JAPAN
Woman set on fire
A man set a woman on fire following an argument in a restaurant in Ibaraki Prefecture, public broadcaster NHK reported yesterday. The 52-year-old Iranian man was seen pouring liquid over his 36-year-old Filipina girlfriend before setting her alight at the eatery on Friday, reports cited police as saying. Workers at the restaurant called an ambulance. The couple was taken to hospital with severe burns and both remain unconscious, NHK said. Police are treating the case as attempted murder.
CYPRUS
Peace talks on hold
Intensive talks at a Swiss resort on how much land Greek and Turkish Cypriots would administratively control under a deal reunifying ethnically divided Cyprus have broken off and are to reconvene in Geneva on Sunday next week, officials said on Friday. Cyprus government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides said important progress has been made narrowing differences on how much territory would make up Greek and Turkish Cypriot zones in an envisioned federation. The UN-backed negotiations are to continue in Geneva for three or four days. Christodoulides said the goal for a deal to be reached by the end of the year remains. The talks were designed as a precursor to a final summit that would also include Greece, Turkey and Britain, to sort out the pivotal issue of security.
Australia
PM banned from Mardi Gras
Organizers passed a motion preventing Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull from being invited to next year’s Mardi Gras as an official guest due to his handling of marriage equality issues. The first sitting prime minister to attend the Sydney Mardi Gras, Turnbull has been blocked from attending next year’s parade. The Mardi Gras membership at their annual general meeting yesterday passed a motion that the meeting “does not believe that a prime minister who denies us equality should be welcome as an official guest at our parade.” The move follows Turnbull’s statement that the Coalition government had “no plans” to advance marriage equality after a bill to run a plebiscite on the issue was defeated in the Senate on Monday last week.
AUSTRALIA
Casino employee released
One of 18 employees of Australia’s Crown Resorts Ltd detained in China last month for suspected gambling crimes has been released on bail, the company said yesterday. A Chinese national who was a junior employee was the first of the staff to be released, the company said. Crown did not identify the employee. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the employees had been detained for suspected involvement in gambling crimes, but did not provide further details.
MYANMAR
UN calls for assault probe
A UN official is calling for an investigation into allegations of sexual assault in northern Rakhine state following recent border attacks. In a statement issued on Friday, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict Zainab Hawa Bangura said she was gravely concerned by the reports and said it was essential for the government to allow humanitarian access to the area to provide support for the survivors. “The recent escalation of violence may lead to more incidents of sexual assault and therefore I call upon the government of Myanmar to take measures to stop this spiral of violence, particularly against women and girls,” she 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