INDIA
Half of air force obsolete
Half of the weapons and equipment used by the air force are obsolete and need urgent replacement, a top defense official has said. Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik, pointing to investment by the government in defense, said half of the existing fighter jets, radars, transport aircraft and air defense weapons will be upgraded by 2014-2015. The country is reportedly negotiating a US$3.5 billion aircraft defense deal with the US that will be signed next month when US President Barack Obama visits the capital.
Naik said the air force was also likely to make a US$25 billion defense deal with Russia this year to buy advanced stealth fifth-generation fighter aircraft. India’s air force is just a third of the size of rival China’s and far short of what is needed to to meet the security challenges facing the country, he said. In February, New Delhi announced a US$32 billion defense budget, a 4 percent increase on last year, when spending was hiked by a quarter.
HONG KONG
Transsexual denied marriage
A transsexual who sued the government in an unprecedented bid to marry in her new gender lost her case yesterday, with a judge arguing that it was not an issue for the courts to decide. The Chinese woman, who is in her 20s and known only as “W” under anonymity rules, is one of a few people to have undergone sex change surgery in a public hospital, and had her gender altered on her identity card. However, the city’s Registrar of Marriages ruled last year that she could not marry her boyfriend because her birth certificate — which cannot be changed under Hong Kong law — says that she is still a man. In his ruling, High Court Judge Andrew Cheung said there was insufficient evidence “to demonstrate a shifted societal consensus in -present-day Hong Kong regarding marriage to encompass a post-operative transsexual.” Mainland China, Singapore, Malaysia and Japan already allow transsexual people to marry the opposite sex in their new gender, said Michael Vidler, W’s solicitor.
BRAZIL
Clown wins most votes
The incoming Congress decided from weekend elections will have to make room for a colorful new member: a professional clown who won more votes than any of them. Tiririca, a 45-year-old television humorist whose real name is Francisco Oliveira, scooped up 1.3 million votes in Sunday’s polls to represent Sao Paulo, the highest number of votes for any federal deputy across the country. His TV campaign ads, featuring him dancing around in a tiny hat and multi-colored outfit with a cheesy smile, were easily the most irreverent spots in the lead-up to the general elections. “It couldn’t get any worse. Vote for me,” was his campaign slogan, which were followed by a number of riffs tapping into public cynicism about politics. “What does a federal deputy do? I have no idea — but vote for me and I’ll let you know,” went one of his ads. “Vote for me as federal deputy so I can help the needy — especially my family,” he said in another.
JAPAN
EU president’s haiku win fan
Prime Minister Naoto Kan brought along his own copy of EU president Herman Van Rompuy’s haiku and had it autographed on Monday. A Japanese government spokesman, Noriyuki Shikata, said that at bilateral EU-Japan talks on the sidelines of an Asia-Europe Meeting, Kan asked Van Rompuy to sign a copy of his April-published first book of haiku, or mini-poems in the Japanese style.
UNITED KINGDOM
Norman Wisdom dies at 95
British comedian and actor Norman Wisdom has died at the age of 95. His family says he died peacefully late on Monday at a nursing home on the Isle of Man. He had suffered a series of strokes in the months before his death. Wisdom specialized in family-friendly slapstick comedy in the 1950s and 1960s. He was known for his roles as a clumsy underdog battling against adversity. He also acted in Broadway in the 1960s, when he was nominated for a Tony Award for his work in the comedy Walking Happy. His films included Trouble In Store in 1953 and The Night They Raided Minsky’s in 1968, which he made in Hollywood. His subsequent career was largely based in television.
EGYPT
Tehran flights to resume
Egypt and Iran have agreed to resume direct flights between their capitals for the first time since 1979, Egypt’s Ministry of Civil Aviation said on Monday, but an official played down any chance of a political thaw. The two countries severed ties in 1980 following Iran’s Islamic revolution and Egypt’s recognition of Israel. Sameh Hefni, head of Egypt’s civil aviation authority, and Hamid Ghavabesh, deputy chief of the Iranian national aviation company, signed an agreement providing for up to 28 flights between Cairo and Tehran per week, the ministry said in a statement. No start date for the flights was given.
UNITED KINGDOM
Johnson ridicules Parisians
London Mayor Boris Johnson took a swipe at sneaky Parisians on Monday, comparing the number of hire bicycles stolen in the British and French capitals. Johnson said just three bicycles had been stolen since London’s city-wide hire scheme was unveiled, compared with hundreds in Paris. “Do you know how many bicycles we have had stolen in London in the course of two months?” he asked the Conservative Party’s annual conference in Birmingham, to laughter and applause. “Only three bicycles have gone solo. Does it tell you that we have a bike hire scheme that is to the French scheme as a Rolls-Royce is to a 2CV? Yes, it certainly does,” he said. “Does it tell you that the people of London are more honest than the light-fingered Parisians? I would point out that in Paris over a comparable period they managed to lose 500 bicycles. They lost 3,000, nicked, during the first three months of the scheme,” he said. “You’ll be wondering what’s happened to those three bicycles. We have them. Not only do we have them, we have the culprits,” he added, to huge cheers. A total of 5,000 bicycles are available from 315 docking stations across London, many of them near landmarks such as Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament and the Tower of London.
GERMANY
Acolyte guilty of sex abuse
A former Roman Catholic acolyte and church youth director has been convicted of sexually abusing children and sentenced him to four years and nine months in prison. The state court in the central city of Darmstadt on Monday found the 31-year-old guilty of abusing six boys, aged 11 to 13, a court spokeswoman said yesterday. The court said the eight abuse cases took place in Catholic and Protestant parishes between 2001 and 2004. The defendant, referred to only as Sven K. under German privacy laws, led youth groups and organized children’s theater events. Sven K. was convicted of giving the boys large amounts of alcohol and, in at least one instance, -marijuana-laced cookies, before abusing them.
MEXICO
Gore hopeful on summit
Former US vice president Al Gore expressed optimism on Monday about possible advances at a key UN climate summit in Mexico in December, as gridlocked talks reopened in China. “I’m one of those who are in the field of optimism about the meeting in Cancun,” Gore, who won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with the UN panel on climate change, told a meeting of business leaders in Mexico City. Gore said he was not necessarily optimistic for a final deal in Cancun, but rather for “the goal that we are going to reach, we have to reach this goal.”
COLOMBIA
Police find drug cash stash
Police have recovered a huge stash of money, including US$29 million and 17 million euros (US$23.4 million) in cash, believed to belong to wanted drug trafficker Daniel “El Loco” Barrera, officials said. “It’s the biggest seizure of drug money in this country’s history,” Defense Minister Rodrigo Rivera said in a statement released late on Monday. About 20 people were detained in the raid, including at least three who are also wanted in the US for links to drug trafficking.
UNITED STATES
Naked Cowboy aims high
New York Times Square fixture The Naked Cowboy, a strapping guitar player known for busking in his briefs, 10-gallon hat and boots, says he will be donning a normal outfit on his next adventure: a run for the White House. Robert Burck said in a statement on his Web site that he will be jumping in the 2012 presidential race. “America needs a president who believes in America ... America, I will fight to give the power back to the people,” Burck, a 40-year-old conservative, says on his Web site. The cowboy unsuccessfully ran for mayor of New York last year.
CANADA
Parliament wiffs a spliff
Activist Samuel Mellace lit up a joint on the floor of parliament on Monday, with lawmakers looking on, CTV television reported. Mellace took seven or eight tokes before security whisked him away. About 4,000 Canadians are able to smoke medical marijuana, but Mellace said he wanted them to be able to buy products derived from marijuana such as creams or biscuits. “My wife can’t smoke her medication because she has lung cancer, so I make the butter and smoothies,” Mellace said. “It’s ridiculous to think that I could go to jail for easing my wife’s suffering.” He’s pushing to get the medical marijuana law broadened.
UNITED STATES
Sexting prosecutor resigns
The 50-year-old Wisconsin prosecutor who tried to launch an affair with a 26-year-old domestic violence victim resigned in disgrace on Monday. Calumet County District Attorney Ken Kratz said in a statement that he had lost the confidence of the people “primarily due to personal issues which have now affected my professional career.” Kratz said he was receiving treatment for “these conditions.” He also apologized to his family for the “embarrassment and shame” he has caused them. Kratz reportedly sent 30 text messages to a woman while he prosecuted her ex--boyfriend on a strangulation charge, calling her a “hot nymph” and asking if she would enjoy secret contact with a married district attorney. The woman complained to police about the harassment and Kratz was removed from the case. Several other women have since come forward with accusations Kratz used his position to try to start relationships with them.
‘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