CHINA
Anti-terror rally in Xinjiang
Security forces have staged another mass anti-terror rally in Xinjiang, parading hundreds of armed men through the streets of Urumqi in a show of force after an uptick in violence. The Xinjiang government’s news Web site on Saturday showed pictures of hundreds of gun-toting police and soldiers standing in front of a government building shouting out pledges to defeat terror and lines of armored vehicles in the streets. Xinjiang Deputy Party Secretary Zhu Hailun (朱海倫) said the Urumqi rally, following on from ones in Kashgar and Hotan, were a sign of “real action” to deepen the fight against terror. The Xinjiang Daily yesterday quoted Zhu as saying at the rally that no effort would be spared in this regard. “With guns by our bodies, knives unsheathed, fists out and hands extended, we must use thunderous power to strike hard against terrorist activities,” the paper quoted him as saying.
THAILAND
Temple ordered cleared
Police yesterday ordered thousands of worshipers to leave the kingdom’s biggest Buddhist temple so officers can intensify a search for its former abbot, who is wanted on money-laundering charges. Police said that all non-residents must vacate Wat Dhammakaya to expedite the search of the 400 hectare facility because temple activities were hindering the hunt for Phra Dhammachayo. Monks who live within the temple grounds were also ordered to congregate at an exit point and not interfere with the investigation. About 13,000 people were inside the temple as of yesterday morning, a spokesman for the temple said. He said the temple would have to comply with the request to evacuate.
PHILIPPINES
Army ready to help
The army will create a “battalion size” task force to help the government’s anti-narcotics agency run after high-value targets in President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief General Eduardo Ano told reporters late on Saturday in Baguio City. Up to 5,000 soldiers could be mobilized under the task force, or only 500, depending on the threat, Ano said. “We will not be involved in the street, we’ll not be involved in running after street pushers,” he said. “The armed forces will help … in running after high-level drug syndicates.”
BANGLADESH
Rohingya return for family
Hundreds of Rohingya who fled to Bangladesh to escape persecution have returned home, community leaders said yesterday, adding that most had gone back temporarily to fetch relatives. Dudu Mia, a refugee camp leader in the coastal town of Teknaf, said nearly 1,000 Rohingya — mostly young men — had returned to their villages to collect elderly family members left behind. “Most of those men are hoping to bring their relatives back to Bangladesh. It’s been four months and they have barely even talked to their parents back home,” Mia said.
GAMBIA
Barrow makes promises
President Adama Barrow on Saturday promised greater freedom, an improved economy and better education as thousands attended a ceremony near the capital marking his inauguration. “This is a victory for democracy. It is a victory for all Gambians,” Barrow said to a packed stadium that included dignitaries and several African heads of state. The ceremony was held to let Gambians witness a swearing-in that echoed the official one last month at the nation’s embassy in Senegal.
FRANCE
Russia suspected of hacking
Suspected Russian cyberattacks on the nation’s presidential campaign are “unacceptable,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Marc Ayrault said yesterday, adding it was clear that pro-Europe candidate Emmanuel Macron was being targeted. A spokesman for Macron has accused Moscow of being behind a flurry of cyberattacks on his campaign Web site and e-mail servers over the past month. “It’s enough to see which candidates, Marine Le Pen or Francois Fillon, Russia expresses preference for in the French electoral campaign,” Ayrault said in an interview with Journal du Dimanche. “Whereas Emmanuel Macron, who is pro-Europe, is being targeted by cyberattacks,” he added.
BELGIUM
One killed in train crash
One person died and 27 were injured — three of them seriously — when a train derailed on Saturday shortly after leaving a station east of Brussels, officials said. The train carrying 85 passengers derailed four minutes after leaving Louvain bound for the North Sea coast, the SNCB railway authority said. The cause of the derailment — which occurred shortly after 1pm — was not immediately known. “There was only one train involved. Luckily there was no train coming the other way,” Minister of Transport Francois Bellot said as he visited the scene of the accident.
SYRIA
White Helmets to visit US
Rescue workers from the nation’s White Helmets — the subjects of an Oscar-nominated documentary — on Saturday said they have received US visas to attend the Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday. For weeks, the rescuers and the film’s staff had been nervously watching the fallout from US President Donald Trump’s now-suspended travel ban for seven countries. “We got our visas yesterday [Friday], but we’re not yet sure if we’ll be able to travel or not,” Raed Saleh, leader of the rescue group, said by telephone on Saturday. The documentary titled The White Helmets, directed by Orlando von Einsiedel, was named a contender late last month in the Oscars short documentary category.
UNITED STATES
Father, son killed in crash
Authorities say a father and son have been killed in a head-on collision with each other in Fayette County, Alabama. State troopers say alcohol is a factor in the crash that killed 50-year-old Jeffrey Morris Brasher and 22-year-old Austin Blaine Brasher. The crash occurred at about 4:10am on Saturday on Fayette County 49 when the 2006 Ford pick-up the elder Brasher was driving collided with his son’s 2004 Chevrolet pick-up. Al.com said that neither man was wearing a seatbelt.
UNITED STATES
President’s motorcade struck
Authorities say a vehicle in President Donald Trump’s motorcade was struck by a “2x4” piece of lumber and five middle-school students are now facing charges. Palm Beach County Sheriff’s office spokeswoman Teri Barbera on Saturday said that the incident happened on Friday at about 1:45pm. Officers reported that a vehicle in the motorcade had been struck by what was believed to be a small, hard object. A child from a middle-school confessed to throwing the wood at the motorcade and also implicated four additional students. Charges will be filed with the Palm Beach County States Attorney’s Office.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in 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
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