UNITED STATES
Puerto Rico in default
Puerto Rico is “effectively in default” and urgently needs authority to be able to restructure its debt, US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said on Thursday. “Look, Puerto Rico has a terrible financial problem,” Lew said in an interview on Fox Business News. “They’re essentially insolvent. They have US$70 billion in debt. Like US states, Puerto Rico is not allowed under current law to seek bankruptcy protection. Yet it was able for years to issue huge amounts of tax-free municipal bonds like cities, which are allowed to file for bankruptcy.
UNITED STATES
US hostages compensated
The 53 Americans who were taken hostage in Iran in 1979 are finally to get financial compensation that had eluded them for decades, after US lawmakers included a payment provision in sweeping spending legislation. The men and women taken hostage by militant Iranian student groups at the US embassy and who spent 444 days in captivity are to be given restitution of up to US$4.4 million each, or US$10,000 for each day they were held. Because the deal that set the hostages free in January 1981 barred them from collecting restitution from the Iranian government, the victims had spent decades unsuccessfully pursuing claims, but when a US judge this year ordered French bank BNP Paribas to pay US$8.9 billion in fines to settle violations of US sanctions linked to Iran, funding for terrorism victims finally became available. There were 66 original captives in the Iran hostage crisis. Thirteen of them were released in November 1979 and one was released in July 1980 because of ill health.
RUSSIA
Church sacks vocal cleric
The Russian Orthodox Church on Thursday sacked Father Vsevolod Chaplin, an outspoken official who pushed the church to take a more aggressive role in public life. Chaplin, who has headed the Moscow Patriarchate’s department for cooperation between church and society since 2009, has been released of his duties and his department has been disbanded. The church explained its decision by citing the need to increase efficiency. The 47-year-old Chaplin described his dismissal as an attempt to purge the church of independent voices. He once said women should dress more modestly to avoid provoking rapes.
RUSSIA
Putting on some Putin
If your man smells of blackcurrant and fir cones this Christmas, it is possible he could be wearing a new scent dedicated to President Vladimir Putin. Leaders Number One, a perfume inspired by Putin, went on sale in Moscow on Thursday, just in time for New Year’s Eve, the major festive occasion in Russia. The perfume costs about 6,000 rubles for a 100ml bottle. The perfume went on sale in Moscow’s GUM department and can also be ordered online. The perfume could be the perfect gift for the Putin fan who already has a Putin T-shirt, mug, fridge magnet and iPhone cover, all of which are available in Moscow stores.
UNITED STATES
Downey Jr off naughty list
Actor Robert Downey Jr on Thursday “earned a full and unconditional pardon” of the drug conviction that landed him in prison in 1999 and almost derailed his career. Downey was among 91 people granted pardons by California Governor Jerry Brown, who has made a tradition of granting pardons on Christmas Eve, the Los Angeles Times said.
CHINA
Ex-CCP leader admits guilt
A former top leader of the prosperous southern city of Guangzhou has confessed to taking US$17 million in bribes, the Nanning Intermediate People’s Court said yesterday. Wan Qingliang (萬慶良) was charged with taking the bribes from 15 companies and individuals from 2000 to last year, when he served in various government positions in Guangdong Province. Wan last served as the party chief for Guangzhou, making him the city’s top leader, ranked above the mayor.
JAPAN
Okinawa sues over bases
The defiant southern region of Okinawa yesterday countersued the central government over local resistance to a new US military base. The lawsuit by Okinawa Prefecture comes after the central government sued it last month amid a long-running drama between Tokyo, keen to satisfy security ally the US, and Okinawa, where frustration over a seven-decade US military presence is rife. In October, Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga canceled a 2013 approval for the project by his predecessor, saying it was not legally sound, prompting Tokyo to seek court action. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga described the latest legal action as “extremely regrettable,” insisting the initial approval was legal and formed a precedent that allows landfill work to continue.
JAPAN
Japanese arrested in China
A third Japanese citizen has been arrested in China, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a regular news conference yesterday. Two others were arrested earlier this year for spying. Suga said the woman, who had been taken into custody in Shanghai in June, was formally arrested last month. He gave no further details, including whether she was suspected of spying. Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lu Kang (陸慷) said the case was being investigated “in accordance with the law, ” adding that Bejing has “reported the situation to the Japanese side.” In September, China said it had arrested two Japanese for spying and a Chinese embassy official in Tokyo later confirmed that two others were being held.
ISRAEL
French immigration surges
French immigration hit a record high this year, officials said on Thursday, citing “physical insecurity and financial uncertainty” as main driving forces. About 8,000 French Jews were expected to have arrived over the course of the year, a spokesman for the immigration ministry said, adding that it would be an “all-time record.” Final data for this year was not available yet. France’s Jewish community is estimated at between 500,000 and 600,000 people, the largest in Europe and one of the largest in the world.
‘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
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
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in