CHINA
Jackie Chan’s son released
The son of actor Jackie Chan (成龍) was released from a Beijing jail yesterday after completing a six-month sentence for allowing people to use marijuana in his apartment. A statement issued by Jaycee Chan’s (房祖名) entertainment company said the 32-year-old actor and singer left the city’s Checheng jail a few minutes after midnight. Photos showed chaotic scenes as reporters chased his car and surrounded it at a toll station. The statement thanked fans and the media for their concern and said Chan would hold a news conference today to “apologize and explain.”
CHINA
‘Unfit’ for promotion
A new policy will mandate all military personnel meet weight requirements and link promotions with fitness, state media said. The PLA Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party’s military commission that oversees the armed forces, yesterday said that the commission’s four highest departments issued the joint policy that outlines reforms in military fitness training, which aim to build a stronger force. The public has long complained about “out-of-shape” generals, joking that they are better at banquet drinking than battlefield commanding.
SOUTH KOREA
Jet clips parked plane
A Korean Air Lines plane returned to Yangon International Airport yesterday after officials discovered it had clipped another aircraft while taxiing. The airline said in a statement that Flight 472 bound for Incheon returned to Myanmar’s biggest city, Yangon, not long after midnight. The jet carrying 134 passengers and 11 crew was about 20 minutes into its flight when air traffic control informed pilots of the collision. Korean Air said one of the plane’s winglets hit the tail of a parked Bangkok Airways aircraft, but pilots did not notice the incident because of the darkness. It said no alarm was set off by the collision, which was seen by a member of ground staff who notified the control tower. Burmese authorities are investigating the incident.
CHINA
Car rams into US consulate
A car rammed into the US consulate in Shanghai on Thursday evening, slightly injuring the driver and a sentry guard on duty, media reports said. The driver, a 35-year-old surnamed Liu from Sanming City in Fujian Province, has been taken to a police station while the injured guard was taken to hospital, Caixin said. A spokesman for the US consulate confirmed an “incident,” but said the matter was still under investigation.” “All mission personnel at the consulate general have been accounted for and the consulate general is expected to be open for business as usual today, the 13th,” the spokesman said.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number