AUSTRALIA
‘Smart’ bandage developed
Researchers have developed a “smart” bandage that changes color as a wound worsens or improves, potentially leading to the better treatment of ailments such as leg ulcers. Lead inventor Louise van der Werff, a materials scientist at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, said the dressing would change from red to blue depending on the temperature of the wound. “If the wound becomes infected, then it typically gets warmer. It would get cooler if there were, for example, a compromised blood supply,” she said yesterday. “A temperature is sort of an obvious indication — if they can see that through a color change then hopefully it can help a lot,” she said.
AUSTRALIA
Alleged thief impales hand
A hapless teenager who allegedly broke into a Perth shop to steal sweets was arrested after a receipt spike sliced through his hand, police said yesterday. The 16-year-old and two others allegedly forced their way into the store on Sunday evening, but as the boy tried to jump over the front counter he impaled himself on the spike. “One of the offenders, a 16-year-old boy, has impaled his left hand on the spike, which has proceeded all the way through his hand and right out the other side,” police spokesman Sergeant Gerry Cassidy told reporters. The trio allegedly fled the scene, mostly with sweets, and went straight to the nearest hospital, where police later arrested them. They were charged with aggravated burglary.
JAPAN
Tokyo employees work early
Tokyo City Government employees are starting work an hour earlier to conserve energy this summer amid a power crunch spawned by the closing of a tsunami-hit nuclear plant. For decades, the country has avoided implementing daylight savings time out of concerns it would simply mean longer working hours, but by better exploiting the early daylight hours this summer, city officials hope to use less electricity. The Tokyo government yesterday moved up many workers’ starting time by an hour. Those on the earliest shift start at 7:30am and will be allowed to leave at 4:15pm. About 9,500 employees at the city’s headquarters are participating. By next month, that number will grow to 25,000. While employees will start work earlier, the clocks will not change.
INDIA
Repeal security laws: HRW
Human Rights Watch (HRW) yesterday urged India to live up to its legal and moral commitments after becoming a member of the UN Human Rights Council. The New York-based lobby group said India must repeal special security laws in the restive region of Kashmir, where government forces have fought an insurgency against rule from New Delhi for 20 years. It also said the country had to tackle a culture of impunity that protects troops, police and public officials from prosecution, as well as improve rights for women and children. India was one of 15 members elected last month to the UN Human Rights Council. HRW said Indian laws prevent justice being done after “arbitrary arrests, torture and extrajudicial killings by the police, paramilitary and the army.” “India has made significant promises outlining its human rights record and commitments,” HRW South Asia director Meenakshi Ganguly said. “Now it’s time for India to keep those promises.” The group also called for “archaic” sedition laws to be scrapped, saying they were used to silence dissent and restrict freedom of expression.
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