INDIA
Pirates return tanker, crew
A tanker with 22 Indian crew on board has been released by pirates who had seized the vessel off the coast of West Africa, the company that manages the ship said yesterday. The Panama-registered MT Marine Express, loaded with 13,500 tonnes of gasoline, was anchored off Benin when authorities lost contact on Thursday last week. “All crew members are reported to be safe and well, and the cargo of 13,500 tonnes of gasoline remains on board,” Hong Kong-based Anglo-Eastern said in a statement. The company did not say whether it had paid a ransom to secure the safe release of the crew and cargo.
AUSTRALIA
Seven held for circus abuse
Seven people were yesterday charged with the alleged sexual and physical abuse of young boys at a circus training school, including producing child pornography. The systemic abuse of the children, all aged under eight, occurred between 2014 and 2016, police said, reportedly at a facility in Katoomba. “Four women, two men and a teenage girl have been charged with a total of 127 offenses relating to historical alleged child sexual and physical abuse,” New South Wales police said in a statement. They were all due to appear in court later yesterday. The Sydney Morning Herald said the school taught children of all ages skills including juggling and riding unicycles.
INDONESIA
Flooding kills four
At least four people were killed and two were missing after Jakarta was hit by severe flooding and landslides, authorities said yesterday, as thousands fled waterlogged neighborhoods. The bodies of three people were pulled from a pile of mud and rock after a landslide triggered by torrential rain inundated a village in the city of Bogor, the disaster mitigation agency said. Hundreds of rescuers are digging through the debris to find two others buried in that incident. Greater Jakarta has been pounded by heavy rain over the past 24 hours, triggering landslides and floods that have destroyed homes. Bogor Governor Anies Baswedan said more than 6,500 people have been evacuated in areas of the metropolis, mainly in the eastern and southern parts of the city.
LEBANON
Officers protest Israel wall
The nation on Monday said a wall Israel intends to build at the border marks a violation of Lebanese sovereignty during a meeting of Lebanese and Israeli military officers chaired by UN peacekeepers. Disagreement over the wall and Lebanon’s plans to explore for offshore oil and gas in disputed maritime waters have elevated tensions between the two nations. “The Lebanese side reviewed the matter of the wall which the Israeli enemy intends to build ... confirming the position of the Lebanese government rejecting the construction of this wall as it violates Lebanese sovereignty,” the Lebanese army said in a statement.
SINGAPORE
S Korean plane catches fire
A pilot was slightly injured yesterday when a South Korean aircraft taking part in the Singapore Air Show skidded off the runway and caught fire while taking off, authorities said. The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore said the aircraft from the South Korean air force’s aerobatic team Black Eagles “skidded and crashed into the grass verge” at the side of the runway and caught fire. The accident happened as the plane was taking off for the aerial display, which was canceled. The Black Eagles were supposed to be the final act of the show.
‘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