JAPAN
‘Cyberterrorist’ jailed
A hacker who hijacked computers in order to issue death threats, leading to the arrest of several innocent people, was jailed yesterday for his high-stakes games of cat and mouse with police. Yusuke Katayama, 32, used computers around the country to make a series of threats in 2012, including that he would kill multiple people at a comic book event, attack an airplane and target a kindergarten attended by the grandchildren of Emperor Akihito. Katayama used a virus to gain control of strangers’ computers through which he issued threats and a series of riddles that captured the attention of the national media.
JAPAN
Compulsory leave mulled
The government is considering making it compulsory for workers to take at least five days’ paid holiday a year, in a bid to lessen the toll on mental and physical health in a country famed for its long hours. Workers typically use less than half their leave in a year, according to a survey by the labor ministry which found that in 2013, employees took only nine of their 18.5 days average entitlement. A separate poll showed that one in every six workers took no paid holidays at all in 2013, Jiji Press said.
CHINA
Putin, Obama banned
Putin and Obama have been banned. Not the actual presidents of Russia and the US, but the use of their names by netizens as online handles. Account names that are registered or used in the country and deemed “unlawful” or “unsound” will be prohibited from next month as part of new Internet restrictions issued yesterday by the top cyberspace watchdog. Other names on the black list include “People’s Daily,” “Rural Casino” and “Firearm dealers.”
CHINA
Beijing protests expulsion
The government has rebuked Norway for “violating the rights” of a Chinese doctoral student who was expelled from the country, state media said. Norwegian police had ordered the student at the University of Agder to leave before Jan. 23, Xinhua news agency said late on Tuesday. Ma Qiang, a political counselor at Beijing’s embassy in Norway, raised the issue with Norway’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday, Xinhua said. The student had been working on a wind-power project at the university for two years. Xinhua cited Norwegian broadcasting firm NRK as saying that authorities feared the student’s expertise could be used “for military purposes in other countries.”
UNITED STATES
Couple ‘left’ toddlers in car
A couple allegedly left their two toddlers marooned in a car and strapped into their seats in near-freezing temperatures while attending a wine-tasting event in an upmarket Washington restaurant, police in the nation’s capital said. Jennie Chang, 46, who works for the Food and Drug Administration, and Christopher Lucas, 41, were arrested on Saturday and charged with attempted child cruelty after someone saw the small children alone in the car and called police.
MEXICO
Radioactive cargo recovered
Authorities have recovered three stolen pickups carrying radioactive material. National civil defense office head Luis Felipe Puente on Tuesday said the trucks and their cargo were stolen in Guanajuato State and later recovered in Hidalgo. Puente said the material, Iridium-192 used in industrial radiography, could have been dangerous if the containers were opened.
‘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