PHILIPPINES
Seven die in plane crash
At least seven people were killed when a small plane crashed into house while trying to take off just outside Manila yesterday, police and aviation officials said. The twin-engine aircraft crashed into a house just after taking off in Plaridel, killing all five of those aboard as well as at least two people on the ground, Plaridel Police Superintendent Julio Lizardo said, adding that the death toll could rise as rescuers were still going through the ruins of the house. Officials declined to say what might have caused the Piper PA-23 Apache, which was operated by a local charter company, to crash.
AFGHANISTAN
Bomber kills two in Kabul
A suicide attacker ignited a bomb-laden vehicle in Kabul yesterday, killing at least two civilians and wounding several others, an Afghan official said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack as the group comes under growing pressure to take up the Afghan government’s offer of peace talks. “Around 9:10am this morning a suicide car bomb exploded in Police District Nine of Kabul,” Ministry of Interior Affairs spokesman Najib Danish said. Two civilians were killed and three others were wounded in the attack, Danish said. The blast happened at a time when many people would have been driving to work. Ministry deputy spokesman spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said the bomber was heading towards international security company G4S, but “detonated himself before reaching the target.”
VIETNAM
Former PM dies at 85
Former Vietnamese prime minister Phan van Khai, who helped strengthen ties with the US and drive market reforms that ignited the communist country’s economy, died yesterday at the age of 85, the government said. A Soviet-trained economist from southern Vietnam, Khai was in office for nine years starting in 1997, a period of reform that saw Vietnam transform into one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing economies. Khai also made history as the country’s first post-war leader to visit Washington in 2005, a landmark trip that helped cement ties between the former war-time foes.
CHINA
Social credit expanded
The government said it is to begin applying its social credit system to flights and trains, and stop people who have committed misdeeds from taking such transport for up to a year. People who would be put on the restricted lists include those found to have spread false information about terrorism or caused trouble on flights, as well as those who have used expired tickets or smoked on trains, the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission said on its Web site on Friday. Those found to have committed financial wrongdoings, such as employers who have failed to pay social insurance or people who have failed to pay fines, would also face these restrictions, it said in two statements dated March 2.
JAPAN
Hello Kitty debuts on trains
Hello Kitty has already found its way onto buses and aircraft — and is now set to make its debut on Japan’s iconic bullet train. West Japan Railway is to launch “Hello Kitty Shinkansen” services on its bullet-train line connecting Osaka and Fukuoka later this year, the company said this week. The interior of one train car is to be filled with Hello Kitty decorations, it said, adding: “It will be decorated snappily and adorably.”
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