From the dangers of letting women sit up front, to Hong Kong’s fishy lobster meatballs, here is a weekly roundup of offbeat stories from around the world:
BEWARE! WOMEN
A Ugandan traders association has banned women from riding up front in trucks saying short skirts and bare thighs could be distracting drivers and causing accidents.
Photo: AFP
Even wives are banned. Patrick Opio Obote of the Lira vendors group said that some hussies even “take the drivers to bars and drink alcohol and they end up causing accidents.”
Covering up is complicated by the fact that conservative Ugandans do not like women wearing trousers. While women’s rights groups denounced the lorry ban as more “male chauvinism,” some wondered if it would be safer if women took the wheel.
LOCKED IN LOVE
Relations between the sexes are running much smoother in China now after a woman stuck on a never-ending first date by a lockdown went viral last week by complaining that her suitor was “as mute as a wooden dummy” and a “mediocre” cook.
This week Zhao Xiaoqing, a 28-year-old woman from northern China’s Shaanxi province, got engaged to her beau after they too were trapped on a date. This time however love rather than boredom blossomed, although some Chinese social media users were skeptical.
“After a year or two you’ll get tired of each other and divorce... I’ve seen too many of these kinds of flash marriages,” one netizen wrote.
BUT IS IT ART?
A Russian artist has been arrested for creating a snow statue of a giant turd near a war memorial in central Saint Petersburg.
Ivan Volkov, 30, painted his five-meter-long creation brown and drew a yellow puddle around it before posting pictures of it on Instagram with the legend, Caca.
SHELL-SHOCKED
It may look like lobster and taste like lobster, but if you are eating it in Hong Kong, it probably isn’t, the city’s Consumer Council warned.
Gourmets in the food-obsessed city are more than a little crabby at the results of DNA tests on one of its favorite foods, lobster meatballs.
Crustacean DNA was not found in any of the 10 samples the council tested, including one which listed lobster as an ingredient.
The mystery now is what are they made of. “We found some other ingredients... that might be other seafood or even meat-type” things, the council’s chairwoman said.
LETTUCE PRAY
America’s most famous rabbit is no more. Former US vice president Mike Pence’s bunny Marlon Bundo became an unlikely gay hero after a parody book about him falling in love with another buck rabbit topped bestseller lists, satirizing his owner’s anti-LGBTQ stance.
Pence’s daughter, Charlotte, who authored the series of children’s books told from Bundo’s point of view, broke the bad news about Bundo’s death to Americans.
When the first Bundo book was released, British TV comedian John Oliver published a parody version to support gay charities. Its sales outpaced the original and at one point held the number one spot on Amazon.
Jason Han says that the e-arrival card spat between South Korea and Taiwan shows that Seoul is signaling adherence to its “one-China” policy, while Taiwan’s response reflects a reciprocal approach. “Attempts to alter the diplomatic status quo often lead to tit-for-tat responses,” the analyst on international affairs tells the Taipei Times, adding that Taiwan may become more cautious in its dealings with South Korea going forward. Taipei has called on Seoul to correct its electronic entry system, which currently lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan),” warning that reciprocal measures may follow if the wording is not changed before March 31. As of yesterday,
The Portuguese never established a presence on Taiwan, but they must have traded with the indigenous people because later traders reported that the locals referred to parts of deer using Portuguese words. What goods might the Portuguese have offered their indigenous trade partners? Among them must have been slaves, for the Portuguese dealt slaves across Asia. Though we often speak of “Portuguese” ships, imagining them as picturesque vessels manned by pointy-bearded Iberians, in Asia Portuguese shipping between local destinations was crewed by Asian seamen, with a handful of white or Eurasian officers. “Even the great carracks of 1,000-2,000 tons which plied
Nuclear power is getting a second look in Southeast Asia as countries prepare to meet surging energy demand as they vie for artificial intelligence-focused data centers. Several Southeast Asian nations are reviving mothballed nuclear plans and setting ambitious targets and nearly half of the region could, if they pursue those goals, have nuclear energy in the 2030s. Even countries without current plans have signaled their interest. Southeast Asia has never produced a single watt of nuclear energy, despite long-held atomic ambitions. But that may soon change as pressure mounts to reduce emissions that contribute to climate change, while meeting growing power needs. The
On Monday morning, in quick succession, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) released statements announcing “that the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and General Secretary Xi Jinping (習近平) have invited KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) to lead a delegation on a visit to the mainland” as the KMT’s press release worded it. The KMT’s press release added “Chairwoman Cheng expressed her gratitude for the invitation and has gladly accepted it.” Beijing’s official Xinhua news release described Song Tao (宋濤), head of the Taiwan Work Office of the CCP Central Committee, as
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