UNITED STATES
Weed killer goes on list
California Regulators on Monday took a pivotal step toward becoming the first state to require the popular weed killer Roundup to come with a label warning that it is known to cause cancer. Officials announced that starting on Friday next week the weed killer’s main ingredient, glyphosate, will appear on a list the state keeps of potentially cancerous chemicals. A year later, the listing could come with warning labels on the product, officials said. However, manufacturer Monsanto has filed an appeal after losing in court to block the labeling, arguing that Roundup does not cause cancer and that the labels would harm its business.
NETHERLANDS
Srebrenica ruling upheld
An appeals court yesterday ruled that the government was partially liable in the deaths of about 300 Muslim men murdered by Bosnian Serb forces in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre. The ruling largely upheld a civil court’s 2014 judgement that said the state was liable in the deaths of the Bosnian Muslim men who were turned over by Dutch UN peacekeepers to Bosnian Serb forces in July 1995 and subsequently killed. Hague Appeals Court presiding judge Gepke Dulek says that because the soldiers sent the men off the Dutch compound along with other refugees seeking shelter there, “they were deprived of the chance of survival.” The men were among about 8,000 Muslim men and boys killed by Bosnian Serb forces in Europe’s worst massacre since World War II.
UNITED STATES
‘Pharma Bro’ case opens
Several prospective jurors have been excused from the federal securities fraud trial of an ex-pharmaceutical company executive because they claimed they could not be impartial. During jury questioning on Monday, several potential jurors said they could not ignore 34-year-old Martin Shkreli’s reputation for raising the price of a life-saving drug by 5,000 percent. One of them called him “the face of corporate greed.” Another said he is “the most hated man in America.”
UNITED STATES
U2 bassist thanks band
U2 bassist Adam Clayton on Monday night thanked his bandmates for their support during his treatment and recovery from alcohol abuse years ago after receiving an award from MusiCares, a foundation that helps musicians get treatment for addiction. At an event in New York City, Clayton spoke of how hard it was to overcome his addiction, partly because he did not think he could be in a rock band and not drink. He says he was convinced to get treatment by friends Eric Clapton and The Who’s Pete Townshend. He also got crucial support from his own bandmates.
AUSTRALIA
Official warns Depp
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce yesterday threatened to launch a new “war on terrier” by saying that actor Johnny Depp could face perjury charges. Depp and then-wife Amber Heard violated quarantine laws when they failed to declare her dogs Pistol and Boo on arrival in the country in 2015. At the time, the couple’s lawyers claimed it was a misunderstanding. However, legal documents in case between the actor and his former business managers allegedly show Depp was “fully aware” he was breaking the laws, according to People magazine. It claimed the documents show Depp “pressured one of his long-term employees to ‘take the fall.’” Joyce told the Australian Broadcasting Corp that if the allegations were true, “there’s a word for that: it is called perjury.”
SOUTH KOREA
Reactor plans suspended
The government yesterday said it would suspend construction of two partially completed nuclear reactors, while it gathers public opinion on the facilities and decides whether they should be scrapped. It said in a statement that it would form a committee that would spend about three months to decide whether construction of the plants should continue. The move comes after President Moon Jae-in said the nation would stop building new nuclear power plants and not extend the lifespan of old reactors to address public concerns over atomic safety. The partly completed Shin Kori No. 5 and Shin Kori No. 6 are near the city of Busan; they were scheduled to be completed by March 2021 and March 2022 respectively.
JAPAN
Teen breaks shogi record
A 14-year-old boy is taking his country by storm with a record-breaking start to his pro career in the Japanese version of chess. Sota Fujii broke a 30-year-old record with his 29th win in a row. His face was plastered across front pages of major newspapers yesterday, getting bigger display than the bankruptcy filing of Japanese airbag maker Takata. The game of shogi is similar to chess, although players may reuse captured game pieces as their own. Fujii defeated 19-year-old opponent Yasuhiro Masuda after a more than 11-hour battle that ended on Monday night. He became the youngest player ever to qualify to enter the professional ranks in October, and has reeled off 29 straight victories since his first pro match in December.
SPAIN
Dali’s bones to be exhumed
A Madrid court has ordered the remains of artist Salvador Dali to be exhumed following a paternity suit by a woman. Dali, considered one of the fathers of surrealist art, died in 1989 and is buried in his museum in the northeastern town of Figueres. The woman, Pilar Abel, is a tarot-card reader from the city of Girona. Born in 1956, Abel says she is the offspring of an affair between Dali and her mother, Antonia. Dali was then married to his muse, Gala. If there is a match, the woman could pursue further action to use Dali’s name or claim part of his estate.
NETHERLANDS
Scientists fete meteorite
Scientists on Monday celebrated the discovery of only the sixth meteorite found in recent history in the nation, which at 4.5 billion years old may hold clues to the birth of our solar system. “Meteorites are very special because we do not have rocks of this age on Earth,” geologist Leo Kriegsman from the Naturalis biodiversity center in Leiden said in a YouTube video marking the occasion. The fist-sized meteorite, weighing about 500g, crashed through the roof of a shed in the small town of Broek in Waterland, just north of Amsterdam, in January. It was discovered the next morning by the residents, but despite an extensive search, no other fragments were found.
UNITED KINGDOM
Woman leads ceremony
A Canadian soldier has made history as the first woman to lead the Changing of the Guard ceremony at London’s Buckingham Palace. Megan Cuoto, 24, led her unit as it changed Queen Elizabeth II’s guards on Monday. The unit was invited to Britain to mark Canada’s 150th anniversary. Before the ceremony, Cuoto said: “I’m just focusing on doing my job as best I can and staying humble. Any of my peers would be absolutely delighted to be Captain of the Queen’s Guard and I’m equally honored.”
‘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