SOUTH KOREA
MERS used as work excuse
Two women are in trouble with authorities after being caught lying about Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) to get time off work. The Yonhap news agency yesterday reported that police charged a 20-year-old saleswoman at a department store for spreading a rumor online that it was hiding an outbreak of MERS among staff. Her boyfriend was charged for helping her post the rumor on Facebook via another user. The woman, who lives in Incheon, told police that she began the rumor hoping the store would close and she could take time off. The Facebook post was taken down after it prompted a complaint by the department store. Another woman living in central Seoul was off work for two days when her employer sent her a text message. A person who identified himself as her husband replied that she was asleep at a hospital after testing positive for MERS. Yonhap said police and health workers found the woman at her home after being called by her employer. She was not exhibiting any symptoms of MERS, such as fever or cough. She told authorities that she did not want to go to work.
ISRAEL
Rockets reportedly fall short
Gaza militants fired a rocket at the nation on Thursday, the military said, adding that the projectile fell short and exploded inside the coastal territory ruled by Muslim militant group Hamas. Sirens wailed in some areas warning of the attack late on Thursday night and the military initially said it had hit in the nation’s south where the sirens had gone off. Soon afterward, it said the rocket had landed prematurely, falling inside Gaza. There were no reports of injuries. Rocket fire has mostly subsided since last year’s war against Hamas, but there have been sporadic attacks, which have increased in frequency over the past few weeks. Recent attacks have been claimed by Gaza militants who support the Islamic State group fighting in Iraq and Syria. Those militants are in a rivalry with Hamas and they say their rockets are in retaliation for a Hamas crackdown on their members.
JAPAN
Selfie pilot suspended
A Japan Airlines Co pilot who brought a stewardess into the cockpit while his copilot was on a bathroom break and took a picture with her on his smartphone was suspended for breaching flight regulations. The pilot, 47, seated the 28-year-old attendant in the copilot’s chair and snapped a selfie after the plane had climbed to 10,000 feet (3,048m). The incident took place on Sunday on a flight from the nation’s north to Osaka, the airline said in an e-mailed statement. Japan Airlines said it suspended the pilot immediately for violating regulations that require pilots to remain vigilant.
‘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