PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Major quake strikes offshore
Authorities yesterday assessed the extent of damage from a magnitude 7.5 earthquake that rattled coastal towns at 11pm the previous evening. The quake struck at a relatively shallow depth of 10km about 45km northeast of the coast of Kokopo, according to the US Geological Survey. Geohazards Management Department Acting Director Chris McKee said there was some damage in Kokopo as items were shaken from shelves and the power had been cut. A small tsunami was generated, but the darkness made an assessment difficult, he added. The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said that waves of up to 1m were possible along coastal areas up to 1,000km from the epicenter.
INDIA
Election clashes in Kolkata
Clashes between followers of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and an opposition leader yesterday heightened tensions in Kolkata ahead of the final round of the national election on Sunday. Dozens of people were arrested in the street battles late on Tuesday that forced Amit Shah, president of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), to leave an election rally under police guard, media reports said. A statue of renowned Bengal reformer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was destroyed and a college named after him ransacked in the troubles, which the BJP and rival Trinamool Congress (TMC) blamed on each other. The BJP accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of orchestrating attacks on a roadshow through Kolkata by Shah. Banerjee, who called a protest rally for yesterday, hit back by accusing Shah of acting like a “god.”
SOUTH CHINA SEA
US actions ‘unchanged’
US Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson yesterday said that the US’ freedom of navigation movements in the sea get more attention than they deserve. The operations “get more attention in the media and also have, sometimes from China, than they warrant, to be honest,” Richardson told reporters on the sidelines of a maritime defense conference in Singapore. In an earlier speech, Richardson said that US naval operations had been consistent over decades. He also said that he is not surprised by China’s reaction anymore. “They’ve been, I guess, fairly increasingly consistent in their response to these, but if I just got back to first principles ... I just want to make sure that the US Navy’s approach has been consistent. We haven’t done anything increasingly provocative or anything else,” Richardson said.
VIETNAM
Prisoners report ‘unfounded’
The government denied holding any “prisoners of conscience,” calling an Amnesty International report that said it is jailing more of its critics unfounded. “Amnesty International has deliberately made repeated nonobjective, unfounded judgements based on wrongful information and false prejudices on Vietnam,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said in an e-mailed statement late on Tuesday. “This is an abusive, politically motivated practice aimed to obstruct international cooperation and promotion of human rights in the world.” Amnesty in a report on Monday said that the number of “prisoners of conscience” jailed in Vietnam has increased to 128 from 97 last year as the government implements a new cybersecurity law. Vietnam does not arrest citizens for expressing political views, Hang said. At least 34 people on the group’s list of prisoners of conscience were prosecuted under the new penal code, Amnesty said.
UNITED STATES
Republicans submit visa bill
A group of President Donald Trump’s fellow Republicans in Congress on Tuesday introduced legislation intended to prohibit anyone employed or sponsored by the Chinese military from receiving student or research visas. The bill would require the government to create a list of scientific and engineering institutions affiliated with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, and prohibit anyone employed or sponsored by those institutions from receiving the visas. However, many US and university officials warned about overreacting, arguing that it is important to acknowledge the important role Chinese academics and students play at US institutions while being aware of security risks.
UNITED STATES
San Francisco bars face tech
San Francisco on Tuesday became the first US city to ban use of facial recognition technology by police or other government agencies. Backers of the legislation argued that using software and cameras to positively identify people is, as City Councilor Aaron Peskin put it: “Not ready for prime time.” All but one of the nine members of San Francisco’s board of supervisors endorsed the legislation, which is to be voted on again next week in a procedural step not expected to change the outcome. The ban was part of broader legislation setting use and auditing policy for surveillance systems, creating high hurdles and requiring board approval for any city agencies. The ban did not include airports or other federally regulated facilities.
IRAN
Enrichment limits disavowed
The government has officially stopped some commitments under a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers following an order from the Supreme National Security Council, an Atomic Energy Organization official told the Iranian Students News Agency yesterday. Last week, the government notified China, France, Germany, Russia and the UK of its decision to halt some commitments under the nuclear deal, one year after the US unilaterally withdrew from the accord and reimposed sanctions. Under the deal, Tehran was allowed to produce low-enriched uranium with a 300kg limit and produce heavy water with a stock capped at about 130 tonnes. The government now has no limit for production of enriched uranium and heavy water, the official said. The initial moves do not appear to breach the deal yet.
BRAZIL
UN climate event canceled
After backing out of hosting this year’s UN climate summit, the government has now canceled a UN climate change event that was to be held in August in Salvador. The decision that came to light on Tuesday was the latest blow to climate change consensus by the new government of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro. The Ministry of the Environment said that the event was conceived by a previous administration as a part of the UN’s COP25 conference, which the government pulled out of hosting late last year, citing budget reasons. Minister of the Environment Ricardo Salles has called climate change a “secondary issue” and has said that he wants to focus on everyday problems like sanitation. Salvador’s sustainability secretary, Andre Fraga, criticized the cancelation of the regional climate workshop. “It’s very bad for Brazil’s image,” Fraga told reporters. “It’s sad to see Brazil losing an opportunity to be a leader in the world’s fight against climate change.” Local governments would continue to make efforts against climate change, even if the federal government is not behind them, he said.
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