CHINA
Accident at plant kills nine
An operation platform collapsed at a power plant yesterday, killing nine people and injuring two, Xinhua news agency said. The accident, in the southern province of Guangdong, happened at the No. 7 Thermal Power Plant in the provincial capital, Guangzhou, Xinhua said, citing sources with the local government. The plant is still under construction. The government has launched an investigation. Accidents are relatively common at industrial plants in China.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Man rescued after 56 days
A Philippine fisherman has been rescued in Papua New Guinea after drifting at sea for 56 days, but his uncle died during the ordeal, a report said yesterday. The men left General Santos in the southern Philippines in January, but hit bad weather and were swept out to sea, the Post Courier reported after a fishing boat spotted Roland Omongos, 21, on March 9. Citing local police, the newspaper said the pair had no food and the survivor’s uncle died. It said Omongos kept his body for as long as possible, but was forced to throw it overboard when it started to decompose. He survived on two five-liter containers of water and was found weak and distressed by the Bermadethe Marie, which was journeying from Wewak to Rabaul, a town on the island of New Britain.
UNITED KINGDOM
Reality TV, but not on TV
The remaining contestants on a reality TV series have emerged after surviving 12 months in the Scottish wilderness — fending off hunger, infighting and fatigue — only to learn that the show stopped broadcasting after four episodes, the last of them in August last year. A Channel 4 spokeswoman said more footage would be aired “later this year,” but no date had been confirmed. The show, Eden, was billed as a unique social experiment in which 23 men and women living in isolation “would take on the challenge of building a new life and creating a society from scratch,” according to a statement promoting the show. The contestants were taken to a 240 hectare estate on the remote Ardnamurchan Peninsula Over time, all but 10 contestants quit the show, the Press and Journal of Aberdeen, Scotland, reported. Those who left cited concerns about health and safety, boredom and swarms of midges. Goats, sheep, pigs and chickens, and equipment for fishing and hunting were supplied. Materials for building, cooking and safety and hygiene were also provided. However, for some, the primitive accommodations proved too much, and they took to getting food and liquor from the pockets of civilization that dot the region, according to news accounts.
HONG KONG
Hawking hologram speaks
Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking has spoken to a Hong Kong audience by hologram. The British scientist appeared on Friday before an audience of hundreds who cheered and snapped pictures with their cellphones as he discussed his career and answered questions about the possibility of life on other planets, the use of technology in education and the impact of Brexit on Britain. The 75-year-old said the election of US President Donald Trump was one in a string of “right-wing successes” that would have grave implications for the future of scientific innovation and discovery. “With Brexit and Trump... we are witnessing a global revolt against experts,” he said, making his first appearance in Hong Kong since 2006.
‘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
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
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in