JAPAN
iPhone maps dispute
Apple’s new iPhone 5 may have been criticized for its glitch-ridden new maps program, but it may have inadvertently provided a diplomatic solution to China and Japan’s ongoing row over the disputed Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台). The new smartphone, which has dumped Google Maps in favor of its own version, has been ridiculed for misplacing major landmarks, shifting towns and even creating a new airport. However, amid a row over an outcrop of islands claimed by Tokyo and Beijing, as well as Taipei, Apple’s new iO6 software has provided a resolution of sorts. When a user searches for the islands, two sets of the islands appear alongside each other. “The map has one set of islands for each country. Is this a message from Apple that we civilians must not get engaged in a pointless dispute?” a Japanese blogger wrote.
south korea
Bridge collapse kills two
Two workers were killed and 12 others injured yesterday when the bridge they were building in the northern city of Paju collapsed, according to media reports.
A 55m-long section of the 539m-long bridge over the Imjin River collapsed, causing the workers to fall 15m down onto gravel and muddy ground, Yonhap news agency said. Most of the injured were listed as being in serious conditions in nearby hospitals. Police were investigating whether there was any breach of safety regulations, Yonhap said.
PHILIPPINES
‘Secret marshals’ deployed
Plain-clothed “secret marshals” have been deployed on public transport in Manila with orders to shoot down armed robbers in a crackdown against violent crime, the city’s newly appointed police chief said on Friday. In a message to armed criminals who victimize bus and public transport users, Chief Superintendent Leonardo Espina said: “If you want to live longer, then stop your criminality, stop the crimes that you create, because if you give us the opportunity to [get into a firefight] with you, we will do so.” The police chief, who assumed his post two weeks ago, was speaking on a tour of police stations in the capital of 15 million people, and warned holdup men that “numerous secret marshals” had been deployed.
AFGHANISTAN
Pakistani papers banned
Afghanistan banned all Pakistani newspapers from entering the country on Friday in an attempt to block the Taliban from influencing public opinion via the press. The order, issued by the Ministry of Interior, adds to the mounting tension between the neighboring countries. It focuses specifically on blocking entry of the papers at Torkham, a busy border crossing, and directed border police to gather up Pakistani newspapers in the three eastern provinces of Nangarhar, Kunar and Nuristan. In a statement, the ministry said the newspapers were a conduit for Taliban propaganda.
“The news is not based in reality and it is creating concerns for our countrymen in the eastern provinces of Afghanistan,” the ministry said in a statement. “Also, the newspapers are a propaganda resource of the Taliban spokesmen.” The tensions between the two countries were highlighted on Thursday at a UN Security Council meeting, when Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul called on Pakistan to stop shelling in the border province of Kunar, which he said has killed dozens of civilians.
VENEZUELA
Major gold mine deal inked
Venezuela and China signed an agreement on Friday to develop together one of the world’s biggest gold mines, with plans to exploit both the yellow metal and cooper there. President Hugo Chavez made the announcement after meeting at the Miraflores presidential palace with a delegation from China’s state-run International Trust and Investment Corp (CITIC) headed by its president, Chang Zhenming (常振明), about the deal to develop Las Cristinas mine in southern Venezuela. Last year, the Canadian firm Crystallex sought international arbitration against Venezuela after Caracas canceled its contract to develop Las Cristinas. Crystallex obtained the concession in 2002. Chavez, whose statement was carried on official VTV television, said that a second agreement was reached to produce a mineral deposits map for Venezuela, which he called a “high-caliber project” for the country’s development. Energy and Petroleum Minister Rafael Ramirez later said the map was a five-year project. Ramirez also said that Venezuela has contracts with CITIC to build 30,000 homes — 24,000 of which are already being built — as part of an ambitious government plan to make a dent in the country’s desperate lack of housing.
UNITED STATES
Contentious ads to go ahead
Starting tomorrow, advertisements describing Muslim militants as “savages” are to appear in New York’s subway system, courtesy of a right-wing US anti-Islamic group. “In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat Jihad,” read the adverts that the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI) paid to be shown in the sprawling subway. AFDI chief Pamela Geller told CNN: “I’m running them because I can.” The conservative activist, who runs the Atlas Shrugs blog and heads a group called Stop Islamization of America, defended her use of the word “savage,” claiming that jihad, in the sense of holy war, targets innocent people. The Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors hate groups, described Geller as “the anti-Muslim movement’s most visible and flamboyant figurehead.”
UNITED STATES
Tiger attacks cage-invader
A man was mauled by a 181kg tiger after leaping from a moving monorail train and plummeting over a protective fence at the Bronx Zoo, authorities said. The man was alone with the tiger for about 10 minutes on Friday before he was rescued by zoo officials, who used a fire extinguisher to chase it away. He suffered bites and punctures on his arms, legs, shoulders and back and broke an arm and a leg. Zoo director Jim Breheny said the man was lucky to escape the tiger’s clutches. “If not for the quick response by our staff and their ability to perform well in emergency situations, the outcome would have been very different,” Breheny said.
UNITED STATES
Tsunami flotsam hits Hawaii
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said a large plastic storage bin is the first confirmed piece of marine debris from last year’s Japanese tsunami to arrive in Hawaii. NOAA spokesman Ben Sherman says Japanese consular officials confirmed on Friday that the blue bin is from Fukushima. Makai Ocean Engineering staff spotted the bin floating in the ocean off Waimanalo earlier this week. Sherman says it is the 12th confirmed piece of tsunami debris to arrive in US or Canadian waters.
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
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