JAPAN
Abe weighs tax, snap polls
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is considering dissolving the lower house of parliament and calling a snap election if he delays a plan to raise the sales tax next year, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported yesterday. If Abe does dissolve the lower house, an election could be held on Dec. 14 or Dec. 21, the paper said, citing government and ruling party sources. In a televised interview on Friday, Abe said he was not thinking of calling an early election, but hedged his bets by saying this is something a prime minister always has to say. Abe has until year’s end to decide whether to go through with a plan to raise the tax from 8 to 10 percent in October next year. He could delay by a year and a half if third-quarter GDP struggles to accelerate and then call an election to ask the public to judge his economic policies, the Yomiuri said. Since the hike has been passed into law, if Abe delays it he will have to repeal it in parliament.
ISRAEL
Police killing sparks unrest
Police raised their alert level to the second-highest after officers shot dead an Israeli-Arab man under disputed circumstances in Kafr Kanna, setting off riots across a country already tense from weeks of clashes in Jerusalem. Arab leaders called a commercial strike to protest the killing of 22-year-old Kheir Hamdan, who police said attacked them with a knife. The Justice Ministry ordered a probe into the officers’ conduct after footage posted on social media showed police shooting a man who approached their car making stabbing motions with his hand, even after he backed off. Police details were reinforced across the country, with an emphasis on flashpoints, including Kafr Kanna and Jerusalem, spokeswoman Luba Samri said in a text. About 2,500 Kafr Kanna residents poured onto the streets on Saturday to protest the killing, Samri said in a text. The mayor of Kafr Kanna called the killing an “execution,” while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned rioters who denounced the government and proposed revoking the citizenship of those calling for the nation’s destruction.
THAILAND
King makes rare outing
King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world’s longest-serving monarch, on Saturday made a rare public appearance outside the Bangkok hospital where he was admitted last month. The 86-year-old, who has suffered from a series of ailments in recent years, was briefly escorted into the grounds of Siriraj Hospital in a wheelchair by doctors, nurses and officials to sit on the bank of the Chao Phraya River and pay homage to a statue of his father, Prince Mahidol. The event was shown on public broadcaster Thai PBS. Well-wishers bowed before the monarch and chanted: “Long live the king” in what the broadcaster said was Bhumibol’s first public appearance since he was rushed to hospital last month and underwent an operation to remove his gall bladder.
SYRIA
Army planes bomb IS town
At least 21 people were killed and about 100 wounded overnight when army planes bombed al-Bab, a town controlled by Islamic State militants, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said yesterday. Military helicopters dropped barrel bombs and warplanes launched airstrikes on the town held by the group formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. One of the 21 killed was a child and the death count was expected to rise as some of the wounded were in a serious condition, the observatory said.
ROMANIA
Voting lines draw protestsVoting lines draw protests
Thousands of people protested late on Saturday against the government, saying it was making it difficult for citizens abroad to vote, a week before a presidential runoff. Romanians in Paris, London, Vienna and elsewhere have said they were unable to vote in the Nov. 2 first round of the presidential race because of long lines. In response, the government on Friday said it would open more polling booths, and other measures to speed up the process, but protesters said it was not enough.
SOUTH SUDAN
Ceasefire broken: rebels
Rebels on Saturday accused government forces of attacking their positions, just hours after the two sides promised an immediate halt to their nearly 11-month-old civil war. Chief rebel negotiator Taban Deng said troops loyal to President Salva Kiir launched an assault earlier in the day from their positions around the hotly contested northern oil hub of Bentiu. He said the rebels “condemn in the strongest terms possible the continuous aggression and violation” of the ceasefire, and called on regional peace mediators to investigate the incident. However, army spokesman Philip Aguer insisted government troops “have not moved anywhere” and that he was unaware of any fresh outbreaks of fighting.
BURKINA FASO
ECOWAS urges no sanctions
The West African regional bloc Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) called on the international community not to impose sanctions on the nation after the military took control of a transition following the resignation of longtime president Blaise Compaore. ECOWAS, which has called for a year-long transition to elections in November next year, named Senegalese President Macky Sall as its lead mediator with the transitional government, according to a statement issued after the meeting. “The summit appeals to the International Community and partners not to impose sanctions on Burkina Faso in the light of the on-going regional efforts and to continue supporting the country at these delicate times,” ECOWAS said in a statement on its Web site.
FRANCE
TV star accused of stabbingVoting lines draw protests
Thousands of people protested late on Saturday against the government, saying it was making it difficult for citizens abroad to vote, a week before a presidential runoff. Romanians in Paris, London, Vienna and elsewhere have said they were unable to vote in the Nov. 2 first round of the presidential race because of long lines. In response, the government on Friday said it would open more polling booths, and other measures to speed up the process, but protesters said it was not enough.
SOUTH SUDAN
Ceasefire broken: rebels
Rebels on Saturday accused government forces of attacking their positions, just hours after the two sides promised an immediate halt to their nearly 11-month-old civil war. Chief rebel negotiator Taban Deng said troops loyal to President Salva Kiir launched an assault earlier in the day from their positions around the hotly contested northern oil hub of Bentiu. He said the rebels “condemn in the strongest terms possible the continuous aggression and violation” of the ceasefire, and called on regional peace mediators to investigate the incident. However, army spokesman Philip Aguer insisted government troops “have not moved anywhere” and that he was unaware of any fresh outbreaks of fighting.
BURKINA FASO
ECOWAS urges no sanctions
The West African regional bloc Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) called on the international community not to impose sanctions on the nation after the military took control of a transition following the resignation of longtime president Blaise Compaore. ECOWAS, which has called for a year-long transition to elections in November next year, named Senegalese President Macky Sall as its lead mediator with the transitional government, according to a statement issued after the meeting. “The summit appeals to the International Community and partners not to impose sanctions on Burkina Faso in the light of the on-going regional efforts and to continue supporting the country at these delicate times,” ECOWAS said in a statement on its Web site.
FRANCE
TV star accused of stabbing
A reality TV star who gained fame and mockery over her trademark “hello? I mean hello?” phrase has been placed under investigation on suspicion of the attempted murder of her boyfriend. After 36 hours of detention and interrogation, a judge ordered Nabilla Benattia to be held in custody early yesterday for “attempted voluntary homicide” of her boyfriend, who was found stabbed in the chest at a hotel in Boulogne-Billancourt near Paris early on Friday. Another investigation was also opened over a separate alleged armed assault in August in which her boyfriend, Thomas Vergara, was wounded in the back.
UNITED KINGDOM
Syria returnee charged
A Northern Ireland man who says he fought against the Islamic State group in Syria appeared in court on Saturday charged with terrorism offenses. Eamon Bradley of Londonderry is charged with possessing a grenade and receiving training in arms and explosives. A police officer told the court that the 25-year-old convert to Islam traveled to Syria earlier this year and joined the Army of Islam, a group fighting both the Syrian government and IS. He says he took part in two battles against the regime and one against the Islamic State group. Bradley was arrested Thursday after returning from Syria.
‘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