AUSTRALIA
Electric car finishes trip
Dutchman Wiebe Wakker yesterday completed an epic 95,000km journey by electric station wagon in Sydney in a bid to prove the viability of electric vehicles (EVs) in tackling climate change. He drove “The Blue Bandit” across 33 nations in what he said was the world’s longest journey by electric car. The trip took just over three years and was funded by donations from around the world, including electricity, food and lodging. “I wanted to change people’s opinions and inspire people to start driving electric by showing the advantages of sustainable mobility,” Wakker said. “If one man can drive to the other side of the world in an electric car, then EVs should definitely be viable for daily use.”
Photo: EPA-EFE
MALDIVES
Ex-president vows reform
Former president Mohamed Nasheed yesterday vowed sweeping reforms and an end to government corruption after leading his party to a landslide victory just five months since returning from exile. His Maldivian Democratic Party appears headed for a two-thirds majority in the 87-member assembly. “Our foremost duty is to bring peace to the government,” he told supporters in the capital, Male.
SUDAN
Protests enter second day
Thousands of people yesterday held a second day of protests outside the army’s headquarters in Khartoum, chanting “peace, justice, freedom” and slogans against President Omar al-Bashir’s government, witnesses said. The complex also houses Bashir’s official residence and the Ministry of Defense. Many protesters spent Saturday night outside the compound. Some protesters also blocked a bridge linking Khartoum with the Bahari District, causing huge traffic jams, witnesses said.
MEXICO
Fox reports attack
Former president Vicente Fox on Saturday said armed men tried to storm his house, four months after President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador cut off security for ex-presidents. Fox reported the incident on Twitter without giving details. “I hold President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador directly responsible for the security of myself, my family and my belongings,” he tweeted. Lopez Obrador responded via Twitter that he has told the minister of defense to create a security detail to protect Fox and his family.
IVORY COAST
Reality check needed cash
Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote on Saturday told the Mo Ibrahim Forum in Abidjan how he once took US$10 million in cash out of the bank just to look at it and get it into his head that this was not just figures on paper. “When you’re young your first million is important, but after, the numbers don’t mean much,” Dangote said. “One day, I cashed 10 million, put them in the boot of my car [and] I put it in my room. I looked at them and thought ‘now I believe I have money’ and took it back to the bank the next day.”
UNITED KINGDOM
Prince watches spies work
Prince William has concluded a three-week attachment with security and intelligence agencies MI5, MI6 and Government Communications Headquarters, his office said yesterday.
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