UNITED KINGDOM
Wild-card heads Labour poll
A left-wing lawmaker who entered the leadership race of Britain’s opposition Labour Party as a wild-card might be on course to win with a commanding lead, a poll showed late on Monday. Support for Jeremy Corbyn, 66, a veteran socialist and anti-nuclear campaigner, has increased to give him the backing of more than half of those eligible to vote in the contest, according to a poll by YouGov. “I would personally be astonished if Corbyn does not end up as Labour’s leader,” YouGov president Peter Kellner wrote, adding that the race could change before voting ends in a month’s time. The poll of 1,411 eligible voters showed Corbyn with 53 percent support, far ahead of his nearest rival, Andy Burnham on 21 percent — a drop of five points. Seen as the most left-wing of the four candidates, Corbyn’s increasing popularity comes despite a series of stark warnings from senior Labour figures that he could damage the party’s chances of beating the ruling center-right Conservative Party in future elections.
CONGO
Ministers axed in reshuffle
President Denis Sassou Nguesso on Monday announced a major Cabinet reshuffle that excludes two minsters who opposed a change to the constitution that would allow the long-serving head of state to run for a third term. Minister of Commerce Claudine Munari and Minister of the Civil Service Guy-Brice Parfait Kolelas were removed from the government, according to a government statement. Last month, the pair joined the main opposition coalition to stand against a constitutional change that would allow Nguesso, 72, to seek a new mandate in next year’s elections. Nguesso had convened a “national dialogue,” which came out “by a large majority” in favor of amending the constitution to remove an upper limit on the age of presidential candidates as well as the number of terms the head of state can serve, effectively paving the way for him to stand for a third term.
UNITED STATES
Philosophers win Kluge Prize
Two philosophers have been honored with a prize handed out by the Library of Congress for fields not covered by the Nobel prizes. The Library of Congress yesterday announced that Jurgen Habermas and Charles Taylor would share a US$1.5 million John Kluge Prize for humanities. They are the ninth and 10th winners of the prize, which was first awarded in 2000 and was handed out most recently in 2012. It was endowed by philanthropist John Kluge and honors achievement in fields including history, philosophy, anthropology, sociology and religion. Habermas and Taylor are to split the US$1.5 million award. Habermas is an 86-year-old German, whose books include The Theory of Communicative Action. Taylor is an 83-year-old Canadian, whose best-known work is Sources of the Self.
UNITED STATES
Tower jumpers sentenced
Two men convicted of parachute-jumping from the top of One World Trade Center were on Monday sentenced to community service and each ordered to pay US$2,000 in fines. A judge sentenced James Brady to 250 hours of community service and Andrew Rossig to 200 hours. The men were in June convicted of reckless endangerment and other misdemeanors. Another man, Marko Markovich, also was convicted and is scheduled to be sentenced on Monday.
MYANMAR
Bangladeshis repatriated
The government has returned 159 Bangladeshi migrants rescued from boats stranded off its coast in May, officials said yesterday. More than 800 men, women and children were picked up from ships abandoned by smugglers in the Bay of Bengal in recent months, after a Thai crackdown on people-smuggling led gang bosses to abandon their human cargo on land and at sea. It sparked a long verification process between Myanmar and Bangladesh to determine the nationality of the migrants, with neither side showing a willingness to accept them at first. On Monday, Burmese authorities handed over 159 people to their Bangladeshi counterparts, state media said. However, a number of migrants were still undergoing verification. “The remaining 230 Bangladeshi will be transferred as soon as possible. The Bangladesh side are conducting a rigorous verification process,” a government official in Rakhine state said, asking to remain unnamed.
CHINA
‘Harmful’ songs banned
Authorities have ordered 120 songs to be pulled from the Internet, including tracks titled Don’t Want to Go to School and All Must Die because they promoted sex, violence or “incited law-breaking.” No individual or organization is allowed to provide the songs, which “trumpeted obscenity, violence, crime or harmed social morality,” the Ministry of Culture said in a statement on Monday. Most of the blacklisted tunes were by unknown singers or bands, but had striking titles, including No Money No Friend and Suicide Diary, a list attached to the statement showed. The list provided “specific targets for Internet organizations’ self-censorship,” the ministry said, adding companies should “remove the products accurately, be aware of the bottom line and improve their service.” Anyone who does not comply “will be punished severely according to the law,” it said.
AUSTRALIA
Man faces cocaine charges
A 91-year-old retired surgeon has been charged with importing cocaine hidden in 27 packages of soap, prompting police to warn travelers to beware they are not tricked into becoming drug mules. Victor Twartz, of Sydney, was released on bail when he appeared in Sydney’s Downing Center Local Court charged with importing a commercial quantity of cocaine last month. He did not enter a plea and is to appear in court next on Oct. 6. The retired oral surgeon faces a potential life prison sentence if he is convicted of importing 4.5kg of the drug into Sydney Airport on a July 8 flight from New Delhi. Police say it appears that Twartz was scammed by a group of people he had befriended online before his trip. Federal Police organized crime commander David Stewart declined to say whether Twartz had been promised anything by the group, but said he had been in contact with them over several months.
THAILAND
King had hydrocephalus
King Bhumibol Adulyadej has been treated for hydrocephalus, or “water on the brain,” and a chest infection, the palace revealed in a rare statement, amid public concern over the health of the world’s longest serving monarch. The 87-year-old king has been in Bangkok’s Siriraj Hospital since being readmitted in May, but information on his condition has been scarce. Doctors at the hospital have “reduced the level of water in his brain,” the Royal Household Bureau said in a statement on Monday. “His heart rate had returned to normal after treatment, it added.
‘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