NORTH KOREA
Captive loves ‘adventure’
US tourist Jeffrey Edward Fowle, who is being held in North Korea, loves adventure and “new cultures,” his family’s attorney said in a statement on Monday. Pyongyang on Friday said Fowle was detained for “hostile activities” after he reportedly left a Bible at a hotel, bringing to three the number of Americans held there. “Fifty-six-year-old Jeffrey Fowle, beloved husband of Tanya for 14 years, and father of three incredible children: Alex (12), Chris (10), and Stephanie (9), was traveling to North Korea on vacation as a part of a tour,” said Fowle’s attorney, Timothy Tepe. “Jeffrey loves to travel and loves the adventure of experiencing different cultures and seeing new places.”
CHINA
State to civilize its citizens
The government yesterday launched a new effort to “civilize” its residents by clamping down on line-jumping and smoking ahead of the APEC summit in the capital later this year. The campaign, labeled “Embracing APEC Wonderful Pekingese-Citizen Civilized Behavior Promotion,” also promises to crack down on jaywalking, drink driving and drivers refusing to stop at zebra crossings. The Beijing municipal government said in a press release that it aims to encourage “civilized orderly and courteous transport, to improve people’s overall quality to display [their] wonderfulness.” Residents will be encouraged to tackle Beijing’s chronic smog by taking part in a “clean atmosphere blue day action,” which involves taking public transport and buying “green” products. Other behaviors due for censure include “making a racket,” smoking in public places and eating on public transport.
IRAQ
Combatants seize Mosul
Militants yesterday seized Mosul, officials said, dealing another blow to authorities who appear incapable of stopping rebel advances. Overnight, hundreds of gunmen launched an assault on the nation’s second-largest city, 350km north of Baghdad, engaging in combat with troops and police, they said. Before the city fell, they took control of the governor’s headquarters, prisons and television stations. “The city of Mosul is outside the control of the state and at the mercy of the militants,” a Ministry of the Interior official said. Mosul is the second city to fall to militants this year, after the government lost control of Fallujah, just a short drive from Baghdad, in early January.
HONG KONG
Woman denies maid abuse
Former beautician Law Wan-tung, 44, yesterday pleaded not guilty to 20 charges of abusing her Indonesian domestic helper Erwiana Sulistyaningsih in a landmark case. Photographs of the alleged abuse showing Erwiana’s bruised body prompted international outrage at the treatment of housekeeping staff in the territory. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has denounced her treatment as torture. Law arrived at the court in sunglasses, a black hat and a surgical mask, surrounded by four friends dressed in identical clothing, apparently to deflect attention. She pleaded not guilty to charges including inflicting grievous bodily harm, criminal intimidation and failing to pay wages. Law is accused of assaulting Erwiana and two other Indonesian maids. The charges include failure to pay her wages. About 20 domestic helpers and an employer gathered outside the court, waving portraits of Erwiana and chanting: “Justice for Erwiana.” Erwiana returned home in January, where doctors said burns on her body were caused by boiling water.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At 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
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