CHINA
Principal guilty of poisoning
A kindergarten headmaster and another man were sentenced to death in a poisoning case that left two girls dead, state media reported yesterday. The head of the kindergarten was upset that a rival school had better enrollments and injected rat poison into a bottle of yogurt. He then asked his accomplice to place it on the road in late April last year, China Central Television (CCTV) said. Two sisters died after drinking the yogurt, which was placed with a notebook and a pencil in a plastic bag on the way to the other kindergarten in Pingshan County. Shijiazhuang Intermediate It was not clear if the two will appeal. The supreme court must review all death sentences. Kindergarten management has been problematic, with frequent reports of child abuse. Most recently, several kindergartens were found to be feeding unauthorized drugs to children in order to boost attendance rates.
CHINA
Men indicted for Iran exports
A Shanghai-based man, an Iranian and two Iranian firms were charged in the US with conspiring to export devices to Iran that can serve to enrich uranium, an indictment unsealed on Friday said. Sihai Cheng, 34, was arrested on Feb. 7 at London’s Heathrow Airport. London’s Metropolitan Police said Cheng had already appeared at a British court in the capital and was awaiting his next appearance. US prosecutors say Cheng conspired with Seyed Abolfazl Shahab Jamili of Tehran and the Iranian companies Nicaro Engineering Co and Eyvaz Technic Manufacturing Co to export US-made pressure transducers. The devices, which are a type of sensor, can be used in gas centrifuges to “convert natural uranium into a form that can be used for nuclear weapons,” the indictment said. Between April 2009 and January 2011, Cheng placed orders for more than 1,000 pressure transducers for a value of more than US$1.8 million.
CHINA
Quake jolts southwest
A shallow magnitude 5.3 quake struck the southwest yesterday, sending terrified residents running from their homes as dozens of houses collapsed and injured at least 10 people, state media reported. The tremor in Yunnan Province, near the border with Sichuan, hit at 6:40am at a depth of 13km, Xinhua news agency said. Residents ran out of their homes after they were woken up by the quake, which caused 20 houses to collapse, Xinhua reported, adding that two of the 10 people injured were in serious condition. The US Geological Survey put the depth of the quake at 26km with a magnitude of 5.4. Rumors began spreading that the quake was caused by the nearby Xiluodu hydropower station, 15km from the quake’s epicenter, the news agency said.
SOUTH KOREA
Drivers’ licenses lure Chinese
In China, would-be drivers can wait up to a year for a license and pay double the US$420 that one costs in South Korea. That has fueled a boom in the number of Chinese visiting to take driving tests and convert their licenses when they get home. Rules for licenses have been eased, cutting the hours of training to 13, including six hours of driving time. That has led nearly 70,000 Chinese nationals to become holders of South Korean driving licenses in the past three years. It takes only one week to get a license at state-appointed driving schools. Applicants can even do their driving tests on rooftop tracks, meaning they have little experience in dealing with actual traffic.
United States
Trick Daddy arrested
Police arrested rapper Trick Daddy and charged him with cocaine and gun possession after a stakeout at his south Florida home on suspicion he was running a an indoor marijuana farm, according to a police affidavit. A report by the Broward Sheriff’s Office said the rapper, whose real name is Maurice Young, was arrested on Thursday. He was also charged with driving with a suspended license. Young was released on a US$6,100 bond on Friday. If convicted, he faces at least three years in prison under Florida’s mandatory minimum sentencing law.
United States
Efforts to save rhinos hurt
Efforts to save critically endangered Sumatran rhinoceroses were dealt a double blow this week with the death of one animal at a US zoo and the discovery of reproductive tumors in another. There are just 100 Sumatran rhinos left in the wild in their native lands of Indonesia and Malaysia, and nine are held in captivity for breeding purposes. Suci, a nine-year-old female, died on Sunday last week at the Cincinnati Zoo from an inheritable disease called hemochromatosis. Her mother also died of the condition when she was 21, said Terri Roth, vice president of conservation at the Cincinnati Zoo. Last year, Roth stirred controversy by announcing the zoo would attempt to breed Suci with her younger brother, Harapan, since there were no other available mates. Female rhinos can develop tumors and cysts in their reproductive tract if they do not become pregnant when they come of age, making it impossible for them to bear offspring in later years. Efforts to breed the pair never took place, Roth said.
Poland
Toys have ‘dark side’: priest
A Roman Catholic priest has touched off a controversy after news media quoted him describing toys like LEGO’s Monster Fighters as tools of Satan that lead children to the “dark side.” The Super Express tabloid quoted the Reverend Slawomir Kostrzewa urging parents to dump the LEGO series as well as Mattel’s Monster High. At issue are the interlocking block toy’s fantasy figures, such as a vampire baring his teeth. The range includes characters like “The Swamp Creature” and “The Werewolf.” Kostrzewa says the faces of the monsters and zombies are scary and undermine a child’s right to live in harmony and security. It is not Kostrzewa’s first crusade. He has in the past campaigned against Sanrio’s Hello Kitty, arguing that it promoted the pornography industry and the sexualizing of young girls.
United States
Senator blames Moscow
Senator Dan Coats had a quick explanation for how he ended up speaking at the wrong hearing — the Russians made him do it. The Indiana Republican went to what he thought was an appropriations hearing on the defense budget on Wednesday and was posing an appropriate question on that subject when someone handed him a piece of paper. “I just got a note saying I’m at the wrong hearing,” Coats said. He had thought he was at meeting of the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Subcommittee, but instead was at a gathering of the Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee. “I think the Russians have been messing with my schedule,” he tweeted on Thursday. Last month Moscow included Coats on a list of congressional leaders and White House officials banned from entering Russia in response to US efforts to sanction Russia for taking over Crimea from Ukraine.
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