PHILIPPINES
Manila protests to Beijing
Manila said yesterday it had filed a protest with Beijing for reclaiming land on a disputed South China Sea reef, the fourth such complaint in three months. The new protest over reclamation at the McKeenan Reef in the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島) further heats up an increasingly tense dispute over the waters where China has been accused of using bullying tactics against other claimants. Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose said the protest was filed last week. “They are doing reclamation work,” he said in a brief statement. He did not say if China had responded. The Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia have conflicting claims to parts or all of the same territory, which has led to tense confrontations.
CHINA
Bad-air complaints double
Complaints about air pollution in the capital of Beijing more than doubled in the first five months of this year, the city environment authority said, a sign of rising public anger about the cost of rapid economic growth. The Beijing Municipal Environmental Bureau revealed late on Friday that 12,599 formal complaints about smog were lodged by members of the public from January to last month, 124 percent higher than the same period of last year. Beijing, routinely shrouded in hazardous smog, has been on the front line of a “war against pollution” declared by Premier Li Keqiang (李克強) in March in a bid to head off growing discontent about the state of the country’s skies, rivers and soil. Smog was involved in 72.6 percent of the total number of environment-related complaints submitted to the Beijing authorities from January to last month, the environmental bureau said.
CHINA
Beijing frees artist Chen
Soldier-turned-artist Chen Guang (陳光) was released yesterday, more than a month after he was detained ahead of the 25th anniversary of the military crackdown on pro-democracy protests, his friend said. Chen was among a dozen or so people detained by the government bent on preventing any commemoration of the bloody suppression that took place at Tiananmen Square on June 3 and 4, 1989. Chen witnessed the crackdown as a military soldier in 1989 and later became a dissident artist. His detention is believed to be connected to a private art performance, where he whitewashed over walls of painted year numbers from 1989 on. “[This performance is about] what has happened to us, to me, to society,” he said in an interview a week before public security officers detained him. “It is meant to be a reflection of why we have not made a correct and fair assessment of what happened 25 years ago,” he said.
HONG KONG
Police arrest protesters
Police used pepper spray to scatter protesters at government headquarters in an angry rally against plans for a new town development, with 21 arrested, officials said yesterday. About 900 people gathered at the city’s government complex, with some trying to force their way into the building to oppose the project, which they say will displace villagers and turn farmland into housing estates — favoring property developers. TV footage showed protesters pushing over barricades and surging towards an entrance to the Legislative Council as lawmakers met to discuss funding for the development. Police cordons inside and outside the building pushed back the rally late on Friday as protesters tried to prize the doors open with bamboo sticks. Lawmakers were forced to suspend the meeting.
NIGERIA
Doubts for kidnapped girls
Former president Olusegun Obasanjo has voiced fears that not all of the schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram would ever return. “It’s inconceivable to get all of them back,” he said in an interview with the Premium Times online news site published on Thursday. “If you get all of them back, I will consider it a near-miracle,” he was quoted as saying. Boko Haram militants abducted 276 girls from their school in the remote town of Chibok, in northeastern Borno State, on April 14. Boko Haram’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, has indicated that he may be prepared to release the girls in exchange for militant fighters held in the country’s jails. The government initially rejected the proposal out of hand, but there are indications that it may be prepared to open dialogue.
FRANCE
TV soap celebrates 25 years
It is a soap opera about fashion, glamor, romance and heartbreak — so, rather fittingly, the The Bold and the Beautiful has gone to Paris. The US TV series is filming several episodes in front of the Eiffel Tower this week to celebrate 25 years of being broadcast in the country. The series — which says it is the world’s highest-rated daily soap opera with an estimated 26.2 million viewers — owes its longevity to its international allure. Scott Clifton, who plays Liam, one of the series’ main stars, says “it’s about beautiful people designing beautiful clothes, beautiful jewelry and accessories. I think Paris and France really values [that],” he said. The episodes will be broadcast in the US in August.
UNITED KINGDOM
Rape conference wraps up
An international conference on rape as a weapon of war wrapped up in London on Friday. The four-day gathering of 123 countries, cohosted by Hollywood star Angelina Jolie, has sought to break the taboo of wartime rape and tackle a culture of impunity that experts warn is only creating more victims. Two doctors from the Panzi hospital in the Democratic Republic of the Congo spoke at the event of a dramatic increase in rapes on babies and young children in the area where they work in Bukavu, near the border with Rwanda. “There is a normalization of these crimes that directly affects children,” surgeon and pediatrician Desire Munyali said. His colleague Nadine Neema Rukunghu, a radiologist, said that despite a decline in hostilities in the area, the number of victims had not reduced. “If anything it’s worse, because the culture of impunity surrounding rape has the effect of contamination,” she said. “Even ordinary civilians are carrying out acts of sexual violence without any fear of being caught.”
ITALY
PM pledges reform
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on Friday accused 13 senators from his own party of seeking “15 minutes of fame” after they withdrew their backing for his overhaul of the political system, and pledged to push ahead with reforms. While Renzi was on a state trip in Asia on Wednesday, the Democratic Party senators rebelled against his plan to replace the Senate as an elected chamber with one made up of mayors, regional councilors and presidential appointees. Since taking office in February, Renzi has said the Senate slows the legislative process and is a financial drain. His proposal would curb its powers so it would not be needed to pass most major legislation and it could not bring down the government in a confidence vote. “This isn’t a dictatorship,” Renzi told reporters. “But we want to be decisive and get things done.”
UNITED STATES
Toilet paper gown wins prize
There was something old, something new, something borrowed and something double-ply for 10 designers who battled it out on Thursday to win US$10,000 and the top prize in the 10th annual toilet paper wedding dress contest in New York City. The elaborate gowns, headpieces, purses and lace veils showed off at the competition could be made of nothing but rolls of Charmin Ultra Soft toilet paper and materials like glue, tape and thread, said organizers of the event put on by Cheap-Chic-Weddings.com. The gowns — some long and flowing and others cut off above the knees — were adorned with intricate toilet paper pearls and flowers. The winning dress, named Romance on a Roll and crafted by 28-year-old Susan Brennan of Orchard Lake, Michigan, took about 20 rolls to craft. The ornate, full-length gown was dotted with complex floral and lace designs, and can be detached at the waist to reveal a 1920s flapper-inspired dance dress underneath.
UNITED STATES
German dies in Grand Canyon
A German tourist on a commercial river trip at Grand Canyon National Park died after his kayak flipped over and he was unable to right himself, officials said. He is the second German tourist to die in the park this week. The group had just started its multiday trip on the Colorado River on Wednesday when park officials received a call at about 2pm about an unconscious kayaker at Badger Rapids. A safety boat was able to reach the kayak, but authorities say 43-year-old Hans Uhl lost consciousness and could not be resuscitated.
UNITED STATES
Plane crash kills Rockefeller
A small plane crashed outside New York City on Friday, killing a great-grandson of Standard Oil cofounder John D. Rockefeller, a family spokesman said. The single-engine plane took off from Westchester County Airport just after 8am and narrowly missed a house west of the airfield before hitting some trees, officials said. Richard Rockefeller, of Falmouth, Maine, was the only person on board the craft. The 65-year-old was a doctor and father of two, family spokesman Fraser Seitel said. He had been working on a way to treat post-traumatic stress disorder in wounded war veterans, Seitel said. “It’s a terrible tragedy. Richard was a wonderful cherished son, brother, father and grandfather,” he added.
BOLIVIA
Morales gives Ban coca cake
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon got an unusual treat for his 70th birthday on Friday when President Evo Morales presented him with a cake made of coca leaves. Ban was in Santa Cruz for a G77 meeting to discuss measures for reducing poverty. “The Bolivian people will never forget your visit,” Morales told Ban on Friday in front of hundreds gathered for the presentation of the cake and a traditional national jacket. Ban was effusive in his thanks, but stopped short of publicly taking a bite of the torta de coca, or of endorsing Morales’ position on the controversial leaf. Morales, a former coca farmer, has long defended its legal use as an “ancestral rite” for tea, sweets and medicines. “The Bolivian people have a big, broad heart ... and great wisdom,” Ban said. “You have lived for thousands of years in harmony with nature.” The UN Convention on Narcotic Drugs banned coca leaf in 1961 and in 2012 Bolivia withdrew from it to protest the criminalization of the chewing of coca leaves. The UN granted Bolivia a special dispensation recognizing the practice as legal in Bolivia.
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