SAUDI ARABIA
Rights advocate released
The government has released women’s rights activist Aisha al-Manea, 70, following her arrest last week with several other activists, Amnesty International said yesterday. “We welcome her release, but we still do not know the conditions around it, and we call on authorities to release the other human rights defenders immediately,” Amnesty Middle East director of campaigns Samah Hadid said. “Unfortunately, the chilling smear campaign of these women and men has caused damage and tarnished not only these women, but any form of activism and dissent in the country.”
ITALY
Train-truck crash kills two
Two people died and 20 were injured late on Wednesday, when a regional train crashed into a truck in the northern region of Piedmont, emergency services said yesterday. The five-carriage train smashed into the heavy goods vehicle, after the truck had broken through a level crossing and got stuck on the tracks, the state train company said. The drivers of both the train and a vehicle accompanying the heavy truck, which was carrying an exceptional load, were killed. Three carriages derailed. Local police said there were 40 to 50 people in the train. Media reports said four of the injured were in serious condition.
THAILAND
Buddhists arrested in raid
More than 100 police commandos yesterday raided four Buddhist temples in Bangkok and Nakhon Pathom Province, arresting several prominent monks and worshipers amid a crackdown on illegal financial dealings by temples. “This is the investigation stage ... It will all come down to facts and evidence,” Thai Central Investigation Bureau official Thitiraj Nhongharnpitak told reporters. Among those arrested was Phra Buddha Issara, 62, a monk who in 2014 launched a campaign to clean up Buddhism. He was held over an alleged 2014 robbery. Phra Phrom Dilok, 72, a member of the Sangha Supreme Council that governs the nation’s monks, was arrested over alleged embezzlement of temple funds.
MALAYSIA
Public funds given to 1MDB
The government of former prime minister Najib Razak used funds from deals with the central bank and the sovereign wealth fund to pay for some of the liabilities of beleaguered state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), sources with knowledge of the matter told reporters. The payments, which were kept secret by Najib’s administration, show the extent to which federal agencies and government money were used to bail out debt-ridden 1MDB, a fund subject to money laundering investigations in at least six nations. About US$500 million raised from a land sale agreement with the central bank and about US$300 million from the sell-back of shares of sovereign fund Khazanah Nasional Berhad were used to fund the settlement owed to Abu Dhabi state fund IPIC, the sources said.
UNITED STATES
Gamers charged over killing
Federal prosecutors on Wednesday indicted two Call of Duty: WWII online gamers and a man accused of making hoax calls that led a police officer to fatally shoot an unarmed man in Kansas. The indictment charged Tyler Barriss, 25, of Los Angeles with conspiracy to make false reports, making false reports and hoaxes, cyberstalking. The gamers were identified as Casey Viner, 18, of Ohio, and Shane Gaskill, 19, of Kansas.
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
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
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