AUSTRALIA
Fighter’s citizenship stripped
Islamic State fighter Khaled Sharrouf has become the nation’s first dual-nationality individual to be stripped of Australian citizenship under anti-terrorism laws, the Australian newspaper said yesterday. The government, a staunch ally of the US and its battle against Muslim militants in Iraq and Syria, is on alert for attacks by radicalized Muslims, including homegrown militants returning from fighting in the Middle East. Under a 2015 law, the government may strip dual nationals of their citizenship if they are found to have carried out militant acts or been members of a banned organization. Sharrouf, the son of Lebanese immigrants, shot to infamy in 2014 after photographs emerged of him and his seven-year-old son holding the severed heads of Syrian soldiers, causing a global outcry.
GREECE
Man wanted by US arrested
A 52-year-old Chinese man wanted by the US for allegedly trying to illegally export military equipment has been arrested in Athens, police said on Friday. Given information by US authorities, police said they detained the unnamed man as he was leaving a hotel in central Athens on Thursday, shortly after his arrival from China via Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He is wanted in the US for having tried to buy military equipment and export it illegally, police said in a statement. The transaction, which would have been made in the name of a Chinese maritime company, involved equipment for intercepting information, the statement said, adding that US authorities had opened an inquiry into the affair in June 2013. The suspect is to remain in detention while a court reviews the request for his extradition to the US.
INDONESIA
Thousands caught by rains
Up to 40,000 people have been caught in severe flooding following days of torrential rain in the nation’s central areas, where the death toll from landslides on Bali Island rose to 13. The National Board for Disaster Management yesterday said that constant rains over the past five days caused rivers on Sumbawa Island to break their banks and inundate seven sub-districts in West Nusa Tenggara Province. Bali-based agency official Dewa Made Indra said a new landslide in the village of Subaya on Friday killed one villager. Earlier, 12 people were killed in landslides that wiped out several homes in three mountain villages.
UNITED NATIONS
US objects to Libya envoy
The US on Friday objected to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ choice of former Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad as the body’s new representative to Libya. It was unclear whether the objection, expressed in a statement by US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, had ended Fayyad’s candidacy. The US wields significant influence as one of the five permanent members of the Security Council. No one was immediately available from the secretary-general’s office for comment. “The United States was disappointed to see a letter indicating the intention to appoint the former Palestinian Authority prime minister to lead the UN mission in Libya,” Haley said in her statement. “For too long the UN has been unfairly biased in favor of the Palestinian Authority to the detriment of our allies in Israel.” Haley added that the US “does not currently recognize a Palestinian state or support the signal this appointment would send within the United Nations.” She said Washington encouraged Israel and the Palestinians “to come together directly on a solution” to end their conflict.
‘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