I PHILIPPINES
Volcano spews steam, ash
A volcano has released a plume of steam and ash, but scientists say an explosive eruption is not expected. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology says yesterday’s activity at Bulusan volcano was caused by groundwater interacting with hot rocks and not rising magma. The cloud of steam and ash rose 600m and fell over areas as far as 10km from the mountain. The institute says there could be more hydrothermal disturbances and has warned people to keep away from a 4km permanent danger zone around Bulusan’s summit.
PAKISTAN
Slain politician to be buried
The body of a politician stabbed to death in London has been flown home for burial in Karachi. Imran Farooq was killed outside his home in London in September. The 50-year-old politician had been living there in self-imposed exile since fleeing a crackdown on his party in 1992. He was a prominent member of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, which is allied with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari’s government. The movement’s leaders received Farooq’s body at the Karachi International Airport yesterday.
UAE
Al-Qaeda claim investigated
The state’s aviation authority is investigating a claim by al-Qaeda that it was behind the September crash of a UPS plane in Dubai, but has found no link so far, an official said yesterday. Al-Qaeda’s Yemen-based wing — al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula — claimed responsibility on Friday for the UPS plane crash in Dubai, in which two crew members died, and for a foiled plot to send explosive parcels to the US last week. “So far we have no evidence that links the UPS plane crash with a terror attack. There is no evidence of explosives on board,” said Saif al-Suwaidi, director general of the General Civil Aviation Authority.
RUSSIA
Medvedev vetoes new law
President Dmitry Medvedev has in a rare move vetoed a bill agreed by the Russian parliament last month which activists said would further restrict opposition protests, the Kremlin said yesterday. The new law was agreed by the State Duma, the lower house, on Oct. 22 and then approved by the Federation Council upper house on Oct. 27 and only needed to be signed by Medvedev to come into force. The changes would notably have forbidden anyone convicted in the past of organizing an illegal demonstration of putting in a request for permission to hold a protest.
BELGIUM
Serenade posted on YouTube
While Russia’s ambassador to NATO deals with issues of war and peace every day, his wife, Tatiana Rogozina, can be found on YouTube serenading her husband about “making love.” In the 3:55-minute clip, Rogozina sings and dances to a song titled Stay Forever! by the swimming pool of the couple’s residence in Brussels under autumn leaves. “I know what you want and I know what you think, making love to me is like having a good drink,” sings Rogozina, who is wearing a black leather jacket and jeans as the Russian flag flaps in the wind on the side of the house. Ambassador Dmitry Rogozin appears in the video several times, sitting in front of a computer in what appears to be his home office, bobbing his head and mouthing the second part of the chorus, “stay forever, in my life.”
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
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