SAUDI ARABIA
Ambassador summoned
Officials have summoned the Czech ambassador over a translation of British writer Salman Rushdie’s controversial book The Satanic Verses, official media said on Friday. The kingdom wanted to express its “condemnation and disapproval of translating the book,”and hopes the Czech government stops publication of the work which is offensive to Islam and Muslims, the Saudi Press Agency quoted an unnamed ministry of foreign affairs official as saying. “The kingdom urged that religion and cultures not be insulted in any way or form,” the report said. On Wednesday, Iran said it would boycott next week’s Frankfurt Book Fair after organizers invited Rushdie, an atheist born to non-practising Muslims. Rushdie has lived since 2000 in the US and was knighted in Britain in 2007.
UNITED STATES
Shia LaBeouf arrested
Actor Shia LaBeouf has been arrested and charged with public intoxication after an incident in Austin, Texas. Jail records show LaBeouf on Friday night was booked into the Travis County Jail and released under his own recognizance. No attorney was listed on the record. He was arrested in the city’s Sixth Street entertainment district. The Austin City Limits music festival is taking place there through today.
GUATEMALA
Death toll rises to 253
The death toll of a massive landslide that buried a neighborhood on the outskirts of the capital has risen to 253 as the search for victims enters its second week. Deputy hospitals minister Israel Lemus on Friday said that officials had still not decided to suspend the search in Santa Catarina Pinula, but plan to meet to discuss it tomorrow. National Disaster Reduction Commission executive director Alejandro Maldonado said that 374 are missing, adding that 184 homes were affected. The decision to stop or continue the search would be based on the risk to rescuers, Maldonado said.
JAPAN
Minister to visit S Korea
Minister of Defense Gen Nakatani plans to visit South Korea this month to hold talks with his counterpart, South Korean Minister of Defense Han Min-goo, broadcaster NHK reported yesterday. During the visit, Nakatani is to discuss the national security bills passed by Japan’s parliament last month and North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons, according to NHK, which did not say where it got the information.
CHINA
Fisherman detained
Police officials yesterday said that they have detained a suspect after finding five bodies, aboard a fishing boat floating off the country’s east coast. The boat was found on Thursday near the city of Zhoushan in Zhejiang Province with no one aboard alive, according to a Zhoushan police notice posted online. One crew member and a life raft were missing. Police officials in Zhoushan’s Putuo district said on their microblog that Fang Zhongyue, in his late 40s, was detained on Friday night in neighboring Jiangsu Province. They said the case was still under investigation. State media reports said the five victims were aged 31 to 54. The Global Times cited an unidentified relative of one of the victims as saying one of the bodies had been beheaded. Violence in the nation’s vast fishing industry is not uncommon, usually sparked by disputes over money.
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
‘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