CHINA
Xi promotes ally Li Qiang
President Xi Jinping (習近平) has promoted an ally to the top job in Shanghai, media reported yesterday. The elevation of Li Qiang (李強) is another sign of Xi’s increasing control over China. Li, 58, worked under Xi when Xi was party chief in Zhejiang from 2003 to 2007. Seen as a proponent of economic reforms, Li will likely champion Xi’s vision for Shanghai as a global trading hub. The official Xinhua news agency reported that Li replaced Han Zheng (韓正), who was elevated to the Chinese Communist Party’s top decisionmaking body, the Politburo Standing Committee.
MYANMAR
Foreign reporters charged
Police have charged two foreign journalists working for Turkish state media — along with two Burmese — for allegedly breaching import laws after they flew a drone over the country’s parliament. The men are to be held in custody until their first court hearing on charges that carry up to three years in jail or a fine for the import and export of “restricted or banned goods” without obtaining a license. “We have opened a case against all four — two foreigners and two Burmese. They will be held on remand until Nov. 10,” deputy police colonel Kyaw Moe said. The foreigners, Lau Hon Meng from Singapore and Mok Choy Lin from Malaysia, were arrested on Friday in the capital, Naypyidaw, while they were on assignment for Turkish state broadcaster, TRT.
UNITED STATES
Charter plane hits bird
Delta Air Lines said a charter flight carrying the Oklahoma City Thunder from Minneapolis to Chicago apparently encountered a bird early on Saturday when it was landing, causing damage that prompted some players to post photographs on social media showing the caved-in nose of the plane. No one was reported hurt. “You never take anything for granted, just be thankful and blessed they we were able to land the plane and everything was OK,” Thunder star Russell Westbrook said. “Seeing stuff like that just shows you how you need to cherish life and understand the important things in life and embrace every moment.”
THAILAND
Mourning period ends
The year-long mourning period and elaborate five-day funeral rites for the nation’s king of seven decades officially ended yesterday when his relics and ashes were enshrined in the royal palace and two temples. At the ceremony at Bangkok’s Grand Palace, broadcast live nationwide and led by new King Maha Vajiralongkorn, former King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s relics were escorted to Chakri Maha Prasad Throne Hall. There, the golden urn of Rama IX — as the king of the Chakri Dynasty in known — was to be interred in the Heavenly Abode, joining the relics of kings Rama IV, V, VI, VII and VIII.
EL SALVADOR
Storm makes landfall
Tropical Storm Selma on Saturday made landfall on the country’s coast with heavy rains and dangerous ocean swells, while Tropical Storm Philippe formed in the Caribbean and was expected to dump heavy rains across South Florida and the Keys after soaking Cuba. The US National Hurricane Center late on Saturday said that Selma had largely dissipated over land, but authorities in El Salvador reported mudslides, toppled trees and rivers that threatened to top their banks. Selma was “expected to produce torrential rains and flash floods through Sunday,” the center said.
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
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