UNITED KINGDOM
Cameron set to meet Putin
Officials said Prime Minister David Cameron may hold the first meeting in four years between a UK official and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin next week. The officials, who requested anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss Cameron’s plans in advance, said on Thursday he would travel to Moscow to help improve fragile ties between the two nations. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s office has confirmed he will meet with Cameron on Monday. Cameron is also expected to meet with Putin — the first talks between Putin and a British official since he met with former prime minister Tony Blair in June 2007. Ties soured over Moscow’s refusal to hand over a suspect in the 2006 poisoning death in London of Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko.
ITALY
Pedal-power to fuel concert
The town of Bari is preparing for a pedal-powered concert, billed by organizers as the country’s first entirely ecofriendly gig. Sound and lighting for the performance by the band Tetes de Bois on Thursday will be provided courtesy of 128 energy-generating cyclists. “Goodbike” is the brainchild of the Roman group who are fanatical about the environmentally friendly mode of transport. The concert takes place in the southern town on the eve of European Mobility Week, a campaign to get more people to get about by walking, cycling or taking public transport. “It’s the first concert in Italy with this dimension of sustainable development,” regional transport chief Guglielmo Minervini said.
FRANCE
Ex-IMF chief horny: Lagerfeld
Fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld on Thursday described his friend, former IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, as charming and “sweet” — unless you’re a woman. Defending the politician against sex assault allegations, Lagerfeld told the Web site style.com that all politicians are “horny.” “They get horny from politics, from power,” the eccentric German fashionista said. Lagerfeld added that Strauss-Kahn has “unbelievable charms,” adding: “He is really charming. He’s fun, he’s great. He’s a sweet guy — as long as you’re not a woman. That’s the problem.” “I love DSK. I love his wife ... They are great people,” Lagerfeld said. “But you know, for people in politics, it’s very embarrassing.”
TURKEY
Navy to escort Gaza aid ships
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said warships will escort Turkish Gaza-bound aid ships in the future. Erdogan told al-Jazeera television that the navy would accompany the aid ships to protect them from raids like the one Israel launched on a flotilla trying to break the Gaza blockade last year, when nine pro-Palestinian activists were killed. Ankara has already announced it would increase patrols in the eastern Mediterranean in response to Israel’s refusal to apologize for the raid. However, it was the first admission that Ankara intends to send warships to protect ships trying to break the blockade.
UNITED STATES
Lee tintype nets US$23,000
A Goodwill worker who spotted a photograph of Confederate General Robert E. Lee has helped the charity make US$23,000 in an online auction. The tintype photograph was in a bin, about to be shipped out, when a worker grabbed it and sent it to the charity’s local online department in Nashville, Tennessee. The item was then put up for auction. The sale
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