SINGAPORE
Jet collapses on tarmac
A Singapore Airlines jet collapsed yesterday morning as an engineer conducted routine landing checks before a scheduled flight from Changi Airport to Hong Kong, the airline said. No passengers or flight crew were aboard at the time. The carrier said in a statement that the nose gear of an Airbus A330-300 retracted while the aircraft was undergoing a landing gear system check. “One engineer who was on the aircraft was not injured. Singapore Airlines will be cooperating fully with the authorities in their investigations,” the statement said.
CHINA
Japanese detained as ‘spies’
Two more Japanese nationals have been detained on suspicion of spying, bringing the number held by authorities for espionage to four, news reports said yesterday. A Japanese woman in her 50s has been held in Shanghai since June for her alleged involvement in spying, the Mainichi Shimbun said. The woman, who runs a Japanese-language school in Tokyo, had visited the nation frequently, Kyodo News said, adding that the purpose of her visits was unknown. Another Japanese national in his 60s has been detained in Beijing on similar charges, the newspaper said. Beijing late last month said that it had arrested two Japanese citizens for suspected spying.
CHINA
Gas explosion kills 17
A leaking liquefied gas container exploded on contact with fire in a restaurant in Anhui Province on Saturday, killing 17 people, authorities said. The explosion happened just before noon at a small privately run restaurant in Jinghu District, the Wuhu City Government said on its microblog. An initial investigation found the gas cylinder leaked and came into contact with fire, triggering an explosion, the city government said. The restaurant was one of many in an alley about 50m long, said a worker at a rice noodles restaurant across from the one where the blast happened. “People from nearby restaurants rushed to the scene and used fire extinguishers to try and put it out,” the worker said.
MALDIVES
Indian minister visits
Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is visiting the island nation amid signs of reviving relations. Swaraj arrived in the capital, Male, on Saturday and was due to lead the India-Maldives Joint Commission yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this year avoided Male in his tour of neighboring island states. He did not state a specific reason, but it was seen as an attempt to avoid controversy amid political turmoil in the nation following the arrest of a pro-India opposition leader and the country’s increasing leaning toward China.
CHINA
Oscar entry changed
The government has been forced to change to its submission for next year’s Oscars because its Sino-French hopeful, Wolf Totem, failed to have enough locals on the creative staff to be eligible, state media reported yesterday. Reports said the Film Bureau was notified on Monday last week by Oscars organizers that movie did not meet requirements. Wolf Totem’s main actors are Chinese, and the language is predominantly Mandarin with some Mongolian, but the production team was largely foreign. China Film News said Wolf Totem has been replaced by the romantic comedy Go Away Mr. Tumor.
‘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