UNITED STATES
McCain stable after surgery
Senator John McCain had intestinal surgery to stem an infection and was in stable condition at a Phoenix hospital, his office said on Monday. The Republican senator has been undergoing physical therapy related to brain cancer treatment at his family home near Sedona, Arizona, since December last year. He previously said he was planning to return to Washington in January, but has remained at home. McCain’s staff said the surgery was related to diverticulitis, a condition where the colon develops small bulges that can sometimes become infected.
UNITED STATES
Abortion may be limited
A proposal to prohibit abortions in Pennsylvania when the sole reason is that the fetus has or may have Down syndrome is headed to the state Senate after passing the House of Representatives by a comfortable margin. The Republican-majority House on Monday voted 139 to 56 for a bill that supporters say would protect a vulnerable population. Opponents say it would violate the right of women to make their own decisions about abortion. The fate of the bill is unclear in the Republican-controlled Senate, but Democratic Governor Tom Wolf opposes it. Pennsylvania law allows abortions up to 24 weeks of pregnancy for any reason except to choose the gender.
JAPAN
Police hunt ‘model’ inmate
Minister of Justice Yoko Kawakami yesterday apologized over the escape of a “model” inmate who fled an open prison last week, as the number of police hunting him passed 6,000. About 6,600 police officers are engaged in a manhunt for 27-year-old Tatsuma Hirao, who was serving time for multiple thefts, officials said. The case is making headline news, with TV channels picking over the manhunt in minute detail. Hirao gave guards the slip on Thursday, vanishing from the facility, an “open institution” where inmates can walk around freely. Police have detected the fugitive’s fingerprints and several thefts have been reported since his escape, but he remains on the lam.
JAPAN
Detainees on hunger strike
More than 40 people at an immigration detention center are on hunger strike after an Indian detainee committed suicide last week, officials and local media said yesterday. The protest began on Sunday, two days after an Indian national in his 30s, who has not been publicly identified, was found hanged in a shower stall at the center in Ibaraki, northeast of Tokyo. The man was reportedly depressed about how long it was taking for his status to be adjudicated by authorities. About 330 people are being held at the center, officials said. The nation has strict immigration laws and accepts very few asylum seekers, granting refugee status to just 20 people out of nearly 20,000 applicants last year.
SINGAPORE
Tutor in cheating plot
A private tutor has been convicted over an elaborate scheme to help Chinese secondary school students cheat in an exam using mobile phones and wireless devices, prosecutors said yesterday. Tan Jia Yan, 32, on Monday pleaded guilty to her part in the plot in which answers to O-Level exams were relayed to at least six students via mobile phones concealed under their clothing and connected wirelessly to skin-colored earpieces, they said. Tan, who is to be sentenced next month, faces a jail term of up to three years and a fine.
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