RUSSIA
Ukraine candy banned
The government yesterday banned all confectionery from Ukraine, the latest import to be rejected amid the raging Ukraine crisis. Consumer protection agency Rospotrebnadzor announced it had taken the step after checks on two firms revealed products had been incorrectly labeled. “In order to ensure the rights of consumers, Rostpotrebnadzor ... is suspending the import into the territory of the Russian Federation of confectionery goods produced in Ukraine,” the agency said in a statement. The move is not the first time that Moscow has gone after Ukraine’s candy sector, last year banning chocolate produced by the Roshen company controlled by Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko. The nation has also banned a range of other goods, including dairy products, fruit juice and beer from Ukraine over alleged quality issues.
FRANCE
Man jailed over calls
A 33-year-old man was sent to prison on Thursday after phoning and texting his ex-girlfriend 21,807 times, admitting that, with hindsight: “It was stupid.” The unnamed defendant, who had made the calls to demand that the woman thank him for fixing up their flat, was given a 10-month sentence — six months of which was suspended — and a 1,000 euro (US$1,300) fine. He will also have to undergo psychiatric treatment and is barred from all contact with the woman he harassed, lawyers in the case said. The defendant, who comes from Rhone, had already accepted responsibility for the barrage of telephone calls and text messages over a 10-month period, and had accepted an earlier demand to cease contact with the woman. He had been hospitalized in the past for depression, and struggled to cope when the woman broke off their relationship in 2011. He demanded compensation for work he had carried out in their apartment. “At the time, my logic was that until she returns the money ... or at least says thank you, I would not stop the calls,” he told the court in Lyon.
CHINA
Temple seeks director
Help wanted: Ancient Buddhist temple famed for its kung fu monks seeks media directors to build brand. English and social media skills required. Not necessary to be a monk, practice martial arts or eat vegetarian. That ad placed by the 1,500-year-old Shaolin temple already has drawn a brisk response. State media reports yesterday said 300 media professionals, business executives and recent graduates of top overseas universities have sent their resumes for the position. Although the temple’s monks are all male, men and women are both invited to apply for the two positions on offer. The move is the latest attempt by the enterprising abbot Shi Yongxin (釋永信) to exploit the temple’s fame in the name of propagating Buddhist thinking and culture.
‘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