CHINA
Arming of police ramped up
Police are set to receive firearms training as part of a nationwide plan to boost armed patrols, state media said yesterday. The government last month announced plans to roll out armed patrols nationwide following a spate of violence, including a knife attack in Kunming on March 1 which left 33 people dead. “The presence of armed police will enable immediate responses to emergencies and effectively combat violent crimes,” Yan Zhengbin (閆正斌), a deputy director at the Ministry of Public Security, was quoted as saying in the China Daily. Separately, Jiangsu Province officials on Monday announced that 4,000 armed police and 12,000 assisting personnel would patrol 13 cities across the province from May 1. The move follows the deployment of 1,000 armed police in Shanghai on Sunday.
JAPAN
Lost codes alarm airport
Haneda Airport officials were forced to launch a frantic scramble to change security pass codes after a Skymark Airlines employee dropped a memo containing the codes yesterday, a day before US President Barack Obama arrives on a state visit. The employee lost the security codes on Sunday afternoon and the note was found on the floor of the departure lobby about 30 minutes later, a Ministry of Transport official said. The ministry instructed the firm that manages the Tokyo airport to immediately change the codes to avoid a security breach, the official said. Media said one-third of Tokyo’s police force had been pressed into service for Obama’s two-night visit.
CHINA
Tougher eco-laws proposed
Amendments to the 1989 Environmental Protection Law that would mete out stiffer punishments for polluters have been submitted to the National People’s Congress for deliberation in its bimonthly session, which ends tomorrow, Xinhua news agency reported on Monday. The first change to the law in 25 years would give legal backing to the government’s newly declared war on pollution and formalize a vow made last year to abandon a growth-at-all-costs economic model that has spoiled much of the nation’s water, skies and soil. The amendments are expected to enshrine environmental protection as the overriding priority of the state and include provisions to help impose the rules on powerful industrial interests. The draft gives environmental bureaus the power to seize polluting equipment and will also allow company bosses to be detained for up to 15 days if they fail to submit environmental impact assessments or comply with orders, Xinhua said. The draft also includes protection for whistleblowers, it added.
HONG KONG
Finance workers back protest
A group of about 70 finance professionals have vowed to join a pro-democracy protest that could shut down the Central business district later this year. The group said it would support the “Occupy Central” campaign set for July, which aims to push China to allow free elections in the territory. Organizers have threatened to block Central’s streets with 10,000 people unless their demands are met. The plan has been criticized by both local and Chinese officials, as well as some business leaders, but the finance professionals said it was necessary to fight for freedom. “It’s time to speak up for universal suffrage as we are passionate about Hong Kong,” organizer and fund manager Edward Chin said. Fellow organizer Au Lai-chong said the group, which will declare its stance in certain newspapers today, includes locals and expatriates.
VENEZUELA
Chinese minister visits
Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅), on a tour of Latin America, met Minister of Foreign Affairs Elias Jaua on Monday to discuss boosting cooperation in a range of areas. The diplomats talked about enhancing collaboration on energy, industrial development, education, housing and cultural matters, the foreign ministry said. In September last year, China pledged to invest more than US$20 billion in oil and social cooperation when President Nicolas Maduro paid his first visit to Beijing. Wang, who was due to meet later with Maduro, voiced support for political dialogue aimed at ending more than two months of opposition protests against widespread shortages, hyperinflation and the repression of demonstrators in which at least 41 people have died. “We trust in the ability and intelligence of the Venezuelan people to settle independently and on their own, the current problems,” Wang said, describing the countries as “friends... who understand and support 21st-century socialism.”
UNITED STATES
Defendant shot in court
A defendant died after being shot by a US marshal on Monday during an attack on a witness during a trial in a federal courthouse in Salt Lake City, the FBI said. Siale Angilau, 25, died at a hospital after he was shot in the chest as he rushed the witness with a pen in an “aggressive, threatening manner,” the FBI said. Angilau was shot several times in front of a jury and was one of 17 people named in a 29-count racketeering indictment filed in 2010 accusing gang members of assault, conspiracy, robbery and weapons offenses. Under standard procedures, Angilau was not restrained in the courtroom, the FBI said. The witness, who was not injured, was testifying about gang initiation, Cardwell said. Prosecutors said Angilau robbed convenience stores and assaulted clerks in Salt Lake City on five occasions from 2002 to 2007. A clerk was shot in the final robbery, according to the indictment.
UNITED STATES
Inmates’ executions stayed
Two Oklahoma inmates, including one originally scheduled for execution yesterday, won stays of executions on Monday when the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that the inmates have a right to challenge the secrecy over the drugs the state intends to use to put them to death. In a five-to-four decision, the court stayed the executions of Clayton Lockett, scheduled for 6pm yesterday, and Charles Warner, scheduled for Tuesday next week, “until final determination of all the issues presently pending” are addressed, the ruling said. The case raised “grave first-impression constitutional issues,” it said. Lockett was convicted of shooting to death a 19-year-old woman whom he and two other men kidnapped in June 1999. Warner was convicted of raping and murdering an 11-month-old child.
UNITED STATES
Manure may fuel superbugs
A Yale University study published yesterday found that cow manure contains a high number of genes that can fuel resistance to antibiotics. These genes come from the cows’ gut bacteria and while none have yet been found in superbugs that are infecting humans, researchers said the potential is real. Scientists at Yale sampled manure from a handful of dairy cows at a farm in Connecticut in which they found 80 unique antibiotic-resistant genes. About three-quarters were unfamiliar. Genetic sequencing showed they were only distantly related to those already known to science.
FLYBY: The object, appears to be traveling more than 60 kilometers per second, meaning it is not bound by the sun’s orbit, astronomers studying 3I/Atlas said Astronomers on Wednesday confirmed the discovery of an interstellar object racing through the solar system — only the third-ever spotted, although scientists suspect many more might slip past unnoticed. The visitor from the stars, designated 3I/Atlas, is likely the largest yet detected, and has been classified as a comet, or cosmic snowball. “It looks kind of fuzzy,” said Peter Veres, an astronomer with the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center, which was responsible for the official confirmation. “It seems that there is some gas around it, and I think one or two telescopes reported a very short tail.” Originally known as A11pl3Z before
Hundreds of protesters marched through the Mexican capital on Friday denouncing gentrification caused by foreigners, with some vandalizing businesses and shouting “gringos out!” The demonstration in the capital’s central area turned violent when hooded individuals smashed windows, damaged restaurant furniture and looted a clothing store. Mexico City Government Secretary Cesar Cravioto said 15 businesses and public facilities were damaged in what he called “xenophobic expressions” similar to what Mexican migrants have suffered in other countries. “We are a city of open arms... there are always ways to negotiate, to sit at the table,” Cravioto told Milenio television. Neighborhoods like Roma-Condesa
‘CONTINUE TO SERVE’: The 90-year-old Dalai Lama said he hoped to be able to continue serving ‘sentient beings and the Buddha Dharma’ for decades to come The Dalai Lama yesterday said he dreamed of living for decades more, as the Buddhist spiritual leader prayed with thousands of exiled Tibetans on the eve of his 90th birthday. Thumping drums and deep horns reverberated from the Indian hilltop temple, as a chanting chorus of red-robed monks and nuns offered long-life prayers for Tenzin Gyatso, who followers believe is the 14th reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. Looking in good health, dressed in traditional maroon monk robes and a flowing yellow wrap, he led prayers — days after confirming that the 600-year-old Tibetan Buddhist institution would continue after his death. Many exiled Tibetans
BRICS leaders are to meet in Rio de Janeiro from today, with the bloc depleted by the absence of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), who is skipping the annual summit of emerging economies for the first time in 12 years. The grouping meets as its members face imminent and costly tariff wars with the US. Conceived two decades ago as a forum for fast-growing economies, the BRICS have come to be dominated by Beijing, which grew much faster and larger than the rest. China has not said why Xi would miss the summit, a first since he became president in 2013. “I expect there
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