UNITED STATES
Restaurant sign approved
Officials in a New Hampshire city have approved a restaurant sign that initially was removed over concerns that it sounded like profanity. The name of the Vietnamese restaurant in a public building next to City Hall in Keene is a play on words. It calls itself by the name of a soup, which is spelled “pho,” but is pronounced “fuh,” followed by the words “Keene Great.” It is scheduled to open on March 1. City Manager Elizabeth Dragon said in an e-mail the sign was approved on Friday and is in compliance. Officials decided to let the community “decide what they think of the sign and how they interpret it,” Dragon said.
RUSSIA
Two fighter jets collide
Two fighter jets on Friday collided during a training mission over the Sea of Japan (known as the “East Sea” in North and South Korea), leaving two crewmembers dead and another missing, officials said. The Ministry of Defense said the two Su-34 jets, each with a crew of two, collided while maneuvering and went down 35km from the shore. It said both crews bailed out and one crewman was quickly spotted and rescued by a helicopter. He was in good condition, it added. Following a search involving several rescue ships and aircraft, two other crewmen were found dead.
MALAYSIA
Airspace to be discussed
Singapore and Malaysia are to meet soon to discuss airspace and maritime-related disputes as both sides seek to ease tensions. Transport ministers from the two sides would gather “in the coming weeks,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Saturday. Ministry officials are meeting on Monday next week to find solutions on maritime matters, and would discuss legal and operational aspects to “de-escalate the situation on the ground,” it said. “The government of Malaysia is committed to resolve bilateral issues with the government of Singapore in a peaceful and calm manner,” it said.
SPAIN
Lawyer killed by ex-client
A man found guilty of killing his wife in 2003 committed suicide on Friday after allegedly murdering the lawyer who had defended him and with whom he was in a relationship, authorities said. The government has made combating gender violence a priority, but the nature of the case in Aragon prompted an emotional news conference by local officials. “Investigators believe there was a personal relationship between the two” and family members confirmed it, local government representative Carmen Sanchez told reporters. “It is therefore a crime of gender violence.” The lawyer, Rebeca Santamalia, was found dead with knife wounds in the northeastern city of Zaragoza in the home of Jose Javier Salvado Calvo, Sanchez said.
BURKINA FASO
Government resigns
The government and Prime Minister Paul Kaba Thieba stood down on Friday, President Roch Marc Christian Kabore said in a statement. No explanation was given for the resignations, although sources told reporters that the president wants to breathe new life into the leadership of the landlocked west African country, which is battling a rising wave of extremist attacks and hostage-taking. Canadian Edith Blais, 34, and her Italian partner, Luca Tacchetto, 30, have been missing since the middle of last month, and late on Wednesday a Canadian geologist kidnapped by suspected militants was found dead at a remote gold mine in the northeast.
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