CHINA
Jackie Chan’s son released
The son of actor Jackie Chan (成龍) was released from a Beijing jail yesterday after completing a six-month sentence for allowing people to use marijuana in his apartment. A statement issued by Jaycee Chan’s (房祖名) entertainment company said the 32-year-old actor and singer left the city’s Checheng jail a few minutes after midnight. Photos showed chaotic scenes as reporters chased his car and surrounded it at a toll station. The statement thanked fans and the media for their concern and said Chan would hold a news conference today to “apologize and explain.”
CHINA
‘Unfit’ for promotion
A new policy will mandate all military personnel meet weight requirements and link promotions with fitness, state media said. The PLA Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party’s military commission that oversees the armed forces, yesterday said that the commission’s four highest departments issued the joint policy that outlines reforms in military fitness training, which aim to build a stronger force. The public has long complained about “out-of-shape” generals, joking that they are better at banquet drinking than battlefield commanding.
SOUTH KOREA
Jet clips parked plane
A Korean Air Lines plane returned to Yangon International Airport yesterday after officials discovered it had clipped another aircraft while taxiing. The airline said in a statement that Flight 472 bound for Incheon returned to Myanmar’s biggest city, Yangon, not long after midnight. The jet carrying 134 passengers and 11 crew was about 20 minutes into its flight when air traffic control informed pilots of the collision. Korean Air said one of the plane’s winglets hit the tail of a parked Bangkok Airways aircraft, but pilots did not notice the incident because of the darkness. It said no alarm was set off by the collision, which was seen by a member of ground staff who notified the control tower. Burmese authorities are investigating the incident.
CHINA
Car rams into US consulate
A car rammed into the US consulate in Shanghai on Thursday evening, slightly injuring the driver and a sentry guard on duty, media reports said. The driver, a 35-year-old surnamed Liu from Sanming City in Fujian Province, has been taken to a police station while the injured guard was taken to hospital, Caixin said. A spokesman for the US consulate confirmed an “incident,” but said the matter was still under investigation.” “All mission personnel at the consulate general have been accounted for and the consulate general is expected to be open for business as usual today, the 13th,” the spokesman said.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
Myanmar’s junta chief met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) for the first time since seizing power, state media reported yesterday, the highest-level meeting with a key ally for the internationally sanctioned military leader. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing led a military coup in 2021, overthrowing Myanmar’s brief experiment with democracy and plunging the nation into civil war. In the four years since, his armed forces have battled dozens of ethnic armed groups and rebel militias — some with close links to China — opposed to its rule. The conflict has seen Min Aung Hlaing draw condemnation from rights groups and pursued by the
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