AUSTRALIA
Second surfer killed by shark
A Japanese surfer was mauled to death by a shark yesterday in the second attack off the east coast in two days, prompting authorities to close beaches. The man, who has not been named by authorities, was pulled from the sea by other surfers just before 10am at Shelly Beach on the northern coast of New South Wales, police said in a statement. He lost both his legs in the attack, the Daily Mail newspaper reported, citing a local cafe owner. The incident comes just one day after a 35-year-old surfer was bitten on his back and buttocks by a shark at Seven Mile Beach, about 30km further up the coast. Beaches along a 15km stretch of coastline, from South Ballina to Lennox Head, have been closed amid concern a rogue shark responsible for both attacks is cruising the area. There are 165 shark species in Australian waters including great white, tiger shark and bull shark, which are considered dangerous to humans. None are thought to target people and specialists say attacks occur when a shark confuses swimmers, surfers and divers with its usual prey.
EAST TIMOR
President to choose new PM
President Taur Matan Ruak is expected to decide on a new prime minister by the end of this week after accepting the resignation of independence hero Xanana Gusmao, the government said in a statement yesterday. Gusmao, 68, a guerrilla leader who helped end Indonesian rule in 2002, submitted his resignation letter on Friday to allow for a younger generation to lead a nation that ranks among the world’s poorest, despite abundant gas resources. Ruak planned to meet with parties this week to discuss the restructuring. “It is expected that the constitution of the new government will be concluded at the end of the week,” the statement said. It was not immediately clear who would succeed Gusmao though experts say front runners include former minister of health Rui Araujo and former minister of state Agio Pereira.
JAPAN
Prank sees two swept to sea
Two men riding a scooter and a bicycle along a seawall while clad only in their underwear for a prank video were missing yesterday after being swept into the ocean. More than 50 police officers and rescuers, two helicopters and several ships were searching for the men off the coast of Hyogo prefecture, a police spokesman said, 24 hours after they disappeared. The two “went missing when they jumped into the sea from a breakwater for the purpose of filming an entertainment video for a friend’s wedding ceremony” the spokesman said. Seven other friends were involved in the filming, private broadcasters Fuji Television and Nippon TV said, adding the two missing men were in a state of undress at the time.
JAPAN
Passport seizure defended
Tokyo on Monday defended its confiscation of the passport of a journalist planning to travel to Syria, as the country reels from the execution of two citizens by Islamist extremists. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the government took travel documents away from freelance photographer Yuichi Sugimoto, 58, for his own safety, after learning of his plan to cover refugee camps in the war-torn country. “‘Islamic State’ has expressed its resolve to continue killing Japanese,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said. “If a Japanese national enters Syria ... we have assessed there is a high risk that the person would face immediate danger to his life, like being captured by ISIL [Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant] and other Islamic extremists,” he said.
INDIA
Intersex woman has twins
A woman who discovered she had mostly male chromosomes has given birth to healthy twins after intensive treatment in what doctors yesterday said was the “rarest of rare cases.” The 32-year-old had an intersex condition in which she had the physical appearance of a woman, but had more than 95 percent “XY” chromosomes, fertility specialist Sunil Jindal said. The woman underwent more than 12 months of hormonal and other medical treatment to develop her “infantile uterus” to allow her to conceive and give birth on Friday last week to a boy and girl.
UNITED KINGDOM
‘Boyhood’ leads BAFTAs
The US coming-of-age tale Boyhood, filmed over 12 years, won a British Academy Film Award (BAFTA) for best film on Sunday, but the ceremony was dominated by the Stephen Hawking biopic The Theory of Everything. Eddie Redmayne picked up the best actor award for playing theoretical physicist Hawking. The biopic also won best British film and best screenplay adaptation. Redmayne thanked Hawking and his family “for reminding me of the great strength that comes from the will to live a full and passionate life… Our dream as actors is to tell interesting stories about interesting people and they don’t come more interesting than this.” Richard Linklater, who spent 12 years making Boyhood, was named best director, and Patricia Arquette won the supporting-actress trophy as a struggling mother in the film. Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel won the biggest haul of prizes, with five, including best original screenplay for Anderson, production design, costumes, hair and makeup and Alexandre Desplat’s score. Birdman had 10 nominations, but only won a cinematography prize. Julianne Moore was named best actress for portraying a professor with Alzheimer’s in Still Alice. Damien Chazelle’s jazz-drumming drama Whiplash — which was shot in 19 days — took prizes for sound and editing, while the supporting-actor trophy went to the film’s J.K. Simmons. The Lego Movie was named best animated feature. Director Mike Leigh received a lifetime honor, the British Academy Fellowship.
MEXICO
Gunmen kill five at party
Armed suspects stormed a house party in Ciudad Juarez early on Sunday, killing five people and wounding six, local police officials said. “They came to the party and four men with guns started shooting people who were outside the house,” a local police head said on condition of anonymity. There were about 30 people at the party, including women and children, the police official added. Four people were killed in the street, while one person was killed inside the home that was hosting a birthday party. The attackers also set fire to four cars outside the house.
GERMANY
Hamburg airport ‘in chaos’
Hamburg airport temporarily shut its terminal building yesterday morning after a strike by security staff caused overcrowding. The airport said police closed the doors for two hours after lines of up to five hours for security checks built up. Security personnel and other staff were staging a 24-hour strike at airports in Hamburg, Hannover and Stuttgart to press their demands for pay increases of up to 2.50 euros (US$2.86) an hour. Hamburg airport spokeswoman Stefanie Harder said the situation at the airport was “catastrophic.” She also said that passengers had “little chance of making their flights today.” About a quarter of all flights from the airport have been canceled.
‘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