SOUTH KOREA
DP elects new leader
The main opposition Democratic Party (DP), previously known as the Democratic United Party, elected four-term lawmaker Kim Han-gil, 60, as its new leader on Saturday. Kim defeated rival Lee Yong-sup and pledged to end factional infighting and move to the right towards more centrist policies. “I will bring an end to factional politics ... We will build a new DP, a bigger DP and a winning DP,” Kim said in an acceptance speech. Earlier on Saturday, the center-left party officially changed its name to the DP and amended its constitution, adopting more centrist policies. The DP has been in disarray since its presidential candidate Moon Jae-in lost to President Park Geun-hye of the ruling New Frontier Party in elections in December last year. It failed to win any seats in last month’s parliamentary and council by-elections.
INDONESIA
Aerosmith cancel concert
An Aerosmith concert promoter says the band has canceled next week’s show in the country over security concerns, one day after news surfaced about an alleged bomb plot. Helmi Sugara, a spokesman for the event organizer, yesterday said that the US rockers were scheduled to perform on Saturday before a nearly sold-out crowd of 15,000 in Jakarta. On Friday, the government announced it had arrested two suspected militants with bombs who were allegedly planning to attack the Myanmar embassy to protest that nation’s treatment of Muslims. It is unclear if the concert’s cancelation was directly related to the terror plot or if there was some other threat. In a statement on promoter Ismaya Live’s Web site, Aerosmith’s management apologized to fans.
ISRAEL
Netanyahu visits China
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will arrive in China today in a rare visit Israeli officials hope will increase exports to the Asian economic giant. Netanyahu will also reiterate his concerns over Iran’s nuclear program with the Chinese leadership and discuss the peace talks with the Palestinians. “We hope the visit serves to upgrade the level of cooperation between the two countries,” Netanyahu’s spokesman Mark Regev told reporters. “China and Israel have both much to gain from enhanced cooperation and that’s our goal.” The last prime minister to visit China was Ehud Olmert in 2007.
MALAYSIA
US pastor death probed
Police are investigating the death of an US pastor found at his home with his hands and legs bound and a cellphone charger cable around his neck. Kuala Lumpur District Police chief Amiruddin Jamaluddin said officials believe Reverend David Ginter was murdered, but have not identified any suspects or motive. Ginter’s wife, who was visiting her home country of Australia, asked a neighbor to check on him on Saturday when she could not contact him. He was found dead and his car was missing.
INDONESIA
Civil servants to pilot planes
The government has started training civil servants to become flight instructors to meet demand for pilots in the fast-growing aviation industry, Ministry of Transportation spokesman Bambang Ervan said on Saturday. The nation has 6,000 to 7,000 pilots, dozens of flight instructors and produces between 400 and 500 pilots a year, but falls short of the industry demand of up to 800 pilots. The shortage has raised concerns that exhaustion and inexperience may lead to accidents. Last month, a Lion Air plane crashed into the sea, highlighting the country’s lack of experienced crew.
ITALY
Letta revokes equality brief
Prime Minister Enrico Letta has removed the equal opportunities brief from a deputy minister after she criticized gay rights groups. Letta said in a statement on Saturday that he was revoking Michaela Biancofiore’s portfolio for equal opportunity, sports and youth politics and assigning her to another government role. The two-line statement gave no reason for the shakeup. However, media said the move was linked to interviews in which Biancofiore, a member of former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s party, criticized gay rights groups for defending their own interests and not protesting the murders of women or speaking out for police injured in the line of duty.
SWEDEN
ABBA museum to open
The world’s first museum dedicated to the iconic disco group ABBA is set to open in Stockholm tomorrow, offering visitors a chance to get up close and personal with the 1970s foursome with a little help from modern technology. In Stockholm, rental bikes and cars brandishing the museum’s logo have been crisscrossing the city for weeks. Advertisements have been running in newspapers and on television, and several of the band’s costumes are even on display at Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport arrivals hall to promote the capital’s newest cultural institution.
FRANCE
Keira Knightley marries
British actress Keira Knightley married singer James Righton in a ceremony in Mazan on Saturday, Mazan Mayor Aime Navello said. Navello told reporters the small civil ceremony was attended by “about 15 people,” mostly family. The parents of the 28-year-old actress, known for her role in the Pirates of the Caribbean films, own a house in Mazan, a town of about 5,000 people near the medieval town of Avignon in Provence. Her husband is part of the band The Klaxons. Knightley is also known for her roles in Love Actually, Pride and Prejudice, The Duchess and Anna Karenina.
SAUDI ARABIA
Schools to allow sports
An official press agency said private girls’ schools are now allowed to hold sports activities in the kingdom, “according to the rules of Shariah.” The country follows an ultraconservative interpretation of Shariah, or Islamic law. It still prohibits sports lessons in government-run girls’ schools, and female sports clubs are banned. The agency said on Saturday the Ministry of Education ordered private girls’ schools to provide appropriate places and equipment for sports. Students must adhere to “decent dress” codes and women teachers should be given priority in supervising.
TURKEY
Leaders jest over Olympics
The leaders of Turkey and Japan on Friday defended their countries’ bids to host the 2020 Olympic Games, even making jokes at each other’s expense. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit highlighted the rivalry between Istanbul and Tokyo which are in the running, alongside Madrid, to host the event in seven years’ time. “I asked the [Japanese] prime minister to let us host the next Olympics as Japan already hosted the Games,” Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a joint news conference. “I asked him to withdraw their bid,” he said in remarks which caused giggling in the room. Abe was not late in his answer and said: “If Tokyo is selected, we would wish to see it will be the [Turks] who are first to celebrate us.”
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