CHINA
‘Cult’ murder trial opens
Five people went on trial yesterday for allegedly beating a woman to death in a McDonald’s outlet in Zhaoyuan, Shandong Province, after they unsuccessfully tried to recruit her into their cult, a court said. The five are accused of murder and three of them also face cult-related charges at Yantai Intermediate People’s Court. The five allegedly killed the woman on the evening of May 28 after she refused to give her telephone number to the suspects, who were trying to recruit new members for their group known as Quannengshen or “All-powerful Spirit.” The group’s members believe that Jesus has been resurrected as a Chinese woman.
SOUTH AFRICA
Police burglarized again
Thieves have broken into the building that houses Interpol and an elite police unit in Pretoria for the second time in three weeks, a spokesman said yesterday. Two to three people stole laptops from the investigations unit known as the Hawks, presumably over the weekend, police spokesman Solomon Makgale said. “This time around it’s not Interpol, it’s the Hawks,” he said. “We suspect that the people that have taken these laptops, they’re more interested in the laptops than the information contained there.” In a break-in last month, criminals made off with computers and other equipment from the Interpol office in the building. Suspects gained entry with access cards and codes. The Times newspaper quoted a security source as saying this was the fifth break-in in three weeks at the building.
AUSTRALIA
No charges for politician
Opposition leader Bill Shorten yesterday said that he had been cleared by police of historical sex assault allegations, which he said were “abhorrent.” Shorten, who became Labor leader in October last year, broke his silence about the claims first made on social media late last year, to put the issue behind him. “I will not go into details, except to say that the allegation was untrue and abhorrent,” he said in a statement. “There is absolutely no basis to the claim.” The claim concerned an alleged incident in the 1980s when he was aged 19 and was made by a woman he knew briefly at that time. Police in Victoria state confirmed it investigated an allegation of historical sexual assault, reportedly rape. “Investigating police sought advice from the Office of Public Prosecutions, which advised there was no reasonable prospect of conviction,” they said in a statement.
PHILIPPINES
MILF submits proposal
The nation’s largest Muslim rebel group has taken a crucial step in ending decades of conflict, formally submitting to President Benigno Aquino III a final proposal for self-rule that both it and the government have agreed on, a presidential adviser said. The two sides signed a deal in March to end nearly five decades of conflict on Mindanao, but hopes for peace were thrown into doubt this month when the rebels accused the government of reneging on the pact. However, 10 days of negotiations rescued the deal under which the main rebel group — the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) — has agreed to disband and rebuild communities in exchange for powers over the economy and society in the Bangsamoro region. “As agreed upon by the parties, the MILF submitted the final draft of the Bangsamoro Basic Law to the Office of the Executive Secretary yesterday evening,” Aquino’s adviser on the peace talks, Teresita Quintos Deles, said in a text message yesterday.
AUSTRIA
Iran keeps to nuclear limit
The International Atomic Energy Agency says Iran is keeping commitments it agreed to with six world powers in a pact that temporarily caps its nuclear activities and eliminates material that could be easily used to make nuclear weapons. The finding is contained in a restricted agency report released on Wednesday. Under the agreement reached late last year, Iran agreed not to increase the scope or capacity of its uranium enrichment program. Iran says it needs the program to make reactor fuel, but uranium can also be used for the fissile component of nuclear warheads if enriched to high levels. Iran also agreed to eliminate its enriched uranium stockpile closest to weapons grade.
UAE
London suburbs ‘unsafe’
The UAE government has advised its citizens to stay away from several shopping and nightlife districts in central London because of the danger of crime, a warning that comes after two violent attacks on Emirati tourists in the capital this year. The attacks shocked people in the UAE, where crime rates are low. A statement on the foreign ministry Web site told citizens to avoid areas “where pickpocketing, fraud and theft are frequent and where it is not advised to live.” An attached map singled out Edgware Road, the area between Marble Arch and Tottenham Court Road, and the Oxford Circus and Bond Street area. When asked about the ministry’s advice, the Metropolitan Police said London was one of the safest major cities in the world and that crime was falling.
NETHERLANDS
Royals erect fence
The Dutch government paid 461,000 euros (US$615,000) to erect a fence around King Willem-Alexander’s seaside villa in southern Greece, RTL News reported on Wednesday. The broadcaster published documents showing a neighbor had received 461,000 euros for allowing the Dutch the right to erect a fence on two strips of land bordering the property. Local media jumped on the report, with popular Web portals questioning the use of taxpayers’ money. The House of Oranje, or Orange, declined to confirm the financial details of the fence.
SPAIN
Bargain prices in dying town
With 35 residents and the distinction of being the village with the oldest population in Spain, Olmeda de la Cuesta, 160km east of Madrid, is determined to stave off its slow death. The village is attempting to attract new residents with a bargain sale of eight plots of land. Lots start at 200 euros for 60m2. The most expensive plot costs 1,300 euros for 205m2. The only requirement is that buyers must build a house or business within two-and-a-half years. Once a thriving village of 500, today Olmeda de la Cuesta has 15 permanent residents, with the remaining 20 visiting at weekends or for holidays.
CANADA
Spy agency scrutinized
Canada’s electronic spy agency should tighten up its procedures for handling the private calls and emails it intercepts, and clarify how it expects the US and other allies to use such material, a government watchdog said on Wednesday. The report examined the work of Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC), a secretive body that monitors electronic communication and helps protect national computer networks. CSEC has been accused of improperly intercepted Canadians’ calls or emails, and that it has given too free a rein to the US’ National Security Agency as part of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing network.
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