UKRAINE
Russian soldiers on trial
Two Russian soldiers went on trial yesterday, accused of taking part in fighting against the army. The pair were captured during a clash in the east of the nation in May. The government says they are members of Russian special forces. Moscow has said the two are “former soldiers.” Their lawyer said the two men had been charged with waging an “aggressive war” against the nation and “terrorism.” The Russians testified during a taped interrogation that they entered the war zone nearly two months ago as part of a 200-strong reconnaissance unit from the Russian army’s Main Intelligence Directorate.
UNITED STATES
Musicians dangerous online
If you are planning to look up Usher, Luke Bryan or producer Armin van Buuren on the Web, take heed. Intel Security yesterday said that the musicians top its ninth annual list of the most dangerous celebrities online. Searches for those famous names are most likely to land users on Web sites that carry viruses or malware. Searches for Dutch trance DJ Van Buuren carry the most risk: users have an almost 18 percent chance of landing on a page with potential for online threats. Bryan, Usher, Britney Spears and Jay-Z round out the top five. A Katy Perry search carries a nearly 15 percent chance of connecting with a tainted site.
INDONESIA
British journalists on trial
Two British journalists have gone on trial for allegedly trying to make a documentary about piracy without the correct visas and could face up to five years in jail, an official said yesterday. Neil Bonner, 32, and Rebecca Prosser, 31, appeared in a court on Monday accused of having only tourist visas while attempting to make the film, said Ali Akbar, a senior official at the local prosecutor’s office. “They have broken Indonesian immigration law and could be jailed for up to five years if found guilty,” he said. The pair arrived in May to shoot the film for Wall to Wall with funding from National Geographic.
NEW ZEALAND
Huge marine park planned
The government on Monday announced plans to create a South Pacific marine sanctuary the size of France, saying it would protect one of the world’s most pristine ocean environments. Prime Minister John Key said the Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary would cover an area of 620,000km2 about 1,000km off the northeast coast. Announcing the plans at the UN in New York, Key said the Kermadec area is home to thousands of important species, including whales, dolphins, seabirds and endangered turtles. “[It] is one of the most geographically and geologically diverse areas in the world,” he said in a statement. “It contains the world’s longest underwater volcanic arc and the second-deepest ocean trench at 10 kilometers deep.”
CANADA
‘SpiderMable’ saves day
A six-year-old girl with cancer on Monday lived her superhero dream for a day as SpiderMable. When The Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada asked Mable Tooke what she wanted, she asked to spend a day swinging around Edmonton with her favorite superhero, Spider-Man, who, like her, has radioactive blood. Mable woke up on Monday morning to watch a spoof TV newscast in which police called on SpiderMable to help rescue kidnapped Edmonton Oilers hockey captain Andrew Ference. Several police officers, Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson and a costumed Spider-Man helped SpiderMable enjoy what she called a “pretty cool” experience.
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