AUSTRALIA
Children may go to Malaysia
The government is resisting pressure from the UN’s child agency to guarantee that 14 unaccompanied children would not be sent to Malaysia as part of a new refugee swap deal. The 14 children are among 55 asylum seekers who arrived by boat on Thursday at an immigration detention camp on one of the country’s island territories. They are to become the first to be sent to Malaysia under a new deal aimed at deterring other asylum seekers from coming to the country by boat. UNICEF Australia chief Norman Gillespie urged Immigration Minister Chris Bowen yesterday to ensure that no unaccompanied child is deported, but Bowen says there cannot be blanket exemptions for children.
UNITED STATES
Joe Biden to visit Asia
US Vice President Joe Biden is set to travel to China, Mongolia and Japan later this month. Biden’s trip to China will include meetings with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabo (溫家寶). The US has a complex, but necessary, relationship with China, which holds about US$1.15 trillion in US debt. In Japan, the White House says Biden will express steadfast US support for its close ally in the wake of the recent earthquake, tsunami and nuclear emergency. The White House says Biden will also underscore support for Mongolia’s two decades of democratic development. The vice president is due to start his trip on Aug. 16.
JAPAN
Experts grow mouse sperm
Researchers in the country used embryonic stem cells to grow healthy mouse sperm on laboratory dishes, a development that could help treat human infertility, they said yesterday. The finding, published in the journal Cell, marks a step forward for using stem cells for regenerative medicine. Scientists at Kyoto University removed stem cells from mouse embryos and managed to coax them into a type of precursor cell known to grow into either mouse eggs or sperm. They then transplanted these cells into the testes of infertile male mice — which apparently went on to produce healthy sperm.
VIETNAM
Hunger striker eating again
A dissident priest with a brain tumor went on a one-week hunger strike after authorities returned him to prison last month, his family said yesterday. Nguyen Van Ly, 65, began refusing food after authorities disregarded international appeals and put him back behind bars on July 25 following medical leave, one relative said, asking not to be named. “He didn’t eat for one week,” but resumed meals after a visit this week from his sister, the relative said, adding the priest’s health had not deteriorated further because of his protest. The EU, US, Canada and international rights groups all expressed concern about Ly’s re--incarceration near Hanoi and said he should be freed.
INDONESIA
Bomb suspect to return soon
An alleged mastermind of the 2002 Bali bombings that killed more than 200 people will be repatriated soon from Pakistan, where he was arrested this year, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said yesterday. The most-wanted Islamic extremist in Southeast Asia, Umar Patek, was arrested in March in Abbottabad in Pakistan, the same town where US special forces killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden just weeks later. In addition to the Bali bombings, he is also suspected of involvement in a series of deadly attacks targeting Christians and Westerners in Indonesia dating back to 1999.
SWEDEN
Man builds nuclear reactor
A man was arrested after he tried to build a nuclear reactor in his kitchen and documented his efforts on the Internet, authorities and the man said on Thursday. Richard Handl, 31, from Angelholm, gathered materials, including smoke detectors, clock and watch hands, via purchases on the Internet. He documented his efforts on a blog and his Facebook page. He got as far as mixing some ingredients on a cooker. “The boiling explosion was about three or four months ago and the police came two weeks ago,” he said. After the incident, which he tagged “The Meltdown” on his blog, he said he “cleaned up the mess on the cooker and then I bought some more radium and continued the experiment.” The Radiation Safety Authority said in a statement the authorities raided Handl’s flat on July 20 after hearing that he was handling nuclear materials in an unsafe way. He was detained and shortly after freed.
UNITED KINGDOM
Mr Bean crashes supercar
Actor Rowan Atkinson, famed for his Mr Bean television shows and films, is recovering in hospital after crashing his supercar, the Daily Mirror reported yesterday. The 56-year-old comedian, also known for the Blackadder historical comedy shows, was expected to be discharged yesterday after treatment for a shoulder injury, the paper said. Police and firefighters both said that a vehicle crashed late on Thursday close to Haddon, a village about 137km north of London. The car struck a tree, a lamppost and caught fire, authorities said. Atkinson was driving his McLaren F1 supercar — one of the world’s fastest road cars, the newspaper said.
UNITED KINGDOM
MP offers sex drive curbs
A lawmaker has updated his guide on how his colleagues can stay true to their constituents while staying true to their partners. Labour MP Paul Flynn said his new version of How to Be a Backbencher will include tips on drafting pithy Twitter messages and tongue-in-cheek ways to dampen what the 76-year-old described as parliamentarians’ “sexual magnetism.” Flynn said on Wednesday in media interviews that it was a mystery to him why elected officials were so attractive. His tips on how to stay faithful include taking cold baths.
GERMANY
Gay Nazi victim dies at 98
A gay rights group says Rudolf Brazda, believed to be the last surviving person who was sent to a Nazi concentration camp because of his homosexuality, has died. He was 98. The Lesbian and Gay Association said that Brazda died on Wednesday. Brazda was sent to Buchenwald concentration camp in August 1942 and was held there until its liberation by US forces in 1945.
ISRAEL
Reference to God dropped
The army has dropped references to God in a text read at a ceremony honoring fallen soldiers, a military official said yesterday, following pressure from secular families. The relatives of some dead soldiers had protested against the fact that in many military units, the so-called Yitzkor text had been changed to be given a religious sense. The original text called on “the people of Israel” to keep the soldiers in their memories. The decision to revert back to the original text was taken by a military commission appointed by army chief of staff Lieutenant General Benny Gantz.
UNITED STATES
Rumsfeld faces torture suit
A federal judge says former secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld can be sued personally for damages by a former military contractor who says he was tortured during nine months in prison in Iraq. The court kept the identity of the contractor — an army veteran in his 50s — confidential for fear of retaliation. His attorneys say he was repeatedly abused during detention at Camp Cropper, a US military facility in Baghdad, after he worked as a translator for the marines. His lawsuit says Rumsfeld violated his constitutional rights by personally approving torturous interrogation techniques on a case-by-case basis and controlling his detention without access to courts.
UNITED STATES
F-16s reroute kit airplane
Two F-16 fighter jets intercepted a plane flown by a 75-year-old woman after it entered restricted airspace during Obama’s visit to Chicago on Wednesday, federal officials said on Thursday. The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) told the Daily Herald that the jets were summoned when air traffic controllers could not contact the pilot. Obama was in Chicago for a fundraiser celebrating his 50th birthday. The jets intercepted the Kitfox Model 2, a kit airplane, piloted by Myrtle Rose of South Barrington, a Chicago suburb. Rose turned the plane around and returned to Mill Rose Farm Airport, NORAD spokesman Lieutenant Michael Humphreys said. Rose’s plane did not have a radio, which forced NORAD to use the jets to identify and intercept the plane, Humphreys said. Rose said she did not know she had entered restricted air space.
UNITED STATES
Obama seeks aid for vets
Obama is calling on Congress to pass a series of tax credits for companies that hire unemployed military veterans. He was scheduled to announce the “Returning Heroes” and “Wounded Warriors” tax credits yesterday. His proposal would give companies that hire an unemployed veteran a US$2,400 tax credit. Companies that hire an unemployed veteran with a service-related disability would receive a US$4,800 tax credit and a US$9,600 credit if the veteran has been unemployed for more than six months. The administration says there are more than 1 million unemployed veterans.
VENEZUELA
Chavez seeks deities’ help
President Hugo Chavez told a gathering of soldiers on Thursday that he is seeking divine support from the indigenous deities and spirits of the nation’s central plains to help him survive cancer. “Cancer? What is that for me? I have faith in the spirits of the plains that I’ll prevail. I will live and we will win the elections next year,” he told hundreds of troops massed in formation at Fort Tiuna, the country’s largest military installation. Chavez often describes himself as a devout Roman Catholic, although his religious beliefs are eclectic.
BRAZIL
New defense chief named
Defense minister Nelson Jobim has resigned and will be replaced by former foreign minister Celso Amorim, the president’s office said on Thursday. Jobim, 65, who took the job in 2007 under then-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, resigned after reports that he made derogatory remarks about two female officials. He was quoted in a magazine as saying that Minister of Institutional Relations Ideli Salvatti lacked power and that Cabinet chief Gleisi Hoffmann “doesn’t even know” the capital, Brasilia.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in 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
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