UNITED STATES
Syria’s role in forum protested
The US plans to stage a walkout in protest at Syria’s presidency of the Conference on Disarmament at the UN in Geneva, Switzerland, US Ambassador Robert Wood told reporters yesterday. “We are going to walk out at some point this morning and we will be taking other actions that you will see over the course of Syria’s presidency, so please stay tuned,” Wood said. Washington did not plan a boycott of the four-week presidency, but wanted to hold Syria to account for its use of chemical weapons, he said.
ISRAEL
Mortar shells fired from Gaza
More than 25 mortar shells have been fired from the Gaza Strip toward communities in southern Israel, the military said. No one was hurt in the barrage. The military says most were intercepted yesterday by the Iron Dome defense system. However, the volume of mortars would appear to be the largest fired in a single incident since the 2014 Israel-Hamas war. The border area has been tense in recent weeks as the Palestinians have held mass protests aimed at lifting a blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt after Hamas seized power in 2007.
ISRAEL
Abramovich gets citizenship
An official said Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich has received Israeli citizenship after his British visa was not renewed. The Chelsea soccer club owner arrived in Israel on Monday, the Ministry of Immigration official said. Israel grants automatic citizenship to anyone of Jewish descent. The official was not authorized to talk to the media and spoke on condition of anonymity. Another official told Channel 10 News that Abramovich submitted a citizenship request “like any other person” with Israel’s Moscow embassy and was accepted. Britain said this month that it would review long-term visas of rich Russians after the March poisonings of a former Russian spy and his daughter in the English city of Salisbury.
NEPAL
Sherpa honored for successes
Several Sherpa guides were honored for their own Everest successes on the anniversary of the first conquest of the world’s highest peak. Government minister Bina Magar, who herself is an Everest climber, honored the guides for their achievements at a ceremony yesterday. It is held every year on the date in 1953 that New Zealander Edmund Hillary and his guide Tenzing Norgay first set foot on the summit of the 8,850m mountain. Those honored included Kami Rita, who just climbed the mountain for a record 22nd time, and Lhakpa Sherpa, whose nine climbs are the most for a woman.
FRANCE
Terrorism convicts to be freed
The anti-terrorism prosecutor said that about 40 convicted terrorists are due to be released from prisons this year and next, calling the re-entry into society of the unrepentant ones a “major risk.” The nation still faces a significant threat from homegrown supporters of the struggling Islamic State (IS) group, Francois Molins said on BFM television on Monday. Molins estimated that 600 to 700 French extremists are unaccounted for in the areas of Iraq and Syria claimed by IS, although many have probably been killed. He says authorities think some organizers of the November 2015 attacks in Paris are among the dead in the Middle East. Molins said the investigation of the simultaneous attacks at the Bataclan concert hall, Paris cafes and the national stadium that killed 130 people should conclude next year.
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