PHILIPPINES
China conditions ‘inimical’
Officials say China demanded that President Benigno Aquino III withdraw a legal complaint over disputed territories for Beijing to welcome him at an annual Chinese trade fair this week, prompting him to cancel his visit. Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez yesterday said that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (王毅) and two other Chinese diplomats relayed conditions for Aquino to attend the China-ASEAN Expo. Hernandez declined to detail the conditions in a news conference, but said these were “absolutely inimical to our national interest.” Two Philippine officials said China wanted the Philippines to withdraw a UN arbitration case over disputed islands.
JAPAN
Sorum protests dolphin hunt
Former Guns N’ Roses drummer Matt Sorum is visiting a remote Japanese fishing village to protest against its annual dolphin hunt. The campaign has spread after the tradition in the village of Taiji was depicted in the Oscar-winning 2009 film, The Cove. The movie depicts how dolphins are herded into a cove and speared by fishermen for their meat. Sorum yesterday said that he has always loved the ocean, and he is also concerned about dolphins in captivity at aquariums and marine shows. He arrived in Taiji on Sunday with Japanese and Western activists on the day the annual dolphin hunt began.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
‘Black Jesus’ castrated
An infamous cult leader known as “Black Jesus” was castrated by an angry mob after being hacked to death for killing young girls as sacrifices, reports said yesterday. Steven Tari, a convicted rapist who was suspected of cannibalism, was killed in a remote village last week, with gory details of his death emerging. The National newspaper said Tari, who had been on the run since escaping from a prison in Madang in the Pacific nation’s east during a mass breakout with 48 others in March, was hunted down by 80 men. It said he was killed, castrated and then dragged with a cane tied around his neck to a shallow pit where his body was dumped. Tari, a failed Lutheran pastor who was widely known as Black Jesus, was found guilty in 2010 of raping girls who belonged to his Christian-based sect and sentenced to up to 10 years. At the time, he had thousands of followers. The National said villagers where he was hiding became fed up with cult beliefs and practices, which included “the killing of young girls as sacrifices.” Local police official Ray Ban said Tari and his followers offered Rose Wagum, 15, last week as a “sacrifice.” The group also tried to offer another 14-year-old girl, but were stopped by the mob that eventually killed Tari.
DUBAI
‘Bomber’ standoff ended
An Uzbek woman who caused 13 hours of panic at the public prosecutor’s office when she threatened to blow herself up was wearing a fake explosive belt, authorities said yesterday. The woman entered the office with her child on Sunday and said she would detonate explosives strapped to her body unless the authorities forced an Emirati man to admit he is her son’s legal father. “The matter was successfully resolved and it turned out that the Uzbek woman was wearing a fake explosive belt,” police tweeted. A government statement said negotiations with the woman lasted from midday on Sunday until about 1:30am yesterday. “The woman was arrested at the public prosecutor’s office after negotiations without the use of weapons,” the statement said. Authorities evacuated the building.
An endangered baby pygmy hippopotamus that shot to social media stardom in Thailand has become a lucrative source of income for her home zoo, quadrupling its ticket sales, the institution said Thursday. Moo Deng, whose name in Thai means “bouncy pork,” has drawn tens of thousands of visitors to Khao Kheow Open Zoo this month. The two-month-old pygmy hippo went viral on TikTok and Instagram for her cheeky antics, inspiring merchandise, memes and even craft tutorials on how to make crocheted or cake-based Moo Dengs at home. A zoo spokesperson said that ticket sales from the start of September to Wednesday reached almost
‘BARBAROUS ACTS’: The captain of the fishing vessel said that people in checkered clothes beat them with iron bars and that he fell unconscious for about an hour Ten Vietnamese fishers were violently robbed in the South China Sea, state media reported yesterday, with an official saying the attackers came from Chinese-flagged vessels. The men were reportedly beaten with iron bars and robbed of thousands of dollars of fish and equipment on Sunday off the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島), which Taiwan claims, as do Vietnam, China, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines. Vietnamese media did not identify the nationalities of the attackers, but Phung Ba Vuong, an official in central Quang Ngai province, told reporters: “They were Chinese, [the boats had] Chinese flags.” Four of the 10-man Vietnamese crew were rushed
CHINESE ICBM: The missile landed near the EEZ of French Polynesia, much to the surprise and concern of the president, who sent a letter of protest to Beijing Fijian President Ratu Wiliame Katonivere called for “respect for our region” and a stop to missile tests in the Pacific Ocean, after China launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). In a speech to the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday, Katonivere recalled the Pacific Ocean’s history as a nuclear weapons testing ground, and noted Wednesday’s rare launch by China of an ICBM. “There was a unilateral test firing of a ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean. We urge respect for our region and call for cessation of such action,” he said. The ICBM, carrying a dummy warhead, was launched by the
As violence between Israel and Hezbollah escalates, Iran is walking a tightrope by supporting Hezbollah without being dragged into a full-blown conflict and playing into its enemy’s hands. With a focus on easing its isolation and reviving its battered economy, Iran is aware that war could complicate efforts to secure relief from crippling sanctions. Cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah, sparked by Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7 last year, has intensified, especially after last week’s sabotage on Hezbollah’s communications that killed 39 people. Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon followed, killing hundreds. Hezbollah retaliated with rocket barrages. Despite the surge in
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