CHINA
Dissident’s wife, son in US
The wife and son of dissident Guo Quan (郭泉), who is serving a 10-year sentence for “subversion,” have left the country for a new life in the US, a rights group said yesterday. Li Jing (李晶) and 12-year-old Guo Yi arrived in Los Angeles on Monday by plane, the US-based ChinaAid group said in an e-mailed statement. “They will be appealing to the US government and international groups to pay close attention to Guo’s case and for help in winning his release,” the group said, without providing further details. Guo was jailed in October 2009 for “subversion of state power.” He was an outspoken critic of the government and advocated a “multiparty, competitively elected democratic system,” according to the US-based Human Rights in China.
PHILIPPINES
Gunmen kill 15 fishermen
Gunmen opened fire on three boats and killed 15 fishermen in what officials yesterday said was likely an attack by a rival group protecting its lucrative fishing grounds. The fishermen were aboard three small, wooden-hulled vessels off Sibago island in Basilan province when about 10 attackers in speedboats fired on them on Monday morning and then sped away, military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Randolph Cagangbang said. One of the survivors told police that their group had been warned to stay away from the fishing grounds where the attack took place, ABS-CBN TV reported.
AUSTRALIA
Asylum talks break down
Negotiations have broken down between the ruling Labor Party and the opposition Liberal Party on a compromise policy to deport asylum seekers to another country. While the two parties agree that sending asylum seekers to another country within the Asia-Pacific region would be the best way to curb the increasing number heading from Indonesia and Malaysia by boat, they said yesterday that their politically charged negotiations had broken down. Prime Minister Julia Gillard accused opposition leader Tony Abbott of failing to negotiate in good faith.
NEW ZEALAND
Breastfeed-driving popular
Police yesterday said they were shocked at the number of mothers they found breastfeeding babies while driving along motorways in Auckland. They said they stopped three breastfeeding drivers this month, while carrying out a 10-day operation aimed at ensuring children were properly restrained in vehicles. Inspector Shanan Gray said the practice placed both mother and child “in an extremely dangerous situation.” Gray said police were also stunned at the number of children being transported in car boots [trunks].”
KAZAKHSTAN
Opposition’s offices raided
Authorities on Monday raided the offices and homes of officials of an unregistered political party and said they have charged one person with inciting social unrest. The National Security Committee said the raids against the Alga Party were part of an investigation into last month’s fatal clashes between police and striking oil workers in the town of Zhanaozen, in which at least 16 people were killed. The raids came just days after Prime Minister Karim Masimov vowed greater political liberalization. Alga Party official Aizhangul Amirova was charged earlier this month with inciting unrest, the committee said. The newspaper Respublika also reported on Monday that the editor of independent newspaper Vzglyad, Igor Vinyavsky, was arrested on charges of inciting the overthrow of the government.
RARE EVENT: While some cultures have a negative view of eclipses, others see them as a chance to show how people can work together, a scientist said Stargazers across a swathe of the world marveled at a dramatic red “Blood Moon” during a rare total lunar eclipse in the early hours of yesterday morning. The celestial spectacle was visible in the Americas and Pacific and Atlantic oceans, as well as in the westernmost parts of Europe and Africa. The phenomenon happens when the sun, Earth and moon line up, causing our planet to cast a giant shadow across its satellite. But as the Earth’s shadow crept across the moon, it did not entirely blot out its white glow — instead the moon glowed a reddish color. This is because the
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
MINERAL DEPOSITS: The Pacific nation is looking for new foreign partners after its agreement with Canada’s Metals Co was terminated ‘mutually’ at the end of last year Pacific nation Kiribati says it is exploring a deep-sea mining partnership with China, dangling access to a vast patch of Pacific Ocean harboring coveted metals and minerals. Beijing has been ramping up efforts to court Pacific nations sitting on lucrative seafloor deposits of cobalt, nickel and copper — recently inking a cooperation deal with Cook Islands. Kiribati opened discussions with Chinese Ambassador Zhou Limin (周立民) after a longstanding agreement with leading deep-sea mining outfit The Metals Co fell through. “The talk provides an exciting opportunity to explore potential collaboration for the sustainable exploration of the deep-ocean resources in Kiribati,” the government said
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