MALAYSIA
Muslims protest Obama trip
Muslim activists protested on Friday outside the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur against the coming visit by US President Barack Obama, denouncing him as an enemy of Islam. The demonstration underscored the delicate nature of Obama’s trip, which will make him the first sitting US president to visit in nearly half a century, a period marked by mutual distrust. The protesters marched to the embassy from a nearby mosque after Friday afternoon prayers, shouting: “God is great” and “Obama is the enemy of the Prophet Mohammed.” They also bore placards and banners reading: “US is axis of evil” and handed out leaflets saying: “Reject Obama, World’s No. 1 Terrorist.” They dispersed after about 15 minutes. The country has opposed US wars in the Middle East. The last US president to visit was Lyndon Johnson in 1966. Obama embarks on a week-long Asia tour next week, including Malaysia from Saturday next week to April 28.
CHINA
Mine toll rises to 20
The death toll from a flooded coal mine has risen to 20 with the recovery of another 14 bodies nearly two weeks after the accident, state media reported. The Xiahaizi mine in Yunnan Province suddenly filled with water early on April 7 following an explosion, leaving 22 miners trapped. Two miners remain missing following the recovery of a total of 20 bodies, Xinhua news agency said late on Friday. The complicated layout of the mine and its narrow tunnels have made the search difficult, it added. Police have detained seven people linked to the mine in Qujing, including officials and shareholders of operator Li Ming Industrial Co, the report said.
UNITED STATES
Gunman threatens office
Police arrested a man late on Friday after he entered the Los Angeles Times building and threatened to start shooting, the newspaper said. It was unclear if the man was carrying a weapon or fired any shots, but building employees locked themselves in safe areas while police officers entered and detained the suspect. Witnesses told the LA Times the man said he had been depressed and did not mind killing someone. He reportedly handed one person a bag of bullets and said that he did not want to go to jail. Police have not identified the suspect, but photographs posted on the newspaper’s Web site showed a white male dressed entirely in black, including black sneakers, with uncombed long, curly hair and no facial hair. The LA Times said the suspect worked for Vxi Global Solutions, a company that specializes in call centers and rents office space in the building.
PUERTO RICO
Salsero dies in crash
Singer Jose Luis “Cheo” Feliciano, one of salsa’s top stars, was killed in a car crash in San Juan early on Thursday morning, police said. He was 78. Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla declared three days of mourning for the widely admired salsero. Feliciano died shortly after 4am, according to Axel Valencia, a San Juan police spokesman. The El Nuevo Dia newspaper said his Jaguar hit an electricity pole. “It appears as if he lost control while taking a curve,” Police Inspector Jorge Hernandez Pena said, adding that he was not wearing a seat belt. Not to be confused with the blind Jose Feliciano, the famed Puerto Rican guitarist, Cheo Feliciano was born in Ponce on July 3, 1935. Tributes poured in on Thursday from fellow musicians and fans. Feliciano dropped out of school at 17 and moved to New York in 1952 to train with top salsa orchestras, according to Billboard.com. He went on to establish a solo career in the 1970s. In 2008, he was honored with the Latin Grammy Awards’ Lifetime Achievement Award. Feliciano’s contribution to salsa “has no expiration date,” Panamanian singer Ruben Blades said on his Web site. “He will always be remembered with fondness and admiration that the greats deserve.”
UNITED STATES
Moon craft crashes
NASA’s small moon-orbiting spacecraft LADEE is no more. Flight controllers confirmed early on Friday that LADEE crashed into the back side of the moon. Researchers believe the robotic explorer vaporized upon contact because of its high orbiting speed of 5,800kph, possibly smacking into a mountain or the side of a crater. As of late Thursday afternoon, the spacecraft was flying 100m above the lunar surface. Its altitude had been lowered on purpose to ensure a crash by tomorrow.
UNITED STATES
Gamer suffocates son
Sheriff’s deputies in northern Florida say a man suffocated his young, crying son so he could play video games. Authorities say 24-year-old Cody Wygant is charged with third-degree murder and child neglect. He was being held on Friday without bail at the Citrus County Jail. Sixteen-month-old Daymeon Wygant was pronounced dead at a hospital on Thursday. According to police, Wygant said the boy was crying uncontrollably, preventing him from playing his Xbox games. He covered the boy’s nose and mouth for three to four minutes until the boy became lethargic, then placed him in a playpen and covered him with bedding. Wygant’s infant daughter was placed in the care of authorities.
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