VIETNAM
International airport opens
A new international airport opened in the southern Mekong Delta, state media said yesterday. The US$150 million Can Tho International Airport, built on 20,750m2 of land, will process up to 5 million passengers a year, Vietnam News Agency reported. “The airport provides a big opportunity for Can Tho city in particular, and the southwestern area in general, to make fast and sustainable development and helps facilitate air travel in the region,” Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said at the inauguration on Saturday. The airport is expected to be a significant boost to the Mekong Delta’s economy, as well as improving defense, security and international integration, the agency said.
HONG KONG
Szeto Wah, 79, dies
Veteran democracy activist Szeto Wah (司徒華), a vocal supporter of the 1989 Tiananmen Square student protests, has died of lung cancer. He was 79. Hong Kong opposition legislator Lee Cheuk-yan (李卓人) said Szeto passed away shortly after noon yesterday. Szeto was diagnosed with lung cancer about a year ago and had been hospitalized in recent months. Trained as a teacher, Szeto started his political career organizing teachers, building Hong Kong’s Professional Teachers’ Union into one of the territory’s most powerful unions. However, he is best known as a democracy advocate, setting up an activist group that backed the Tiananmen demonstrations.
JAPAN
Emperor wishes for peace
Emperor Akihito appeared before tens of thousands of people at the imperial palace yesterday, calling for world peace and wishing them a happy New Year. “I wish that this year will be a good year, even slightly, for each of you,” he said in a televised address from a glass-covered balcony, as he was joined by other members of the royal family. “At the start of this year, I wish for peace and tranquillity of the world and happiness of the people,” the 77-year-old monarch said, as thousands of people waved small flags, with many people shouting “banzai [live long]”.
ROMANIA
Law recognizes witchcraft
Labor laws were changed to officially recognize witchcraft as a profession, prompting one self-described witch to threaten retaliation. The move, which went into effect on Saturday, is part of the government’s drive to crack down on widespread tax evasion in a country that is in recession. In addition to witches, astrologists, embalmers, valets and driving instructors are now considered by labor law to be real working jobs, making it harder for them to avoid income tax. For months the measure had been debated, protested by witches and mocked by the media. On Saturday, a witch called Bratara told Realitate.net, the Web site of a top TV station, that she plans to cast a spell using black pepper and yeast to create discord in the government.
WEST BANK
Man killed at checkpoint
Palestinian security officials say a Palestinian man was shot and killed after trying to attack Israeli troops at a checkpoint. Security officials say the man was a worker in his 20s, who was blocked by troops from passing through a checkpoint in the Jordan Valley. They say he tried to attack troops with a bottle and then was shot. The incident happened early yesterday. The Israeli military had no immediate comment. The Palestinian officials spoke on condition of anonymity because no formal announcement had been released.
UNITED STATES
Rare ‘panda cow’ born
A rare miniature cow with markings similar to a panda bear was born on a farm in Campion in northern Colorado. The so-called “panda cow” born in Larimer County is thought to be one of only about 24 in the world. The (Loveland) Reporter-Herald reported that the male calf named Ben was born on Friday morning. His mother is a Lowline Angus cow. Farmer Chris Jessen raises miniature cattle and also owns a miniature kangaroo on his hobby farm. The miniature panda cow is the result of genetic manipulation. A white belt encircles the animal’s midsection, and the cow has a white face with black ovals around the eyes, giving it a panda-like appearance. The mini-cattle are bred solely as pets. Jessen says panda calves can sell for US$30,000.
UNITED STATES
Dead birds fall from sky
Wildlife officials are trying to determine what caused more than 1,000 black birds to die and fall from the sky over Beebe, Arkansas. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission said on Saturday that it began receiving reports about the dead birds at about 11:30pm the previous night. The birds fell over a 2km area and an aerial survey indicated that no other dead birds were found outside of that area. Commission ornithologist Karen Rowe said the birds showed physical trauma, and she speculated that “the flock could have been hit by lightning or high-altitude hail.” The commission said that New Year’s Eve revelers shooting off fireworks in the area could have startled the birds from their roost and caused them to die from stress.
ARGENTINA
Big quake hits sparse area
A strong magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit a sparsely populated region of the north early on Saturday, the US government and Argentine officials said. The epicenter of the tremor, which occurred at 6:56am, was located 160km northeast of the city of Santiago del Estero, according to the US Geological Survey. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage and the quake occurred at a depth of 583.6km. Because the earthquake was so deep below the earth’s surface, it only registered at a magnitude of about 2.0 to 3.0, according to seismologist Marcelo Pena from the national earthquake institute Inpres.
UNITED STATES
Cubans found stranded
Authorities say about 20 Cubans found living on an offshore island along the Florida Keys have been detained and some were receiving medical treatment. The Monroe County Sheriff’s office said in a statement on Saturday that the Cubans might have been on the island for several days. Sheriff’s spokeswoman Becky Herrin did not know their legal status or how they arrived on the island. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission called police and medical units to a boat ramp on Big Coppitt Key, about 16km northeast of Key West, at about 4pm local time on Saturday. The sheriff’s office said eight of the Cubans were taken to Lower Keys Medical Center on Stock Island for treatment of minor ailments.
‘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