SOUTH KOREA
Ferry firm head jailed
A court has sentenced the head of a ferry operator to 10 years in jail over an April ship sinking that killed more than 300 people, mostly teenage students. The Gwangju District Court said in a statement yesterday that Chonghaejin Marine president Kim Han-sik also received a 2 million won (US$1,800) fine for failing to stop the improper storage and overloaded cargo on the ship that judges ruled contributed to its sinking. The court last week sentenced 15 crew members to between five and 36 years in prison. Divers recovered 295 bodies from the wreckage before the government stopped underwater searches last week. Nine victims remain missing.
THAILAND
Tips on visiting Japan
The Thai embassy in Japan has some tips for Thai visitors: Do not put your chopsticks in the serving bowl. And if driving, stop for pedestrians at cross walks. The advice is part of a new online manners guide the embassy has posted on its Facebook page in response to criticism on social media about “inappropriate” behavior of Thai tourists in Japan. The Facebook post has been shared and liked more than 1,000 times. The list of 10 dos and don’ts — most of which are don’ts — offers advice on escalator etiquette, use of mobile phones in public and how to approach salespeople when shopping.
THAILAND
Arrests at movie opening
Police have detained three student activists at the opening of the latest Hunger Games movie in the country, where opponents of May’s military coup have adopted the film’s three-finger salute as a sign of defiance. The military junta has banned the gesture, which symbolizes rebellion against totalitarian rule in the film series. One cinema chain in Bangkok canceled all screenings of the movie ahead of its opening yesterday after a student group planned an anti-coup protest outside one of its theaters. Two of the people detained were student activists and the third was led away after raising a three-finger salute outside another Bangkok cinema.
CHINA
Six nurses knifed to death
Six nurses and a co-worker at a hospital were knifed to death by another staff member at a female employees’ dormitory yesterday, state media said. The man who carried out the attack in the resort town of Beidaihe in Hebei Province told police he had “a history of mental illness,” Xinhua news agency said. The suspect was named as Li Xiaolong by state broadcaster China Central Television, adding he was about 27 and had been detained by police.
PHILIPPINES
Nine jailed over 1996 fire
A court yesterday sentenced nine people to jail for a fire that killed 162 people at a disco in 1996, in a decision that highlighted the country’s painfully slow justice system. Survivors and anti-crime groups welcomed the ruling, but were anguished that it had taken so long and expressed fears that some of those found guilty had fled the country, with a court official admitting that the whereabouts of the nine were unknown. Ninety-four people were also injured in the fire at Ozone Disco in Quezon City. In yesterday’s ruling, seven city engineers were sentenced to up to 10 years in jail for allowing the nightclub to operate without adequate safety precautions, court administrator Teresa Pabulayan said. The disco’s owner and treasurer were given the same sentences, she said, but would not specify the exact number of years, saying only it was between six and 10.
‘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
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
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in