THAILAND
Musk apologizes to caver
Tesla Inc founder Elon Musk apologized to British caver Vern Unsworth for comments that he made about him following the rescue of a dozen Thai schoolboys and their soccer coach from a cave in northern Thailand. “His actions against me do not justify my actions against him, and for that I apologize to Mr Unsworth and to the companies I represent as leader,” Musk said in a tweet. “The fault is mine and mine alone.” Unsworth, who played a leading role in the rescue, on Tuesday said he has been approached by British and American lawyers and would seek legal advice after Musk directed abuse at him on Twitter.
CHINA
Air China grounded by vaping
Authorities have cut flag carrier Air China’s 737 flights and revoked the flying licenses of the cockpit crew involved in a mid-air emergency sparked by a copilot’s vape smoke, state media said yesterday. An Air China 737 last week made a rapid emergency descent after the copilot mistakenly turned off air-conditioning systems in a bid to conceal his e-cigarette smoke. The Civil Aviation Administration of China has cut the carrier’s 737 flights by 10 percent and ordered it to undertake a three-month safety overhaul, China Central Television said. Air China shares slipped more than 2 percent in Shanghai on yesterday morning following the punishment.
HONG KONG
UK ‘concerned’ by party ban
Britain yesterday expressed concern after police sought to ban a political party that promotes independence for the territory as Beijing increases pressure on challenges to its territorial sovereignty. “We note with concern the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government plans to prohibit the continued operation of the Hong Kong National Party,” the British Foreign Office said in a statement. “The UK does not support Hong Kong independence, but Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy, and its rights and freedoms, are central to its way of life, and it is important they are fully respected,” the statement added.
UNITED STATES
Clemency calls fail killer
The US state of Texas on Tuesday executed a death row inmate despite a call for clemency from a son of the man he killed. Mitesh Patel, the victim’s son, had campaigned in recent weeks to ask the Texas governor to spare Christopher Young, a father of three. Mitesh Patel visited Christopher Young on Monday and described the meeting as emotionally moving for both of them. The last words of the condemned man were addressed to the family of the victim: “I want to make sure the Patel family knows I love them like they love me.” Texas is the state that executes the most inmates in the nation: Christopher Young is the eighth sentenced to die since the beginning of the year.
UNITED STATES
Jaguar bites cable to escape
A jaguar that killed nine other animals during a weekend escape from its habitat at Audubon Zoo is believed to have bitten through a steel-cable barrier that forms the roof of its habitat, the zoo’s managing director said on Tuesday. The interlocking steel cables that form what looks like a hard net over the habitat meet Association of Zoos and Aquariums guidelines, but zoo officials are now looking for stronger materials, Burks said. “We haven’t determined the final material we’re going to use yet,” he said. Meanwhile, the jaguar exhibit is to remain closed.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At 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
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