JAPAN
Dengue infections hit 22
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare is urging local authorities to be on the lookout for further outbreaks of dengue fever, after confirming another 19 cases that were contracted at a popular park in downtown Tokyo. The cases announced yesterday raise to 22 the number of dengue infections thought to have been contracted locally. The ministry earlier reported three local cases, the first in nearly 70 years. Tokyo began spraying Yoyogi Park, a vast green area next to Meiji Shrine that is popular with local and foreign tourists, after discovering the outbreak.
CHINA
Man kills three in school
A knife-wielding man yesterday stabbed eight children and a teacher in a rampage at an elementary school in Hubei Province, leaving at least three dead, reports said. The man, surnamed Chen, killed himself by jumping from a building following the carnage at a school in Shiyan, Xinhua news agency reported, which said three of the victims had died. He carried out the attack “because he couldn’t enrol his child” at the school, local broadcaster Shiyan Television said on Sina microblog. It said six children had been killed, as did a local newspaper.
SOUTH KOREA
N Korea test-fires missile
North Korea yesterday test-fired what appeared to be a short-range missile into the sea off its east coast in the latest of a series of missile and rocket tests, military officials said. It was launched at 10:30am from a site northeast of Pyongyang toward the Sea of Japan (East Sea) and flew about 220km, the joint chiefs of staff said. Details were not given, but a military official said on condition of anonymity: “North Korea appeared to have test-fired a new tactical or short-range Scud missile.” The launch was made near Ryongnim, about 60km south of the border with China, he said, declining to confirm a Yonhap news agency report that Pyongyang has built an underground Scud missile base in the region.
PHILIPPINES
Car bomb found airport
Four people were arrested yesterday after a bomb was found in a van parked at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Metro Manila, authorities said. The utility vehicle containing an “improvised explosive device” was found at the airport’s terminal three car park at about 1:45am yesterday, a short report released by the National Bureau of Investigation said. “Four suspects were arrested,” said the report, which was released by the airport’s media affairs office. The report gave no other details and did not identify the suspects or say if the bomb had been safely dealt with.
TURKEY
Police accused of coup plot
Authorities have issued arrest warrants for 33 police officers accused of plotting against the government. Dogan news agency said the warrants were filed yesterday for the officers, including the former head of a financial unit, on charges that include espionage. Yesterday’s move is part of a wave of arrests since July stemming from allegations by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that police conspired against him. It comes days after former foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu succeeded Erdogan as prime minister. Erdogan has accused a US-based spiritual leader, Fetullah Gulen, of infiltrating the police and judiciary and using powers to undermine the government, a charge that Gulen denies.
GERMANY
Party’s success downplayed
A top aide to Chancellor Angela Merkel is downplaying a new anti-euro party’s strong showing in a state election, saying that it is too early to say its long-term success is assured. The Alternative for Germany party won 9.7 percent support in Sunday’s election in the eastern state of Saxony, taking its first seats in a state legislature. Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats won, but need a new coalition partner to run the region. Merkel’s party so far has tried to ignore Alternative for Germany, which is shaping up as a threat to its right. Parliamentary caucus leader Volker Kauder said yesterday that there was a very low turnout in Saxony.
UNITED STATES
Celebrities’ photos stolen
Photographs purportedly showing many top stars, including Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence and singer Rihanna, bounced around social media on Sunday, in an apparent massive hacking leak, media reported. “It’s so weird and hard how people take your privacy away from you,” Lawrence said in a tweet. Meanwhile, the actress’ agent vowed to take legal action. “This is a flagrant violation of privacy. The authorities have been contacted and will prosecute anyone who posts the stolen photos of Jennifer Lawrence,” her representative told TMZ entertainment Web site. Word of the images began spreading early on Sunday, amid reports that the photos had been obtained by hacking iCloud accounts, Mashable and other media reported. Among the celebrities whose pictures were allegedly stolen and posted online were Avril Lavigne, Amber Heard, Gabrielle Union, Hayden Panettiere and Hope Solo, Mashable said.
UNITED STATES
Rock art age revised
Utah State University scientists have determined that world-renowned rock art of life-sized figures sketched into red rock cliffs in Canyonlands National Park were drawn 1,000 years more recently than what had long been believed. The team used modern luminescence dating techniques to analyze what is known as the “Great Gallery” in southeastern Utah’s Horseshoe Canyon. Researchers believe the figures were created 1,000 to 2,000 years ago instead of the previously thought 2,000 to 4,000 years ago. The findings were published last month in the online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
BURKINA FASO
Nigerien politician flees
Nigerian National Assembly speaker and former prime minister Hama Amadou, who faces questioning in connection with a baby trafficking scandal, is in France, a source close to the office of the president said on Sunday. Amadou fled to Ouagadougou last week after Nigerien officials ruled his parliamentary immunity would not save him from being questioned over the scandal. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to disclose Amadou’s itinerary, said Amadou was staying in Paris.
UNITED STATES
School retires Arab mascot
A California high school has retired a controversial Arab mascot. The bearded, snarling mascot with a large hooked nose who wears a head scarf did not appear at Coachella Valley High School’s season opening football game on Friday last week. A belly-dancing genie that often appears with the mascot during halftime was also retired. The Desert Sun reported that the change was among steps the Coachella Valley Unified School District is taking to give the mascot a makeover.
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