INDIA
BA misplaces Khan’s sarod
Legendary musician Amjad Ali Khan said on Monday that British Airways (BA) had misplaced his beloved sarod, a stringed instrument he has played for 45 years. The 68-year-old maestro realized the instrument was missing when he flew to New Delhi with the airline on Saturday. “After damaging my Sarod in 1997, British Airways now misplaces my Sarod. 48 hours and I still wait anxiously for some news. Still not traced,” Khan tweeted. The classical musician, who was awarded India’s second-highest civilian honor in 2001, had gone to London with his wife to perform at a function on June 21. Recalling his ordeal, Khan said he waited for nearly five hours at the airport as the airline tried to trace his “priceless” instrument, but in vain. “Being an artist, I communicate through my sarod, which was with me for the last 45 years... How can such a big airline be so irresponsible?” Khan told the Press Trust of India. A BA spokesman blamed “intermittent problems” with the baggage system at Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 5 for the problem.
PHILIPPINES
Aquino defends artist snub
President Benigno Aquino III on Tuesday defended a controversial decision he made to withhold a top award from one of the nation’s most accomplished film stars because of a drug conviction. Last month’s snub against award-winning actress Nora Aunor sparked a nationwide furor, with millions of fans insisting no one deserved a “national artist” prize more than the 61-year-old fondly nicknamed the “Superstar.” “Ms Nora Aunor has been convicted for drugs and was punished for it... By making her a national artist are we putting out the right message?” Aquino told a press conference aired on national television. “I respect her and I recognize her body of work, but our message of zero tolerance against drugs takes priority.” The Order of National Artist award, issued by presidential proclamation, recognizes a person’s significant contributions to the development of Philippine arts and letters. Reacting to the snub, Aunor said on Sunday she was hurt by Aquino’s action, but overwhelmed by the support of the public. “The Filipino masses... have conferred the highest honor on me, by declaring me the people’s national artist in their hearts,” she said.
GUAM
Killer was depressed: mom
The mother of a man accused of killing three people in a busy tourist area says her son descended into depression after his grandfather died and his girlfriend moved off the island. Rae DeSoto testified on Monday that her son, Chad DeSoto, began questioning life and death while mourning his grandfather. She says the death led to irrational fears, loss of appetite and insomnia. Chad DeSoto has pleaded not guilty by reason of mental illness to killing three Japanese tourists and hurting several others by plowing a car onto a busy sidewalk in a resort area, then stabbing bystanders.
SPAIN
Oceans full of plastic debris
As much as 88 percent of the ocean’s surface contains plastic debris, raising concern about the effect on marine life and the food chain, scientists said on Monday. Mass-produced plastics from toys, bags, food containers and utensils make their way into the oceans through storm water runoff, a problem that is only expected to get worse in the coming decades. The findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences are based on more than 3,000 ocean samples collected around the world by a Spanish science expedition in 2010.
SPAIN
Subway beating arrest made
Police on Monday arrested a teenager suspected of beating up a 25-year-old Mongolian man on a Barcelona metro train in an alleged racist attack after a video of the incident posted online went viral. The 56-second video shows a blonde youth, dressed in a black T-shirt and jeans and whose face is pixelated, repeatedly punching the seated man late on Saturday last week before other passengers intervened. It was reportedly first posted on Sunday to a Twitter account that contained Nazi symbols and the slogan: “Always a patriot, white Europe.” The owner of the account, who appeared in his profile picture with a shaved head and his mouth covered by a bandana, tweeted that he had filmed his friend carrying out the attack. Police said they had detained a young man who is suspected of carrying out the beating and charged two others who acted as accomplices. Police did not give the nationality of the suspect who was arrested, but media reports said that he was Russian.
CANADA
Toronto’s Ford back at work
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford on Monday said that he had been in “complete denial” about his drug and alcohol abuse, but asked voters for another chance as he returned to work following a stint in rehab. Ford, who is seeking re-election in October despite revelations that he smoked crack while in office, said he had begun “taking control” of his life, but added: “This is a long, long road to recovery… I had convinced myself that I did not have a problem, but it soon became obvious that my alcohol and drug use was having a serious, serious impact on my family and on my health and on my job as mayor… After experiencing some of the darkest moments in my life, I decided that enough was enough. I had become my own worst enemy… It was time to get help — professional help.” Ford took a leave of absence in May. Toronto’s city council stripped him of most of his mayoral powers in November last year.
UNITED STATES
Pub crawl leads to jail
A Virginia man was arraigned on Monday after he stripped naked at a pizza restaurant after a pub crawl and led police on a chase before crashing into parked cars. Charles Mack, 23, was spotted walking down the street naked after stripping at the restaurant in Arlington late on Saturday, police said. When police tried to arrest him, Mack got into his car and drove off. He struck three vehicles before police restrained him with a Taser. Mack had been part of a group called “The All-American Bar Crawl,” which started at 2pm and visited 14 bars. An Arlington County Police Department spokesman said Mack was charged with indecent exposure, driving while intoxicated, disregarding police demands, three counts of hit and run and one count of possession of narcotics. Mack’s birthday was Sunday. He spent the day in jail.
UNITED STATES
Lawnmower drowns driver
An 80-year-old East Texas man died when he drove his sit-down lawnmower into a pond on his property and was pinned under water by the machine, police said on Monday. Billy Huffines was pronounced dead on Saturday last week in Fannett, about 115km east of Houston, after fire department medics were unable to resuscitate him. “There’s been a lot of rain over here and there’s a possibility that the wheels of a tractor, or a mower like that, dig into the mud and inertia can pull it over if the edge slopes downward like a ditch,” Deputy Rod Carroll of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s office 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