CHINA
Officials to run Tibet center
Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and government officials have been appointed to manage one of the world’s largest centers of Tibetan Buddhist learning, raising concerns over strengthened ideological control over religion. The appointments in southwestern Larung Gar are the latest sign of Beijing’s distrust of Tibetan Buddhist institutions. The postings by the personnel department of the CCP in Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture were carried by the Web site of the People’s Daily this week. Over the past year, authorities have carried out demolitions and evictions at Larung Gar in an attempt to cut the number of monks, nuns and students living there by half to 5,000. Overseas Tibetan groups have said authorities want to stop the spread of Tibetan Buddhism, which has grown popular among Chinese beyond traditional Tibetan areas.
SINGAPORE
Second missing sailor found
A second victim of the collision between the USS John S. McCain and an oil tanker was identified by the US Navy yesterday. The Seventh Fleet said navy and US Marine Corps divers on Thursday night recovered and identified the remains of 26-year-old Electronics Technician 3rd Class Dustin Louis Doyon of Connecticut. More divers and equipment arrived overnight to continue the search inside flooded compartments of the ship for eight others still missing. The navy had on Thursday called off a search at sea. Divers earlier recovered the remains of 22-year-old Electronics Technician 3rd Class Kenneth Aaron Smith of New Jersey.
TONGA
King dissolves legislature
King Tupou VI has taken the extraordinary step of dissolving the nation’s legislature and ordering new elections. He ordered that an election be held by Nov. 16 in a dissolution notice that was posted on the attorney general’s Web site yesterday. Although the government has been facing difficulties, the action took many by surprise. It came after the legislature had closed for the week and was not accompanied by any announcement or explanation by the king. The action means the end of the government led by Prime Minister Akilisi Pohiva. His term was due to end next year. The former schoolteacher is a long-time democracy activist and was first elected to the Legislative Assembly in 1987. Since becoming leader in 2014, his effectiveness has been questioned and he survived a no-confidence vote earlier this year. Pohiva announced in May that Tonga would no longer host the Pacific Games in 2019 because the nation could not afford the expense. Some questioned why the government continued to collect money from levies and taxes intended to raise funds for the Games.
‘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