CHINA
Astronauts head to station
A pair of astronauts have launched into space on a mission to dock with an experimental space station and remain aboard for 30 days. The Shenzhou 11 mission took off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on the edge of the Gobi Desert at 7:30am yesterday aboard a Long March-2F carrier rocket. It is to dock with the Tiangong-2 space station precursor facility within two days, conduct experiments in medicine and various space-related technologies, and test systems and processes in preparation for the launching of the station’s core module in 2018. Following the attachment of two experiment modules, the entire station is designed to begin full operations in 2022 and is to operate for at least a decade.
JAPAN
Abdication panel to meet
Experts on a government-commissioned panel were yesterday to hold their first meeting to study how to accommodate Emperor Akihito’s apparent abdication wish. Modern imperial law does not allow abdication. Allowing Akihito to do so raises legal and logistical questions, ranging from laws subject to change to the emperor’s post-abdication role, his title and residence. The six panel members — five academics and a business organization executive — are to compile a report early next year after interviewing specialists on the constitution, monarchy and history. Akihito, 82, suggested his wish in August, citing concern about his age. The government reportedly wants to allow Akihito’s abdication as an exception and enact a special law to avoid dealing with divisive issues, such as possible female succession and a lack of successors.
JAPAN
Fans celebrate ghost cats
Scores of cat enthusiasts painted their faces and dressed up in elaborate and colorful feline costumes to celebrate an annual festival celebrating bakeneko, ghost cats. Cat lovers on Sunday danced and played music as they paraded through Tokyo’s Kagurazaka neighborhood for the festival, which traditionally precedes Halloween. The neighborhood is the main location in the satirical novel I Am a Cat by popular author Natsume Soseki. “Kagurazaka is a town known for cats and, because Halloween is getting close, we decided to celebrate Halloween, autumn and cats all together in one parade,” said designer Okameya Yuko, who organized the festival.
PAKISTAN
Two buses crash, kill 25
Two passenger buses yesterday collided head-on, killing 25 people and injuring 69, officials said. The accident, which occurred on a dangerous curve in the city of Khanpur in Rahim Yar Khan District, was likely caused by speeding, police official Jamshid Shah said. Several children, college students and women were among the victims, Shah said, adding that police and rescue officials were using cutters to retrieve bodies trapped inside the two buses. Tasleem Kamran, a physician at a government hospital, said the injured were being treated and that several were reported to be in a critical condition. “We have declared an emergency. We desperately need blood,” she said. Local TV footage showed ambulances and rescue officials rushing the injured persons to hospitals. Before the rescuers and police arrived, resident Waqar Ahmad said townspeople, who heard the sound of the crash, arrived at the scene and started pulling the victims out of the wreckage. “We thought some bomb had exploded,” Ahmad 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