UNITED STATES
No rights for chimps
A chimpanzee is not entitled to the rights of a human and does not have to be freed by its owner, a New York appeals court ruled on Thursday. The three-judge Appellate Division panel was unanimous in denying “legal personhood” to Tommy, which lives alone in a cage. Nonhuman Rights Project’s lawyer, Steven Wise, told the appeals court in October that the chimp’s living conditions are akin to a person in unlawful solitary confinement. Wise said that animals with human qualities deserve basic rights, including freedom from imprisonment. The appeals court said there is no precedent for treating animals as persons and no legal basis. “A person is any being whom the law regards as capable of rights and duties,” the judges wrote. “Needless to say, unlike human beings, chimpanzees cannot bear any legal duties, submit to societal responsibilities or be held legally accountable for their actions.” The project said it will appeal to the state’s top court.
UNITED STATES
Watson’s Nobel medal sold
The Nobel Prize gold medal awarded to the scientist and codiscoverer of DNA, James Watson, sold at auction on Thursday for more than US$4.7 million, smashing the world record price for any Nobel prize. The medal was the first Nobel put on sale by a living recipient. Christie’s did not disclose the buyer, who was bidding via telephone and paid US$4,757,000, including commission. Watson, along with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins, unraveled the double-helix structure and function of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in Britain in 1953. They received the Nobel Prize for medicine in 1962. Watson, 86, said he planned to donate part of the proceeds to charities and to support scientific research.
UNITED STATES
No Christie tie to closings
New Jersey legislators investigating four days of traffic jams at the George Washington Bridge (GWB) have not been able to determine whether New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was involved. “There is not a shred of evidence Governor Christie knew anything about the GWB lane realignment beforehand or that any current member of his staff was involved,” Christie’s attorney, Randy Mastro, said of the Legislative Select Committee on Investigation’s review. “The committee’s work has simply corroborated our comprehensive investigation.” Christie has denied any involvement in closing the lanes in Fort Lee on Sept. 9 to Sept. 12.
UNITED STATES
White truffle up for auction
An Italian white truffle, reportedly the largest in the world, will be sold at an in-house and online auction in New York today where bidding is expected to start at US$50,000 and could go much higher, Sotheby’s said on Thursday. White truffles are found only in certain areas of Italy from October through December. The massive fungus was discovered in Italy last week by Sabatino Truffles, one of the largest suppliers. The proceeds from the sale will go to charities.
NETHERLANDS
Heroin test kits go on sale
Street teams and “smart shops” in Amsterdam yesterday start selling heroin test kits in the wake of the deaths of three young British tourists who snorted a drug they thought was cocaine. At least 17 other tourists also required medical treatment after taking the white heroin. Amsterdam Mayor Eberhard van der Laan praised the initiative, although he has warned that the test kits should not be seen as fail proof.
‘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