AUSTRALIA
Rail not for moving house
Moving house? Do not let the train take the strain — that is the message from rail chiefs after publishing footage of passengers lugging furniture and fridges on busy commuter services. The slapstick images taken in Brisbane show a man laboring to trolley a refrigerator into a lift and down to a platform. He manages to wheel the large item onto a train, before the footage shows him backing it out again as security officers intervene and issue a fine. “Today’s #TrainEtiquetteTuesday is a simple one: please book a removalist,” Queensland Rail tweeted with the images on Tuesday. The operator said the that oversized items were not allowed on trains, with potential fines of up to A$252 (US$192). “The last thing we want is for a customer to injure themselves or others losing control of an oversized item, or blocking the path of others and making them step over the yellow [safety] line,” a spokesperson said.
JAPAN
NHK sorry over Hitler shirt
A former Internet tycoon who wore a Hitler T-shirt on a talk show sparked public anger, with the broadcaster forced to apologize. Internet service provider Livedoor founder Takafumi Horie spent nearly two years in jail for accounting fraud before his release in 2013. Appearing as a guest on Wednesday on Gogo Nama, Horie donned a black T-shirt with a caricature of Hitler on it and a peace symbol next to the words “NO WAR.” Despite what public broadcaster NHK called the shirt’s “anti-war writing,” the Hitler imagery drew a barrage of criticism with a number of viewers contacting the program as others took to social media. An NHK announcer apologized to “those who felt uncomfortable” at the end of the program. Horie fired off a tweet defending the top while dubbing critics “weak-minded.”
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