ISRAEL
Nation joins CERN
Israel has become an associate member of the European Centre for Nuclear Research (CERN), opening the way for full membership in 2013, a foreign ministry spokesman said yesterday. “The association agreement, valid for two years, was signed on Friday by the director-general of CERN, Rolf Heuer, and the ambassador of Israel to the United Nations agencies in Geneva Aharon Leshno-Yaar,” spokesman Jonathan Rosenzweig said. Israel previously held special observer status at the organization, which is best known for its “atom-smasher,” the so-called Large Hadron Collider, which lies in a tunnel straddling the French-Swiss border.
UNITED KINGDOM
Gay marriage mulled
The government has drawn up plans to introduce same-sex civil marriages before the next election in 2015, Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone said on Saturday. “I am delighted to announce today that in March, this government will begin a formal consultation on how to implement equal civil marriage for same-sex couples,” she told her Liberal Democrat party’s annual conference in Birmingham Civil partnerships for same-sex couples were introduced in Britain in December 2005, giving them similar rights to married heterosexual couples. However, the partnerships cannot legally be referred to as marriages.
TANZANIA
Charges filed in boat deaths
Four people have been charged with negligence over last week’s boat accident off the tourist haven of Zanzibar which killed 203 people, a prosecutor said on Saturday. Boat captain Said Adallah Kinyanyite, who is still at large, his assistant Abdallah Mohamed Ali, one of the boat owners Yusuf Suleiman and Silima Nyange Silima, a Zanzibar port official were charged on Friday. Zanzibar prosecutor Ramadhan Nassib said they were charged with “causing death by negligence.” The suspects will reappear in court today. The MV Spice Islander capsized early on Saturday last week, but rescuers saved 619 passengers of the more than 800 on the severely overloaded boat.
DENMARK
Royal couple go down under
Crown Prince Frederik and his Australian-born wife, Crown Princess Mary, are to return to her homeland in November for their first official visit in six years, the Australian government said yesterday. The Danish royals will visit Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra during their tour from Nov. 19 to 26, which Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said would be hosted by the government. “I look forward to welcoming the Crown Prince and Princess to Australia,” Gillard said in a statement. “This is their first official visit to Australia since 2005.” Since then, the pair have been to Australia twice in a private capacity. US President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit earlier the same week.
UNITED STATES
Air show death toll raised
Reno police say a total of nine people died in the crash of a World War II-era plane during an air race. The deaths include seven who were killed on the tarmac, including the pilot, and two others who died at hospitals. The new death toll was announced at a briefing with local and federal investigators. Investigators say they are examining the site, gathering information and are encouraged by the large number of photos and videos available to them. They have not speculated on a cause but organizers pointed to a possible mechanical failure.
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