SOUTH KOREA
US official offered dog meat
Hospital officials said a well-wishing man tried to offer dog meat to injured US Ambassador Mark Lippert, who is recovering from an attack by a knife-wielding anti-US activist. An official at the Seoul hospital where Lippert was being treated yesterday said that the elderly man arrived on Friday morning with a package that he said was dog meat and seaweed soup. The official said the man asked the food to be delivered to Lippert to help him heal, but the hospital rejected the food.
PHILIPPINES
Malaysian policeman freed
The military said extremist group Abu Sayyaf released a Malaysian police constable eight months after they kidnapped him from a Malaysian resort. Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Harold Cabunoc said Zakia Aliep, a member of the Malaysia marine police, was brought back to Malaysia’s Sabah State early yesterday. He was quoting reports from civilian informants in nearby Sulu Province in southern Philippines. Cabunoc credited military operations in Sulu with the hostage’s release.
UNITED STATES
Bookmaker pleads guilty
The son of a wealthy Malaysian businessman accused of running an illegal sports betting ring with his father during the FIFA World Cup last year is pleading guilty to a lesser charge to return home. Darren Wai Kit Phua was arrested in July with his father and several others after US federal agents raided a Caesars Palace villa where they were staying and seized computers, cell phones and cash. As part of the plea, Phua will be on unsupervised probation for five years and is agreeing to forfeit US$125,000 seized during the raid and pay a US$100,000 fine.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in 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
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was