being wiped out by a contagious cancer that has decimated the population. So far, the colony in northwestern Tasmania has proven immune to the face cancer that has ravaged the iconic animal. The furry black animals spread the cancer when they bite each other’s faces. It causes grotesque facial tumors that eventually prevent them from feeding and can affect their internal organs. Devil Facial Tumor Disease was discovered in 1996. Since then, the numbers of Tasmanian devils have plummeted by 70 percent. The government has listed the devils as an endangered species and current estimates suggest the Tasmanian devil could be extinct within 25 years. Researchers said the new findings buy more time for managing the disease and developing a vaccine.
■HONG KONG
Repeat murderer convicted
An air conditioner repairman who stabbed and suffocated a 40-year-old Thai visitor and stuffed her body in an air duct five years ago has been convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. It was the second straight life sentence for 27-year-old So Kam-tong, who was jailed last March for killing an airline counter worker in 2008. So abducted Charitar Kamolnoranath at knifepoint in an elevator in a government office building on Oct. 12, 2005, dragged her into a utility room, stabbed her and suffocated her with a red plastic bag, according to court testimony, the South China Morning Post reported yesterday. He took his victim’s credit cards, diamond ring and cellphone, the Chinese-languange Apple Daily said.
■SOUTH KOREA
Kimchi center opens
The Agriculture Ministry opened a kimchi research center yesterday to raise global demand for its iconic dish and for Korean cuisine in general. The ministry said the laboratory — located at the Korea Food Research Institute in Bundang — would undertake research into lactic acids created by fermentation and operate a pilot plant to make prototype foods.
■SRI LANKA
China loans US$290m
China has agreed to lend US$290 million to Colombo for a new airport and to revive the country’s railway network, the foreign ministry said yesterday. Beijing will provide a US$190 million loan through its Exim Bank. China was the largest foreign funding source for Colombo last year with US$1.2 billion.
■UNITED KINGDOM
Man guilty in scam
A court on Tuesday found a man guilty of defrauding thousands of investors out of £34 million (US$51 million) through a series of pyramid scams. Kevin Foster, 51, who promoted his “KF Concept” collection of schemes by holding lively roadshows at hotels across Britain, used investors’ funds to maintain a lavish lifestyle for his family, buying a £600,000 farm and fitting it with a swimming pool, hot tub and exotic animals. Foster told investors he was making £28.50 from every £1 invested. However, his largest scheme “Planline,” into which £12 million was paid, only returned £1,703.
■SOUTH AFRICA
ANC questions Winnie
The ruling party said on Tuesday it was trying to confirm with Winnie Madikizela-Mandela if she told a British newspaper her ex-husband Nelson Mandela had “let down” the nation. Madikizela-Mandela’s scathing comments were reported in the London Evening Standard this week. The African National Congress (ANC) said it wanted to confirm her statements before commenting. Madikizela-Mandela was quoted as saying: “Mandela let us down. He agreed to a bad deal for the blacks ... Mandela is now a corporate foundation. He is wheeled out globally to collect the money and he is content doing that.”
■FRANCE
Reform sparks protest
Lawyers, prosecutors and magistrates have taken to the streets of Paris to protest a government plan for judicial reform. Police say some 2,300 people took part in Tuesday’s protest, while organizers put the figure higher. President Nicolas Sarkozy’s government is drawing up a reform to do away with powerful investigating judges and give more responsibility to state prosecutors. Advocates say that will prevent miscarriages of justice, while critics see it as self-defense by leaders who want to avoid prosecution.
■IRAN
Youth train for marriage
Acquiring the appropriate official qualifications before popping the question is part of a plan for prenuptial training courses approved by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with the aim of reversing falling marriage rates and rising divorce statistics. From next week, online courses will be offered to young people to prepare them for the pitfalls of married life. The three-month courses will be run by the state-governed national youth organization, and those who successfully complete them will receive a certificate as proof of their readiness for matrimony.
■UNITED KINGDOM
Pakistanis linked to plot
Five Pakistani men appealing deportation have been linked to a terror plot in Britain similar to the attacks on the London transport system in 2005 and were arrested days before they planned to strike, a hearing was told on Tuesday. A British intelligence officer, identified only as ZR, told an immigration panel that the group had been planning to stage an atrocity last April, but were seized in raids in northwest England.
■SWEDEN
Gas firm finds wrecks
A dozen centuries-old shipwrecks — some of them unusually well-preserved — have been found in the Baltic Sea by a gas company building an underwater pipeline between Russia and Germany. The oldest wreck could be up to 800 years old, while the others are likely from the 17th to 19th centuries, Peter Norman of Sweden’s National Heritage Board said on Tuesday.
■MEXICO
Experts to check bones
Mexicans have long believed the remains of 15 of their independence heroes lie in crypts beneath the Independence Monument in the capital, but experts now say they are not so sure. The government plans to open the crypts for maintenance and research as part of the 200th anniversary of the 1810 revolt against Spanish rule. A top official of the Bicentenary Commission said the bones may be missing, jumbled or misidentified or perhaps contain other people’s remains. Carmen Saucedo said on Tuesday that getting a definitive answer may be difficult, because DNA tests require clearly identified descendants.
■MEXICO
Five dead in prison riot
A clash between armed rival gangs in a jail left five inmates dead and 14 injured on Tuesday, authorities in northern Chihuahua state said. About 300 soldiers and police took several hours to control the unrest in the Aquiles Serdan state prison, said Gustavo Zabre, the state head of public security.
■MEXICO
US man fights for drug lord
Authorities say a US-born hitman is fighting the brother of a deceased drug lord for control of the Beltran-Leyva cartel, marking what may be the first time an American has risen to the very top ranks of Mexican gangs. Ramon Pequeno, head of the anti-narcotics division of the federal police, said on Tuesday that Texas-born Edgar Valdez Villarreal, nicknamed “La Barbie,” is battling Hector Beltran Leyva for control of the cartel. Pequeno said the battle was unleashed when cartel leader Arturo Beltran Leyva died in a shootout with marines in December.
■UNITED STATES
Papaya fights cancer: study
Researchers said on Tuesday that papaya leaf extract and its tea have dramatic cancer-fighting properties against a broad range of tumors, backing a belief held in a number of folk traditions. University of Florida researcher Nam Dang and colleagues in Japan, in a report published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology released on Tuesday by the university, documented papaya’s anticancer effect against tumors of the cervix, breast, liver, lung and pancreas.
■CANADA
Minorities rising rapidly
The nation’s ethnic makeup will greatly change in the next 20 years as the number of non-Europeans or “visible minorities” rises to nearly one-third of the population, Statistics Canada said on Tuesday. “Between now and 2031, the foreign-born population of Canada could increase approximately four times faster than the rest of the population,” reaching between 9.8 million and 12.5 million, it said. By 2031, nearly one-half, or 46 percent, of Canadians aged 15 and over would be foreign-born, or would have at least one foreign-born parent, it said.
■ARGENTINA
Bomb charges lies: suspect
An Iranian accused of masterminding the 1994 bombing of a Jewish cultural center that killed 85 people dismissed the allegations as “lies” on Tuesday and said he would not appear before an Argentine court. Moshen Rabbani, Iran’s former cultural attache in Buenos Aires, was interviewed on Radio Cooperativa by Argentine protest leader Luis D’Elia during a trip to Tehran. That meeting has offended Argentine Jews and the prosecutor investigating the bombing. D’Elia and Rabbani dismissed them as “Zionists” in the radio interview. Rabbani is among six bombing suspects on Interpol’s most-wanted list.
‘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