CHINA
Xi urges better partnership
President Xi Jinping (習近平) called for stepped-up cooperation with India during an informal summit on Friday with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, amid tensions along their contested border. Xi greeted Modi at the provincial museum in the city of Wuhan at the start of two days of talks between the heads of the world’s two most-populous nations. “Conducting great cooperation by our two great countries can generate worldwide influence,” Xi was quoted as saying by state broadcaster China Central Television. Xi said he hoped the meeting would “usher in a new chapter of China-India relations.” The two leaders were yesterday to continue talks with a walk along a lake, a boat ride and lunch together.
KENYA
Landmark film banned
The government has banned the nation’s first feature film to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, accusing it of having “clear intent to promote lesbianism in Kenya contrary to the law.” Director Wanuri Kahiu said she is “incredibly sorry” to confirm the ban of Rafiki, or “Friend” in Swahili, by the Kenya Film Classification Board. Her film depicts a love story between two women. In the country, gay sex faces up to 14 years in prison. “We believe adult Kenyans are mature and discerning enough to watch local content, but their right has been denied,” she said on Twitter on Friday. The director has said in interviews she had been nervous about the film’s reception in the country, but found support from government authorities and the local film industry.
SOUTH AFRICA
Train collision kills seven
A train has struck a vehicle at a railway crossing, killing seven men in the same place where 10 children died in a similar accident in 2010. Authorities are investigating the cause of the collision on Friday at the Buttskop crossing in Cape Town, site of a memorial to the victims of the 2010 crash. Local media have said the victims in Friday’s accident were workers. Photographs from the scene show their crumpled vehicle. The driver of the vehicle in the 2010 case was sentenced to eight years in prison for manslaughter.
EUROPEAN UNION
Ban aims to protect bees
The bloc on Friday made a key decision to completely ban pesticides that harm bees and their crop pollination. The 28 member states got a large majority, representing about three-quarters of its population, backing the ban on the three prevalent neonicotinoid pesticides which is to take effect at the end of the year. Swiss agribusiness company Syngenta called the decision “disappointing” and said that “evidence clearly shows that neonicotinoids pose a minimum threat to bee health compared to a lack of food, diseases and cold weather.”
UNITED KINGDOM
Toddler Alfie Evans dies
Alfie Evans, the 23-month-old toddler whose grave illness drew international attention, died early yesterday, his father said in a Facebook post. Tom Evans said he was “heartbroken” by his son’s death. Alfie had a rare, degenerative disease and had been in a semi-vegetative state for more than a year. After a series of court cases Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool removed his life support on Monday, against his parents’ wishes. He confounded expectations by continuing to breathe unaided. The case has provoked strong feelings over whether judges, doctors or parents have the right to decide on a child’s life. Alfie’s parents have been backed by Pope Francis.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
‘DELUSIONAL’: Targeting the families of Hamas’ leaders would not push the group to change its position or to give up its demands for Palestinians, Ismail Haniyeh said Israeli aircraft on Wednesday killed three sons of Hamas’ top political leader in the Gaza Strip, striking high-stakes targets at a time when Israel is holding delicate ceasefire negotiations with the militant group. Hamas said four of the leader’s grandchildren were also killed. Ismail Haniyeh’s sons are among the highest-profile figures to be killed in the war so far. Israel said they were Hamas operatives, and Haniyeh accused Israel of acting in “the spirit of revenge and murder.” The deaths threatened to strain the internationally mediated ceasefire talks, which appeared to gain steam in recent days even as the sides remain far
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of