AUSTRALIA
Hundreds converge on Uluru
Hundreds of tourists yesterday flocked to Uluru for one last chance to scale the sacred red monolith ahead of a climbing ban long sought by Aborigines. A permanent ban on scaling Uluru — also known as Ayers Rock — goes into effect today in line with the long-held wishes of the traditional Aboriginal owners of the land, the Anangu. This has led to a surge of climbers in the past few months. Hundreds were left waiting for hours early yesterday due to safety concerns over heavy winds, before rangers allowed climbers to head up the rock at 10am. Parks Australia said it would reassess the weather conditions throughout the day to determine if climbers could continue to mount the rock. Tourists are still being encouraged to visit Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, where they can take in the monolith from its base, walk around its perimeter and learn about its indigenous heritage at the cultural center.
JAPAN
New trade minister resigns
The trade minister yesterday resigned a month into his job due to a scandal over condolence money allegedly being offered to election supporters. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that he had accepted the resignation of Isshu Sugawara and apologized for appointing him. Abe named Hiroshi Kajiyama, formerly the minister in charge of regulatory reform, as his replacement. Sugawara tendered his resignation, because he did not want to hold up the important discussions in the National Diet over his scandal, Abe said. Sugawara has been grilled in the legislature after a magazine reported that he had paid condolence money to his election district supporters. Such payments are considered donations that are against the law.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Officials to get luxury cars
Prime Minister James Marape is to get a Bentley and lawmakers would receive a host of other luxury vehicles paid for by taxpayers for an APEC summit, officials have said. Marape, who has vowed to clean up the nation’s politics since taking office in May, is to receive one of the dozens of high-end cars bought to ferry delegates around Port Moresby for the summit last year. Secretary for Finance Ken Ngangan on Thursday told the Papua New Guinea Post Courier that all 111 members of parliament would get vehicles from the APEC fleet for their electoral duties. “Cabinet made a decision recently to have members of parliament presented with a vehicle each so that they can use here in the capital city, but for their electoral duties,” he said. One of three Bentleys purchased would be made available for the office of the prime minister, he added. An interim government report has estimated that hosting the summit cost the nation about US$135 million.
‘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
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
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in