SWITZERLAND
Migrant numbers to soar
The number of international migrants could soar by 68 percent to 405 million in 2050, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said yesterday, noting that emerging economies in Asia, Africa and Latin America are becoming important destinations. “There are far more international migrants in the world today than ever previously recorded — 214 million,” the IOM said in its annual report. “If the migrant population continues to increase at the same pace as the last 20 years, the stock of international migrants worldwide by 2050 could be as high as 405 million.” It noted that a key reason for the rise is the significant growth in the workforce in developing countries as populations in developed countries are ageing. “Current demographic imbalances between developed and developing countries are predicted to increase in the near future,” the report said. By 2025, young people entering the workforce in developing countries will surpass the current total workforce in industrialized states, the IOM said. Fast-growing economies in Asia, Africa and Latin America are, meanwhile, becoming increasingly popular as destination countries for migrant workers, it said.
ALGERIA
Christians face jail term
Prosecutors asked a court on Sunday to sentence four converts to Christianity to one year in jail each for opening a place of worship without permission, their lawyer said. The verdict was expected on Dec. 12, lawyer Mohamed BenBelkacem said. “The trial was conducted in good conditions. The prosecutor asked for one year in prison for each of the accused, which is the minimum sentence provided by the law,” he said. The defendants, aged between 35 and 45 years, are accused of opening a Protestant church close to the town of Larbaa Nath Irathen, 150km east of the capital Algiers, without permission from the authorities. One of them has also been charged with accommodating without authorization a French pastor who had traveled to Algeria to address a Christian community, the defense lawyer said. The practice of religion in Algeria, whether Muslim or non-Muslim, requires authorities to agree to the place of worship and the preacher.
GERMANY
Jewish group elects leader
The nation’s main Jewish group on Sunday elected its first leader born after the Holocaust, a 60-year-old businessman who promised to focus the organization more on contemporary Jewish life. Dieter Graumann was born in Israel in 1950, the son of Jewish refugees who moved to Germany two years later. He said after his unanimous election by the board of the Central Council of Jews in Frankfurt that he wants to focus on the positive aspects of Jewish existence in Germany, including “the joy of life,” news agency DAPD reported. “Judaism doesn’t always exclusively mean persecution, misery and catastrophes,” Graumann said early this month at a Kristallnacht commemoration ceremony.
UNITED STATES
Obama back on court
Two days after a hard smack in the face on the basketball court sent President Barack Obama to get his inner lip stitched, he was back on the court on Sunday, but with blessedly shorter rivals — his kids. On the court with daughters Sasha and Malia, the president may have found a pair of somewhat less aggressive opponents while his 12 stitches heal. On Friday, Obama took an elbow to the face during a game and he was given local anesthetic while getting stitched up, spokesman Robert Gibbs said.
NEW ZEALAND
Coalmine may be sealed
A coalmine where 29 men died after a methane gas explosion could be temporarily sealed to put out a dangerous coal-fire, delaying attempts to recover the miners’ bodies for months, authorities said. The coal-fire was triggered by an explosion of methane on Sunday, the fourth and the strongest in just over a week, that came as authorities were preparing to try and flush toxic gases out of the mine to recover the bodies of the entombed miners. Rescue authorities and mine operator Pike River Coal said yesterday they were evaluating the best way to extinguish the fire, with one option being to temporarily seal the entrance and ventilation shafts, in order to starve the fire of oxygen. Fires in underground coal mines can burn for years and Pike River Coal chief executive Peter Whittall told local media it could be several weeks before the bodies could be retrieved.
CHINA
Stampede hurts almost 100
Almost 100 children were hurt in a stampede yesterday at a primary school in the Xinjiang region, but no deaths have been reported, state media reported. The accident occurred in the city of Aksu as school children were rushing outside to a playground around lunchtime when some students in the lead tripped and fell, Xinhua news agency said, quoting an unnamed city official. The injured students were taken to a hospital for treatment, it said, adding that no deaths had been reported more than two hours after the accident.
INDIA
Males made to do sit-ups
A group of male passengers traveling in a female-only carriage on New Delhi’s new metro system were ordered to do sit-ups on the platform by the furious women, according to reports. At least one carriage is reserved for women on every metro train in the capital, where female residents and tourists have complained about sexual harassment on public transport for decades. The metro has also become severely congested with the lines expanding into the suburbs over the last year, with most regular carriages packed to capacity. The Times of India said on Saturday police led a crackdown at a station in Gurgaon, a booming satellite development on the outskirts of New Delhi, after a series of complaints — and women passengers joined in the action. “Not only were the unruly commuters made to shell out a fine of 250 rupees [US$5.40], angry women slapped some of them and forced them to do sit-ups,” the Times reported.
CHINA
AIDS-related deaths jump
The total number of reported AIDS deaths has jumped by nearly 20,000 since an official estimate last year, China Central Television (CCTV) said yesterday as Beijing vowed to step up efforts to curb its spread. Deaths linked to AIDS since its emergence in the country in the 1980s reached 68,315 by the end of last month, state television said, citing figures from the health ministry. That compares with a tally of 49,845 reported deaths released by the ministry at the end of October last year. The number of reported HIV/AIDS sufferers stood at 370,393, the CCTV report said, compared with a ministry figure last year of 319,877. HIV/AIDS was mostly sexually transmitted, with rates of infection among homosexual men increasing sharply, the report said. The State Council said the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the country was “still grave” and pledged to increase screening for the disease and improve access to antiretroviral drugs for sufferers.
Romania’s electoral commission on Saturday excluded a second far-right hopeful, Diana Sosoaca, from May’s presidential election, amid rising tension in the run-up to the May rerun of the poll. Earlier this month, Romania’s Central Electoral Bureau barred Calin Georgescu, an independent who was polling at about 40 percent ahead of the rerun election. Georgescu, a fierce EU and NATO critic, shot to prominence in November last year when he unexpectedly topped a first round of presidential voting. However, Romania’s constitutional court annulled the election after claims of Russian interference and a “massive” social media promotion in his favor. On Saturday, an electoral commission statement
Chinese authorities increased pressure on CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd over its plan to sell its Panama ports stake by sharing a second newspaper commentary attacking the deal. The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office on Saturday reposted a commentary originally published in Ta Kung Pao, saying the planned sale of the ports by the Hong Kong company had triggered deep concerns among Chinese people and questioned whether the deal was harming China and aiding evil. “Why were so many important ports transferred to ill-intentioned US forces so easily? What kind of political calculations are hidden in the so-called commercial behavior on the
‘DOWNSIZE’: The Trump administration has initiated sweeping cuts to US government-funded media outlets in a move critics said could undermine the US’ global influence US President Donald Trump’s administration on Saturday began making deep cuts to Voice of America (VOA) and other government-run, pro-democracy programming, with the organization’s director saying all VOA employees have been put on leave. On Friday night, shortly after the US Congress passed its latest funding bill, Trump directed his administration to reduce the functions of several agencies to the minimum required by law. That included the US Agency for Global Media, which houses Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Asia and Radio Marti, which beams Spanish-language news into Cuba. On Saturday morning, Kari Lake, a former Arizona gubernatorial and US
Indonesia’s parliament yesterday amended a law to allow members of the military to hold more government roles, despite criticisms that it would expand the armed forces’ role in civilian affairs. The revision to the armed forces law, pushed mainly by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s coalition, was aimed at expanding the military’s role beyond defense in a country long influenced by its armed forces. The amendment has sparked fears of a return to the era of former Indonesian president Suharto, who ex-general Prabowo once served and who used military figures to crack down on dissent. “Now it’s the time for us to ask the
RSS