UNITED STATES
Saudi prince eulogized
President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry paid tribute to Saudi Arabia’s Prince Saud al-Faisal, saying he had left a legacy that would live on despite his death on Thursday. Prince Saud was one of the highest-profile members of Saudi Arabia’s ruling elite and formerly the world’s longest-serving minister of foreign affairs, overseeing four decades of turbulent diplomacy for the oil-rich kingdom. Obama described him as a “committed and accomplished diplomat.” “Generations of American leaders and diplomats benefited from Prince Saud’s thoughtful perspective, charisma and poise, and diplomatic skill,” he said in a statement. Kerry called Prince Saud “a man of vast experience, personal warmth, great dignity and keen insights who served his country loyally and well.”
france
Electric plane flies to UK
A pilot has flown across the English Channel in an electric-powered plane, a journey considered an important symbolic step toward making electric flight viable in the long term. Pilot Hugues Duval flew from the French port of Calais to the English shoreline and back on Thursday night on a two-engine, one-seat Cricri plane — just hours before Airbus planned a similar, higher-profile journey. Airbus was planning to send its electric plane prototype, the two-seater E-Fan, yesterday morning across the Channel for the first time, from Kent to Calais. Duval said his successful flight was a “relief” and an “important moment” after years of developing the plane and flying it over land.
UNITED STATES
Bill Cosby’s star to remain
Bill Cosby’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame will not be removed, organizers said on Thursday, but other honors given to the beleaguered comedian came under assault in the face of mounting sexual abuse allegations against him. “The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a registered historic landmark. Once a star has been added to the Walk, it is considered a part of the historic fabric of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Because of this, we have never removed a star from the Walk,” Leron Gubler, president of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which administers the iconic pink and gold stars, said in a statement. Gubler was responding to a call from a small Los Angeles activist group following Cosby’s admission 10 years ago that he obtained powerful sedatives with the aim of giving them to women to have sex. Cosby, 77, has not been criminally charged and his attorneys have denied the allegations. Cosby’s Presidential Medal of Freedom, awarded in 2002, has also been questioned. In Cosby’s hometown of Philadelphia, a 2008 mural featuring the entertainer alongside late South African president Nelson Mandela and other black heroes is expected to be removed.
UNITED STATES
Harper Lee chapter released
The first chapter of Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman begins with a grown-up Scout returning by train to Maycomb, Alabama, where she is greeted by a young man who wants to marry her. Go Set a Watchman is coming out on July 14. It takes place in the 1950s, 20 years after the setting for To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book. The chapter ran in Friday’s editions of the Wall Street Journal and the Guardian as anticipation grows for Lee’s first book since To Kill a Mockingbird.
UGANDA
Presidential rivals freed
Police late on Thursday released two presidential challengers after they were arrested for planning campaign rallies without permission. The opposition leaders, former prime minister Amama Mbabazi and Kizza Besigye, a leader of the Forum for Democratic Change party, are both hoping to challenge President Yoweri Museveni in elections next year. Police spokesman Fred Enanga told state-run newspaper New Vision that “the two politicians recorded statements and had since been released unconditionally.” Police have made several warnings against holding public rallies without permission, with organizers required to submit details to the police at least three days before any meetings.
BANGLADESH
Stampede leaves 23 dead
At least 23 people were killed in a stampede early yesterday when hundreds of people stormed the home of a businessman for a charity handout during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, police said. Another 30 were injured and rushed to a hospital in Mymensingh, a town 115km north of Dhaka, police officer Kamrul Islam said. The crowd gathered outside the tobacco businessman’s home at about 4am and stormed in when the gates were opened to collect free clothing, Islam said. One child and 22 women were killed in the stampede, he said. Authorities detained six people, including the businessman, who did not request police presence at his house on the occasion.
THAILAND
Murder proof not lost: police
The national police’s chief said investigators were in possession of crucial DNA evidence in the murder trial of two Burmese migrants accused of killing a pair of British tourists. Media reports on Thursday said the evidence had been lost or destroyed, but Royal Thai Police General Somyot Poompanmoung denied that yesterday. The comments came on the third day of the trial in a case marked by questions of police and judicial competency and claims that the accused were tortured into confessing. After two days of delays, the court was yesterday expected to rule on a defense request to re-examine key DNA evidence.
PHILIPPINES
Foreigner MERS-free
Officials say a foreigner who tested positive for Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) after arriving from the Middle East is now free of the virus and is to leave the hospital this weekend. Department of Health spokesman Lyndon Lee Suy yesterday said the foreigner’s close contact, a Filipina, is also well, but is to remain hospitalized until she completes a 14-day quarantine period on Saturday next week. He said passengers seated near the foreigner on his flight were traced and none manifested any symptoms.
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