INDIA
Modi ally elected speaker
The lower house of parliament yesterday elected a veteran ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as speaker, clearing a key hurdle before the government unveils its policy program next week. Sumitra Mahajan, 71, an eight-term member of the house from Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, was unanimously elected as speaker of the 545-member Lok Sabha, or House of the People. Modi won the first outright parliamentary majority in 30 years in last month’s election, creating expectations that the new legislature will do a better job after a previous term marked by legislative drift and chaotic debates.
CHINA
Artist to be deported
A Chinese-Australian artist who was detained in Beijing just before the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown is to be deported, Canberra said yesterday. Guo Jian (郭健), a former Tiananmen Square protester, was taken away on Sunday night from his home in Songzhuang, an art colony on the eastern fringe of Beijing, two of his acquaintances said. Consular officials had visited Guo on Thursday as they “sought an explanation for his detention” from authorities, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. “Chinese authorities have advised Mr Guo was detained on a visa-related matter,” the statement said. “It remains our understanding Mr Guo will be detained for 15 days and then required to depart China.”
JAPAN
‘Frozen’ fan wants divorce
A man posting on a Japanese marriage advice forum said his wife wants to divorce him because he did not enjoy the Disney film Frozen. He wrote that his wife became obsessed with Frozen after a friend introduced her to it, prompting her to see it at the cinema numerous times. He was eventually cajoled into going along with her, but afterwards said that it was only “OK,” and he “didn’t really care for it personally.” Perhaps inspired by the self-empowerment message in the film’s central anthem Let It Go, the woman then said: “If you can’t understand what makes this movie great, there’s something wrong with you as a human being!” before saying that she wanted a divorce. He said she now refuses to talk to him directly, but mediates through their parents.
CHINA
Oldest trousers found
Two pairs of 3,300-year-old trousers found in the Xinjiang region may be the world’s oldest, the China Daily reported yesterday. Archeologists last month found animal-fur menswear on the bodies of two mummies, identified as male shamans in their 40s, the paper cited scientists as saying. An international team is working together to repair and preserve the two pairs — which are the oldest yet discovered with a clear resemblance to modern trousers, the report said. Previously, the oldest pants found with a crotch were just 2,800 years old, it said.
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
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
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