CHINA
iPad 2 craze leads to ruckus
Four people were taken to hospital and a glass door smashed as a near-riot broke out at Beijing’s top Apple store among crowds rushing to snap up the iPad 2 tablet computer, state press said yesterday. Angry consumers began rushing the store on Saturday afternoon after a “foreign” Apple employee allegedly stepped into the crowd to push and beat people suspected of jumping the line, the Beijing News said. After the employee retreated back into the store, a crowd of consumers smashed the glass front door and shoved security guards as they surged forward in anger over the alleged beatings, the report said. Consumers had lined up for hours at Apple stores in Beijing and Shanghai since the iPad 2 went on sale on Friday.
PHILIPPINES
Storm leaves nine dead
Tropical Storm Aere slammed into the eastern seaboard yesterday, bringing heavy rains and landslides that have so far killed nine people and left more than 4,000 stranded, officials said. The state weather bureau said Aere made landfall over the island of Catanduanes before noon and was expected to take a northeasterly path for the rest of the day. Three people were killed when heavy rains triggered a landslide in the province of Camarines Sur in the eastern Bicol region and buried a house. More than 100,000 villagers have fled farming towns threatened by landslides. Aere, the first major weather disturbance of the year, hit Catanduanes with maximum winds of 85kph at its center and gusts of up to 100kph. Storm alert warnings had been raised over at least 12 provinces in the main island of Luzon and the eastern Bicol, the civil defense office in Manila said.
JAPAN
Official touts nuclear power
A top official said the country would maintain atomic power as part of its energy policy despite the ongoing nuclear crisis. Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku said yesterday that the government would “stick to nuclear power as a national energy policy.” He made the comment on a talk show on public broadcaster NHK. Sengoku also said the government had no plans to halt nuclear reactors other than three at the Hamaoka power plant. On Friday, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said he had asked the plant to suspend operations at the reactors until a seawall is built and backup systems are improved.
ITALY
Refugee boat runs aground
A boat carrying 500 refugees from Libya ran aground as it neared a port yesterday, forcing many of those on board to jump into the sea, officials said after all were successfully rescued. The boat hit some rocks on the approach to the island of Lampedusa in the south, sparking panic among those on board — most of them migrant workers from Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia who had been living in Libya. Coast guards immediately intervened, plucking dozens from the water, including women and children, and rescuing those still on board. Television images showed chaotic scenes as refugees clung on to ropes cast between the shoreline and the fishing boat and officers dived in to help. “It was a difficult situation. Our patrol boats couldn’t come close because of the shallow water,” Antonio Morana, a coast guard spokesman, said after the pre-dawn incident. A few of the refugees suffered slight injuries and have been hospitalized.
BOLIVIA
Mass wedding held
About 350 couples have been married according to Indian customs and traditions in a colorful Andean mass wedding with President Evo Morales presiding as best man. Saturday’s ceremony was held at a stadium in La Paz that was adorned with large white flowers and indigenous banners. Several bands serenaded the couples. Indian religious leaders presided over the wedding as did, symbolically, Pachamama — the earth deity of the Aymara and Quechua races of the nation’s highlands Indians. Morales gave a speech to the couples, who crowded the arena’s floor wearing multicolored ponchos and hats. Before the ceremony, each couple married in a civil ceremony.
UNITED STATES
Lady Di’s dresses auctioned
Two dresses worn by Diana, Princess of Wales, have sold for a record US$276,000 at an auction in Beverly Hills. Darren Julien, president of Julien’s Auctions, said on Saturday that a black crepe evening gown Diana wore during a state visit in 1992 fetched the higher price of US$144,000. A light blue strapless gown with accompanying stole that sold for US$132,000 had been worn on three occasions, including at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival. The auction attracted bidders from around the world, and organizers believe the recent royal wedding helped boost the sale price of the dresses, which were designed by Catherine Walker.
IVORY COAST
Gbagbo questioned
An official said former president Laurent Gbagbo has been questioned for the first time over human rights abuses committed while he was in power. Prosecutor Simplice Kouadio Koffi said Gbagbo was questioned on Saturday by judicial officials and that his French lawyers were not present. He says Gbagbo’s lawyers were turned away on Friday for not having proper visas. He said Gbagbo’s wife was to be questioned yesterday. Internationally recognized President Alassane Ouattara took his oath of office on Friday.
UNITED STATES
Church volunteer charged
A volunteer at a Texas church home to the largest congregation in the US has been charged with sexually abusing an autistic child. Alvaro Daniel Guzman, 25, was charged with indecency with a child over a incident in February last year at a Lakewood Church activities program for special needs children, according to media reports in Houston. Lakewood is a Protestant “megachurch” run by pastor Joel Osteen, whose weekend services draw more than 40,000 people. Guzman allegedly fondled an eight-year-old autistic boy while he helped him climb into a play structure. Another adult volunteer allegedly witnessed the event and reported it to church officials and authorities.
TUNISIA
Ben Ali relative convicted
A court convicted on Saturday a nephew of ousted president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali’s wife on charges of drug use and sentenced him to two years in jail, the official TAP news agency said. Imed Trabelsi was arrested in January after Ben Ali and his wife Leila fled the North African country to Saudi Arabia following a popular uprising over poverty, corruption and political repression. TAP said Trabelsi admitted to the charge, but told the court he had stopped using drugs in 2000. He was fined 2000 dinar (US$1,450). The nation’s caretaker authorities, in an apparent attempt to assert their authority and gain legitimacy in the eyes of protesters, have cracked down on vestiges of Ben Ali’s long rule.
‘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