MALAYSIA
Penang flooding kills two
At least two people have been killed and almost 2,000 evacuated after a storm triggered serious flooding yesterday in Penang state, with the historic state capital, George Town, under murky brown water. The army was deployed to provide help after a torrential downpour lasting for 15 hours sparked the worst inundations in the state for years. Hundreds of houses were flooded, many trees toppled and roads submerged, disaster officials said. Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said 1,968 people were evacuated in four districts, most of them on the mainland. “We remain fearful that there may still be untoward incidents because of the strong winds, the like of which have never experienced before, and flash floods might recur,” Lim said.
PAKISTAN
Smog blankets nation
Smog has enveloped much of the nation and India, causing highway accidents and respiratory problems. Meteorologist Mohammad Hanif yesterday said that the pollution, caused by the burning of crops and emissions from factories and brick kilns, is expected to linger until the middle of the month. Some private schools in the Indian capital, New Delhi, have suspended sports and outdoor activities.
ZIMBABWE
American faces new charge
A court on Saturday refused to strike down subversion charges against a US citizen who now faces 11 days in a Harare jail until her next court hearing. Martha O’Donovan, who works for Magamba TV, which produces political satire, was initially accused of insulting President Robert Mugabe. Lawyers for O’Donovan told the magistrate that police only informed O’Donovan of the more serious charges hours after her arrest, thereby violating the constitution. However, the magistrate said she was satisfied the officers complied with the law and dismissed the application. The charge carries a sentence of up to 20 years in jail. O’Donovan denies the charges.
UNITED STATES
Manafort offers higher bail
Paul Manafort, who briefly served as President Donald Trump’s campaign manager last year, on Saturday offered to post more than US$12 million in real estate and life insurance assets and to limit his travel in a bid to avoid continued house arrest, according to court documents filed on Saturday. Manafort and associate Richard Gates last week pleaded not guilty to a 12-count indictment by a federal grand jury. Manafort has offered to limit his travel to New York, Washington and Florida and pledged life insurance worth about US$4.5 million as well as about US$8 million in real estate assets. He faces a bail hearing today. Manafort and Gates are under house arrest, under unsecured bonds of US$10 million and US$5 million respectively, and subject to electronic monitoring.
VENEZUELA
Lawmaker seeks refuge
Top opposition lawmaker Freddy Guevara on Saturday requested Chile’s protection after the Supreme Court said he would be prosecuted on charges punishable by a decade in prison. Guevara, 31, is the No. 2 official in the opposition-led National Assembly, and on Friday he sought refuge at Chile’s embassy in Caracas. Chile said he is a “guest” at its ambassador’s residence. He is the sixth Venezuelan to seek protection at the embassy in under three months, including four judges who are already protected in Chile and a fifth who has been at the diplomatic residence since April.
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