SOUTH KOREA
Reparation funds detailed
Seoul yesterday said that surviving “comfort women” who served the Japanese military in World War II will be eligible to receive 100 million won (US$90,000) each from a foundation that is to be funded by the Japanese government. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the families of those killed will be able to receive 20 million won, adding that it expects the Japanese government to soon transfer ¥1 billion (US$9.9 million) to a foundation formally launched in Seoul last month. The two sides agreed to set up the foundation in December last year.
ISRAEL
Alleged attacker shot dead
A soldier on Wednesday shot dead a Palestinian motorist who allegedly stabbed him and threw rocks from his car at a military vehicle in the occupied West Bank, the army said. An army spokeswoman said the assailant hurled rocks from his moving car at an oncoming military patrol vehicle, which then gave chase, forcing the car to a standstill shortly afterward. When the soldier approached the vehicle, the assailant stabbed him, inflicting light wounds, she said. The soldier responded by pushing the assailant backward and shooting him, an army statement said. A picture of the dead assailant circulated on social media showed him sitting in the driver’s seat.
UNITED STATES
Prison officials attacked
Prison officials in Nebraska said that nine staff members at the Lincoln Correctional Center were assaulted by inmates who were refusing to return to their cells. Department of Correctional Services spokeswoman Dawn-Renee Smith told reporters in an e-mail on Wednesday night that all nine were taken to hospitals after the attack and were treated and released. The prison was placed on lockdown. It was not clear how many inmates were involved in the attack or whether any were hurt. The Lincoln Correctional Center is a medium-maximum security prison for adult males.
NEW ZEALAND
Police mull hiker case
Police were trying to figure out why a tourist from the Czech Republic ended up spending nearly a month in the wilderness after her partner died during a hike. The woman was found on Wednesday living in a park warden’s hut on the scenic Routeburn Track in the “highly unusual case,” police said in a statement yesterday. The couple began their winter hike on July 24 and the man fell down a steep slope four days later, police said. The woman was able to reach him, but he died soon after. Police said she then made her way to the hut where she has been living since. Police said they launched a search on Wednesday morning after finding out the couple were missing.
UNITED STATES
Arrest after pepper-spraying
Police say a woman has been arrested after pepper-spraying a crowd of students at a high school in Atlanta, Georgia. Atlanta Public Schools spokeswoman Kimberly Willis Green told local media that Shawanda Favors was apprehended after allegedly spraying a crowd of students on Wednesday morning during a fight to stop her son from being jumped at Carver High School. Green said four students were treated for injuries and one student was taken to hospital. Favors was charged with disorderly conduct. The school system’s police department was investigating the incident.
‘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