IRAN
Missile test conducted
Tehran on Sunday carried out a test launch of a medium-range ballistic missile that exploded after 1,010km, a US official said on Monday. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the test was carried out from a site near Semnan. The official said the last time this type of missile was tested was in July last year. It was not immediately clear whether the test launch violated a UN Security Council resolution calling upon Tehran not to carry out activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons. News of the test came as French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault arrived in Tehran for a two-day visit. He said that France would act as defender of the nuclear deal, saying it was in the “common interest” that the accord was obeyed.
POLAND
Auschwitz staff list online
Historians have put online what they say is the most complete list of Nazi SS commanders and guards at Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi death camp in hopes some of them can still be brought to justice. The state-run Institute of National Remembrance yesterday said that the SS KL Auschwitz Garrison list is based on data from archives in Poland, Germany, Austria, the US and Russia. It has more than 8,500 entries. The online list is written in Polish, English and German. In related news, two Belgians risk up to a decade behind bars if found guilty of stealing parts of an electric fence from Auschwitz, prosecutors in Oswiecim said yesterday. The two 50-year-olds, identified only as Yann P-B and William H, were detained in July last year as they tried to remove three porcelain electrical isolators. Their trial is set to open in Krakow on Feb. 28.
AUSTRIA
Face veil court ban set
The governing coalition of Social Democrats and the Austrian People’s Party yesterday agreed to prohibit full-face veils in courts, schools and other “public places” as part of a package of reforms drawn up after more than a week of negotiations. The coalition also agreed to ban police officers, judges and magistrates and public prosecutors from wearing head scarves in the interest of appearing “ideologically and religiously neutral” while serving the state.
BRAZIL
Tycoon Batista arrested
Tycoon Eike Batista was arrested yesterday at Rio de Janeiro’s airport after returning to face corruption charges. Batista flew in from New York City and walked immediately to a waiting police vehicle. The 60-year-old former oil and mining magnate is alleged to have paid a US$16.5 million bribe to ex-Rio de Janeiro state governor Sergio Cabral, who is already behind bars for allegedly taking bribes over World Cup and Olympics infrastructure projects. Batista was sent to the Ary Franco prison in Rio, but after protests from his lawyer, he was moved to the much bigger Bangu complex.
UNITED STATES
Scouts open to trans boys
The Boy Scouts of America yesterday said it would begin accepting members based on the gender listed on their application, paving the way for transgender boys to join the organization. “For more than 100 years, the Boy Scouts of America, along with schools, youth sports and other youth organizations, have ultimately deferred to the information on an individual’s birth certificate to determine eligibility for our ... programs,” the group said on its Web site. “However, that approach is no longer sufficient as communities and state laws are interpreting gender identity differently.”
PHILIPPINES
US denies arms accusation
The US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim yesterday rebuffed accusations by President Rodrigo Duterte that US troops were building arms depots in five Philippine bases, in breach of a security deal. “We are not building a weapons depot anywhere in the Philippines,” Kim told a forum at the Makati Business Club, adding that facilities due to be built were to store equipment for disaster response. He said that the US could not build anything on Philippine bases against the consent of the Philippine government and its facilities are “not related to weapons.” Philippine military officials on Monday contradicted Duterte and said his concern had been looked into, but there was nothing to back it up. Sung said that he had several lengthy discussions with top security officials, including the minister of defence, and promised to address some concerns.
CHINA
Navy carrier ‘taking shape’
The nation’s second aircraft carrier is “taking shape” after two years and nine months of construction, local media reported yesterday. Construction of the Shandong began in 2014, the APP of Shandong television and radio said in a report. The Shandong, China’s first indigenous aircraft carrier, is “taking shape,” the report said. It did not give a date for completion or further details. It was being built in Dalian, the Ministry of Defense has said.
SINGAPORE
Military shipment arrives
Nine armored vehicles held in Hong Kong after arriving in transit from Taiwan in November last year have been returned the city-state, the Ministry of Defense said on Monday. The Terrex Infantry Carrier Vehicles arrived on Monday and were to be transported to a military camp for post-training administration, which includes serviceability checks and routine maintenance for the vehicles and related equipment, the ministry said in a statement.
SOUTH AFRICA
ANC facing ‘severe strain’
The ruling African National Congress (ANC) is “under severe strain” and is being undermined by disunity, mistrust and organizational weakness, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa said. In power since Nelson Mandela led the party to victory in the nation’s first multiracial elections 23 years ago, the party has been mired in a series of controversies, including the alleged attempts to manipulate government appointments by the Gupta family, who President Jacob Zuma says are his friends. “There are instances where internal ANC processes have been infiltrated by individuals and companies seeking preferential access to state business,” Ramaphosa said, according to an e-mailed copy of a speech he delivered on Monday in George in the Western Cape province. “Building the unity of the ANC and the alliance is therefore the most important and urgent task of the moment.”
THAILAND
Tourism revenue rises
The kingdon received a record 32.59 million foreign visitors last year, with revenue beating expectations and likely to exceed previous forecasts this year by growing 10 percent or more, officials said on Monday. The Tourism Authority said that the tourist industry earned 2.52 trillion baht (US$71.4 billion) last year, up 11 percent from 2015. It said the nation’s tourism industry is projected to bring in 733 billion baht in the first quarter of this year, up 8 percent from the first quarter of last year.
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
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
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