JAPAN
Chinese activity ‘escalates’
Chinese military activity has been escalating in the East China Sea, with a spike in emergency jet scrambles in the past three months, Self-Defense Forces head Admiral Katsutoshi Kawano yesterday said at a regular news briefing in Tokyo. “It appears that Chinese activity is escalating at sea and in the air,” Kawano said. Air force jet scrambles rose by more than 80 in the three months ending on Thursday from 114 a year earlier, he said. Detailed figures for the period are due to be announced next week. Kawano also said that Tokyo was “very concerned” about how China would react to the expected ruling by an international court on Beijing’s territorial claims in the South China Sea on July 12.
NEW ZEALAND
Homeless man crushed
A homeless man whose dismembered body was found crushed in cardboard bales was likely picked up by a recycling truck while sleeping rough, police said. The remains of Daniel Bindner were found on Tuesday at a cardboard processing plant in Hamilton, about 30km from his hometown of Te Awamutu on the North Island. Police investigating the grisly discovery said the 40-year-old father-of-three was last seen on June 21 and had been reported missing on Monday. They said he was believed to have been sleeping rough in the days before his death. “At this stage, we believe Mr Binder’s body was transported from the Te Awamutu area in a recycling truck to Oji Fibre Solutions in Hamilton,” Detective Inspector Hywel Jones said. Cardboard at the plant is processed into bales. Jones said a post mortem into the cause of death had proved inconclusive and the investigation was continuing, appealing for witnesses who saw Bindner on the streets.
NORTH KOREA
Kim gets new title
The nation’s parliament on Wednesday awarded Kim Jong-un a new post, adding to a long list of titles for the young leader. Kim was made chairman of the State Affairs Commission, a new body established under a revised constitution adopted by the parliament and which replaces the National Defense Commission, state media reported yesterday. His full title is now the Dear Respected Comrade Kim Jong-un, Chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea, chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and supreme commander of the Korean People’s Army. Kim, believed to be in his early 30s, attended the assembly meeting on Wednesday. He also holds the rank of marshal in the military, and is more usually referred to as “our marshal” in propaganda.
UNITED STATES
Police to have body cameras
Cleveland police officers will have body cameras affixed to their riot gear during the Republican National Convention this month. The Arizona company TASER International said it would loan 300 mounting units to the city that will allow officers to attach the body cameras to their riot gear to record interactions between police and the public. The four-day convention beginning on July 18 is expected to draw tens of thousands of people — including thousands of protesters. The city plans to bring in thousands of officers from police departments across the country to help with security. A Cleveland police spokeswoman told Cleveland.com that it would be up to those departments to determine whether their officers would wear body cameras.
BRAZIL
Rousseff final vote near
The Senate could take its final vote on the impeachment of suspended President Dilma Rousseff the day before the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, a senior lawmaker said on Wednesday. Senate President Renan Calheiros told journalists the final vote in Rousseff’s impeachment trial was scheduled for about Aug. 20. If she is found guilty of breaking budgetary rules to help win re-election, she would be permanently replaced by interim president Michel Temer, her former deputy. The Rio Olympics are set to open on Aug. 5. The Senate voted on May 12 to put Rousseff on trial and a committee that has been hearing testimony from witnesses is expected to present its findings on Aug. 9.
UNITED STATES
Alvin Toffler dies at 87
Alvin Toffler, the author and visionary known for several world best-sellers, including Future Shock and The Third Wave, has died at his home in Los Angeles aged 87. He died late on Monday, Toffler Associates, the consultancy firm he founded, said in a statement, without giving a reason for his death. Toffler’s groundbreaking book Future Shock, in which he examined social change, as well as several other books he co-authored with his wife, Heidi, made him one of the most respected futurists of the modern era, with world leaders and moguls seeking his advice. Toffler predicted economic and technological developments — including cloning, personal computers and the Internet — as well as the social effects they helped bring about, including social alienation, the decline of the nuclear family and rising crime and drug use.
UNITED STATES
LGBT assault false: police
A British lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) YouTube star who said he was assaulted outside a Los Angeles gay bar is facing a criminal charge of making a false police report, authorities said on Wednesday. Calum McSwiggan, 26, of London had called police early on Monday claiming he had been beaten up by three men outside a gay bar in West Hollywood. However, police officers who responded at the scene said they were unable to substantiate the assault and that McSwiggan “had no visible injuries.” He was arrested after he allegedly began vandalizing a car. After McSwiggan was booked and placed in a cell by himself, he was seen injuring himself with the handle and receiver of a payphone inside the cell, the West Hollywood police department said in a statement. He was rushed to a hospital for treatment and later posted a picture of himself on Instagram in a hospital gown with a bandage on his head. McSwiggan insisted he did not lie about the assault in a message posted on Twitter on Wednesday.
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
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