UKRAINE
Russia ‘threatens open war’
The risk of open war with Russia is greater than it was a year ago and Russian President Vladimir Putin has begun an “information war” against Germany, President Petro Poroshenko told the German newspaper Bild in an interview published yesterday. Poroshenko said Moscow had implemented “not one single point” of the Minsk accord and was building up its military presence on the border between the two nations. “Russia is investing a great deal in war preparations,” he said.
SPAIN
Sanchez to form government
King Felipe VI on Tuesday gave Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) Secretary-General Pedro Sanchez the tough task of forming a government in a bid to end a potentially damaging political deadlock more than six weeks after inconclusive elections. The nation has been mired in uncertainty since polls in December last year saw the incumbent conservative People’s Party (PP) win most seats, but fall short of an absolute majority as voters flocked to two upstart political groupings. Acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy struggled to form a government as other parties consistently refused to support him, citing inequalities created by drastic spending cuts implemented during his four-year term, as well as corruption scandals afflicting the PP. The PSOE came second in the polls.
ITALY
Smoking laws toughened
Smokers are now facing fines of up to 500 euros (US$600) if they light up in a car with a child or pregnant woman — or if they toss a cigarette butt on the street — after new health and environmental laws went into effect on Tuesday. The smoking prohibitions extend bans on smoking in offices, restaurants, movie theaters and other public places to the more private sphere of a car. They also specifically target pediatric hospitals and other medical facilities catering to pregnant women and newborns in a bid to cut the estimated between 70,000 and 83,000 deaths a year the government attributes to tobacco smoke.
FRANCE
Paris to rent out mopeds
Electric mopeds will be available for hire around Paris from this summer following an “encouraging” trial of the public scheme, the mayor’s office announced on Tuesday. The service will see 1,000 scooters gradually deployed around the city, available to anyone aged over 20 with a moped license. The electric bikes will be available from 7am until 1am daily.
ITALY
Pope to be in movie
Pope Francis is to be the first pope to appear in a film, playing himself in Beyond the Sun, an Italian-made family movie based on the gospels, which was inspired by the pope’s call for filmmakers to cater to children when thinking about how Jesus’ message should be communicated through cinema. All profits from the film are to be donated to two Argentine charities that help at-risk children and young adults.
GERMANY
Condom law proposed
The government will soon require all clients of prostitutes to use condoms, according to a draft law approved on Tuesday. The new rule, which will go into force in July next year if it secures parliamentary backing, is part of a package of measures aimed at offering greater protection to sex workers. Among other measures agreed under the package are tougher rules governing the ownership of brothels.
MYANMAR
Upper house chair chosen
The upper house of parliament yesterday voted in its opening session for an ally of Aung San Suu Kyi to serve as its chairman, bringing the legislature closer to naming a new president. The National League for Democracy, which gained a dominant majority in both houses in November last year polls, chose Mahn Win Khaing Than, a member of the Karen ethnic minority group and a grandson of a Cabinet minister assassinated alongside Aung Sang Suu Kyi’s father in 1947, to serve as the chairman. Aye Thar Aung, an ethnic Rakhine from the Arakan National Party, was elected as deputy chairman.
CHINA
Stranded travelers upgraded
Rail authorities offered 10,000 stranded Lunar New Year travelers free upgrades to high-speed trains yesterday as they tackled a huge backlog of passengers stuck in Guangzhou by snow and ice. Vast numbers were held up at two stations in Guangzhou when their outbound trains were many hours late reaching the city and about 33,000 were still stranded at Guangzhou Station by midday yesterday, China Central Television said. Rail authorities called up four high-speed trains from other areas to run extra services to destinations north of the city to reduce the crowds, the Guangzhou Railway (Group) Corp said in a statement.
MALAYSIA
State chief minister resigns
A leading politician relinquished his post as a state chief minister yesterday in what is widely seen as the latest move by scandal-plagued Prime Minister Najib Razak to purge potential rivals. Ruling party politician Mukhriz Mahathir, son of former longtime prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, resigned as head of Kedah State following an internal party push to oust him, media reported. Mukhriz had been mentioned among potential future contenders for prime minister, but his fortunes have flagged due to his outspoken father’s ongoing campaign to oust Najib over sensational corruption allegations.
GAZA STRIP
Militants die in tunnel
The collapse of a tunnel has killed two militants from Hamas’ armed wing, officials said yesterday, as concern grows in Israel over the rebuilding of tunnels that can be used for attacks. The collapse on Tuesday night was the second such incident since last week. Hamas’ armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said a local commander was among the two members killed in Tuesday’s collapse in the area of the Nuseirat refugee camp. Ismail Haniya, Hamas’ chief in Gaza, has vowed to continue building tunnels that have in the past been used to stage attacks against Israel and store weapons.
SOUTH AFRICA
Zuma to pay back funds
President Jacob Zuma will pay back some of the public funds used to upgrade his private home, his office said yesterday, attempting to end a two-year scandal that has plagued his government. Public Protector Thuli Madonsela, the country’s ombudswoman, ruled in 2014 that Zuma and his family had “benefited unduly” from the work on his rural residence of Nkandla. Among the supposed security upgrades were a swimming pool described as a fire-fighting facility, a chicken run, a cattle enclosure, an amphitheater and a visitors’ center. The exact sum would be determined by the treasury and police ministry, the office said.
‘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