UNITED STATES
Indiana amends religion bill
Indiana Republican Governor Mike Pence has approved changes to a new law that sparked boycotts of the state amid fears that it would allow discrimination against lesbians and gays. Pence had asked lawmakers to clarify language in the religious objections law earlier this week as businesses canceled conventions and governments banned travel to the state. The Indiana legislature approved the changes on Thursday after intense negotiations with business and community leaders, and Pence signed it late in the day. The revised legislation prohibits businesses from using the law as a legal defense for refusing to provide services, goods, facilities or accommodations. It also bars discrimination based on factors that include race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or military service. The law will take effect on July 1.
UNITED KINGDOM
Politician’s son arrested
A local politician said his son is one of nine Britons arrested in Turkey while allegedly trying to get to Syria. Shakil Ahmed, a Labour Party councilor in Rochdale, northwest England, said on Thursday he had believed his university student son was in Birmingham, England. Ahmed said he was “shocked, worried and extremely upset” to learn he was in Turkey. British police said the group detained in Turkey on Wednesday includes three men, two women and four children aged one to 11. They are being deported to Britain. The nine are among a spate of recent cases of British citizens trying to reach areas of Syria controlled by the Islamic State group. Several have been apprehended, but three teenage schoolgirls are believed to have reached Syria in February.
UNITED STATES
‘Groundhog Day’ coming
Groundhog Day is coming to Broadway. A musical version of the story about an arrogant weather forecaster forced to live the same day over and over is scheduled to arrive in 2017, thanks to four creators of the hit Matilda the Musical — director Matthew Warchus, composer Tim Minchin, choreographer Peter Darling, and set and costume design by Rob Howell. The story will be based on the 1993 film that starred Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell and Chris Elliot. The book will be by Danny Rubin, who cowrote the screenplay with Harold Ramis. The producers are Whistle Pig Productions, Scott Rudin and Columbia Live Stage. No casting was announced. Previews will start in January 2017.
UNITED KINGDOM
The sweatier the better
Scientists on Thursday said they had developed the first perfume that smells better the more you sweat and reduces body odor. Researchers at Queen’s University Belfast said in a statement that the new perfume “releases more of its aroma when it comes into contact with moisture.” The fragrance uses as a delivery system an ionic liquid — salt in the form of liquid — with no smell. “The perfumed ionic liquid releases its aroma when it comes into contact with water, allowing more of the perfume’s scent to be released onto a person’s skin,” the Queen’s University Ionic Liquid Laboratories said. The new perfume could also take away bad odors. “The thiol compounds that are responsible for the malodor of sweat are attracted to the ionic liquid, attaching themselves to it and losing their potency,” the scientists said. Queen’s University said it was already working with a perfume company on practical applications and project leader Nimal Gunaratne said it had “great commercial potential.”
THAILAND
UN condemns junta order
The UN has joined international rights groups in criticizing a decision by the military government to invoke a law that gives the junta chief near-absolute authority without any accountability. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein said on Thursday that giving Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha unfettered authority leaves the door open to serious violations of human rights.
PHILIPPINES
Overloaded boat capsizes
A passenger boat overloaded with 55 people and heavy cargo has capsized in the southern Philippines, leaving at least five dead and one missing. Coast guard spokesman William Arquero yesterday said it was unclear if more are missing, because the unregistered vessel left Jolo Island for nearby Tapul Island without inspection and clearance from authorities. Also on board were 100 bags of cement and assorted cargo. Arquero said 14 survivors rescued by three passing boats were brought to a hospital, while an unknown number of survivors were taken to Tapul.
MALAYSIA
Zunar charged with sedition
A cartoonist known for lampooning the ruling coalition has been charged with a record nine counts of sedition over a series of Twitter posts criticizing the judiciary. Lawyer Latheefa Koya said the charges filed yesterday against Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque, better known as Zunar, are excessive and are aimed at silencing government critics. She says Zunar faces up to 43 years in jail if found guilty of all nine charges. A defiant Zunar posted a new cartoon on Twitter after his release on bail, vowing to “draw until the last drop of ink.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is to visit Russia next month for a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) said on Thursday, a move that comes as Moscow and Beijing seek to counter the West’s global influence. Xi’s visit to Russia would be his second since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but it has backed the Kremlin’s contentions that Russia’s action was provoked by the West, and it continues to supply key components needed by Moscow for
Japan scrambled fighter jets after Russian aircraft flew around the archipelago for the first time in five years, Tokyo said yesterday. From Thursday morning to afternoon, the Russian Tu-142 aircraft flew from the sea between Japan and South Korea toward the southern Okinawa region, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said in a statement. They then traveled north over the Pacific Ocean and finished their journey off the northern island of Hokkaido, it added. The planes did not enter Japanese airspace, but flew over an area subject to a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia, a ministry official said. “In response, we mobilized Air Self-Defense
CRITICISM: ‘One has to choose the lesser of two evils,’ Pope Francis said, as he criticized Trump’s anti-immigrant policies and Harris’ pro-choice position Pope Francis on Friday accused both former US president Donald Trump and US Vice President Kamala Harris of being “against life” as he returned to Rome from a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific region. The 87-year-old pontiff’s comments on the US presidential hopefuls came as he defied health concerns to connect with believers from the jungle of Papua New Guinea to the skyscrapers of Singapore. It was Francis’ longest trip in duration and distance since becoming head of the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Roman Catholics more than 11 years ago. Despite the marathon visit, he held a long and spirited
China would train thousands of foreign law enforcement officers to see the world order “develop in a more fair, reasonable and efficient direction,” its minister for public security has said. “We will [also] send police consultants to countries in need to conduct training to help them quickly and effectively improve their law enforcement capabilities,” Chinese Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong (王小洪) told an annual global security forum. Wang made the announcement in the eastern city of Lianyungang on Monday in front of law enforcement representatives from 122 countries, regions and international organizations such as Interpol. The forum is part of ongoing