■INDONESIA
Workers demand security
Thousands of people took to the streets of Jakarta yesterday amid a heavy police presence as they demanded better social security for workers. “The social security system in Indonesia is still weak,” Indonesian Workers Association head Saepul Tavip told reporters. “The system here only covers about 25 percent of the workers. The social security has to cover all workers and even small people,” he said. Indonesian Metal Workers Federation member Didik Suryanto, 31, called for May Day to be made a holiday. “We contribute a lot to the country’s economy and industry. The government should declare May 1 as a public holiday to honor us better,” Suryanto said.
■UNITED STATES
Obama and Bono chat
President Barack Obama and U2 front man Bono met in the Oval Office on Friday to discuss the US administration’s development work in Africa. The White House says the social activist singer joined with Obama, along with members of his national security staff, to talk about ways to ensure the country’s foreign aid is effective. They also discussed opportunities for using innovation and technology to drive economic growth in Africa.
■UNITED STATES
Palin hacker convicted
A man who hacked into the e-mail account of then-vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin was convicted on Friday on charges of illegally accessing her e-mail and obstruction of justice. David Kernell, 22, was convicted on the two charges by a Tennessee jury, which acquitted him of a third charge of wire fraud. Palin’s email was hacked in Sept. 2008 as she campaigned alongside Republican presidential candidate John McCain. A number of her emails and two family photos taken from her account were posted online. Kernell faces a maximum of one year in prison and a US$100,000 fine for unauthorized access of Palin’s e-mail, and 20 years in prison and a US$250,000 fine for the obstruction of justice charge, the Justice Department said.
■AUSTRALIA
Disrespectful video pulled
The creators of a comedy video showing a black sportsman as a spear-holding tribesman who talks in clicks have apologised and pulled it from YouTube. DreamTeam Talk, a Web site for Australian Rules football fans, posted a statement saying it had not meant to show disrespect to dreadlocked West Coast Eagles rookie Nic Naitanui, 19. “DT TALK would like to publicly apologise for any inadvertent disrespect shown towards Nic Naitanui and the West Coast Eagles,” the statement said. “We are huge fans of Naitanui [we all have him in our dream teams] and it was never our intention for Naitanui to be seen in a negative light.”
■UNITED STATES
Salinger ‘sequel’ in balance
A lawsuit blocking publication of a purported “sequel” to J.D. Salinger’s classic novel The Catcher in the Rye will be reconsidered in federal court, but Salinger’s trustees are likely to prevail, an appeals court ruled on Friday. The unauthorized spinoff, 60 Years Later: Coming through the Rye, was barred from publication in the US after Salinger — who died in January at age 91 — last year, sued its Swedish author Fredrik Colting, who writes under the name J.D. California. Colting’s book is already available in other countries including Britain, where it is labeled on its cover as a sequel to The Catcher in the Rye.
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