NORTH KOREA
Trump a ‘psychopath’: daily
The country yesterday called US President Donald Trump a “psychopath” as tensions soar following the death of US student Otto Warmbier, who was evacuated in a coma from detention last week. The official Rodong Sinmun newspaper said the US president was in a “tough situation” at home and claimed he was toying with the idea of a pre-emptive strike on North Korea to divert attention from a domestic political crisis. “South Korea must realize that following psychopath Trump ... will only lead to disaster,” an editorial carried by the paper said.
THAILAND
Animal smuggler caught
Wildlife officers have arrested a Malaysian man attempting to smuggle two baby orangutans, 51 tortoises and six raccoons into the kingdom across its southern border, officials said yesterday. The animals were packed into plastic boxes and suitcases loaded into Ismail Bin Ahmad’s car, they said. The 63-year-old was stopped on Wednesday as he was attempting to drive through a border checkpoint in southern Songkhla Province. “The suspect said he was hired to transport the animals from [neighboring] Perlis State in Malaysia to Hat Yai [in Thailand] for 1,000 baht [US$33],” said Prach Kongthong, a wildlife officer at the checkpoint.
CHINA
Toy crossbows draw ire
Handheld crossbows that can fire needles and nails are the latest must-have toy in the nation, but anxious parents want them banned before a young child gets blinded or worse. Selling online and in shops for as little as 7 yuan (US$1), so-called toothpick crossbows were originally designed to shoot out just that — toothpicks. However, if swapped out for needles they are potent enough to crack glass, the Shanghai Daily newspaper said, quoting shop owners as saying they were selling out of the toys fast and struggling to meet demand. Other state media said the mini-crossbows can fire at a distance of more than 20m and shoot iron nails in place of toothpicks.
PAKISTAN
Iranian drone shot down
The country has shot down an uncrewed Iranian drone inside its territory in southwestern Baluchistan Province, it said on Wednesday. The drone crossed over the border on Monday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “The drone was hit by [the] Pakistan Air Force as it was unidentified and was flying at about 3km to 4km inside Pakistani territory,” it said. The ministry said Islamabad has informed Tehran of its action. Iran’s southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan, which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan, has been the scene of armed clashes between Iranian forces and Sunni militants.
AFGHANISTAN
Car bomb kills at least 20
A powerful car bomb yesterday struck a bank in Lashkar Gah city when civilian and military government employees were queuing to withdraw their salaries, causing multiple casualties, officials said. At least 20 people had been killed and more than 50 wounded, government spokesman Omar Zwak said. No group has claimed responsibility for the latest in a series of brazen attacks during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, but it comes as the Taliban ramp up their annual spring offensive. The insurgents control large swathes of Helmand Province, of which Lashkar Gah is the capital.
‘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