CHINA
Actor Wang Xuebing detained
Beijing police detained movie actor Wang Xuebing (王學兵) on a suspected drug offense, adding to a number of celebrities who have been caught in anti-drug actions, state media reported late on Tuesday. Xinhua news agency said the star of the Golden Bear award-winning film Black Coal, Thin Ice was detained along with another person on Monday. The report did not specify the nature of the offense. Xinhua said Wang was an anti-drug ambassador in 2006. Xinhua said police also detained TV actor Zhang Bo (張博) on suspected methamphetamine offenses in a separate action, but the report did not say when the detention occurred.
THAILAND
Parents of ex-princess jailed
The elderly parents of a former princess were both jailed for two-and-a-half years yesterday after pleading guilty to defaming the monarchy, an institution protected by one of the world’s toughest lese majeste laws. Apiruj Suwadee, 72, and his 66-year-old wife Wanthanee are the latest close relatives of former princess Srirasmi to face legal proceedings after a corruption scandal involving her family erupted late last year. Both had pleaded guilty to insulting the royal family, lodging a malicious claim and asking officials to file false charges against a woman in 2003.
SOUTH KOREA
‘Nut rage’ lawsuit launched
A flight attendant targeted by a former Korean Air vice president during a now infamous “nut rage” tantrum has filed a civil lawsuit against the jailed executive and the airline. Kim Do-hee’s lawyers said the suit filed on Tuesday in New York sought compensation for the verbal and physical attack unleashed on their client by Cho Hyun-ah, also known as Heather Cho. Cho, who is the daughter of Korean Air’s chairman, was sentenced to one year in jail last month after being found guilty of safety breaches and assaulting cabin staff.
CHINA
Bomb threat on HK jet
A bomb threat to a Hong Kong-bound flight with nearly 300 people on board forced the jet to make an emergency landing in Wuhan on Tuesday, Hong Kong Airlines said. “Hong Kong Airlines was notified of a suspected bomb threat onboard its flight HX337 from Beijing to Hong Kong, after the plane had taken off,” a spokeswoman from the airline said. The captain of the Airbus A330-200 decided to divert “in order to ensure the safety and security of the passengers and crew” and landed the plane at about 2:30pm in Tianhe International Airport in Wuhan, she said.
MYANMAR
Protest crackdown probed
State media yesterday announced an inquiry into a Yangon protest crackdown, the first of two recent violent confrontations with student demonstrators that sparked international alarm and raised fears of a return to junta-era repression. Both protests are demanding for reforms in the country’s controversial education law and are spearheaded by the students, who have long been at the forefront of political action in the former military-run nation’s turbulent history. The investigation will probe “whether security forces acted properly in dispersing the protesters” who gathered downtown on March 5 in the former capital, the Global New Light of Myanmar said. The official statement comes a day after baton-wielding police beat student activists and arrested 127 people at a second student protest site in the central town of Letpadan. The US, EU and UK have all raised their concerns over the crackdown.
LEBANON
IS video shows teen killing
A video posted online by Islamic State (IS) militants on Tuesday showed a boy fatally shooting Muhammad Musallam, an Israeli Arab accused by the group of having signed up as a jihadi to spy for Israel’s intelligence service. The video, published by the group’s Furqan media outlet, showed Musallam, 19, sitting in a room wearing an orange jumpsuit, talking about how he had been recruited and trained by Mossad. He said his father and elder brother had encouraged him. After that, it showed Musallam being escorted to a field and then being shot in the head by a boy, described by an older, French-speaking fighter as one of the “cubs of the caliphate.” Reuters could not immediately verify the authenticity of the footage, which also appeared on Twitter feeds used by IS supporters. Israeli security officials said they were aware of the video, but could not confirm that it was authentic.
ARGENTINA
French experts probe crash
French air investigators yesterday headed to Buenos Aires to probe a collision between two helicopters which killed 10 people, including three of France’s best-known sports personalities, as they took part in a reality TV show. The two French officials will join local investigators who are already combing through the wreckage, looking for clues as to what caused the helicopters to smash into each other shortly after takeoff in the rugged mountains of La Rioja Province. The crash on Monday killed Olympic champion swimmer Camille Muffat, yachtswoman Florence Arthaud and Olympic boxer Alexis Vastine, as well as five French TV crew members and two local pilots. Emergency workers removed the victims’ remains from the wreckage near the small northwestern town of Villa Castelli on Tuesday and took them to the morgue in the provincial capital, about 300km from the crash site.
MEXICO
Gang leaders arrested
Authorities have arrested the suspected leaders of the Independent Cartel of Acapulco, one of the drug gangs responsible for the Pacific resort’s deadly violence, officials said on Tuesday. Victor Aguirre, alias “El Gordo” (The Fat One), was detained by federal forces in the eastern city of Merida, authorities said. It was the latest in a series of high-profile arrests for the government of President Enrique Pena Nieto in recent weeks. Minister of the Interior Miguel Angel Osorio Chong told Radio Formula that Aguirre “led everything” in the gang’s operations in Acapulco. Officials did not give more details about the arrest.
UNITED KINGDOM
Sculpture of defeats sold
A granite monument with every defeat ever suffered by the England soccer team over 124 years engraved on it sold for US$646,000 on Tuesday. The gloomy sculpture by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan was sold to an anonymous French-speaking bidder at a Sotheby’s auction in London. “Carved into it are all the defeats of England’s national football team. I guess it’s a piece which talks about pride, missed opportunities and death,” Cattelan said. Its list of defeats begins with England’s 1874 2-1 defeat to Scotland and spans infamous games such as the 1986 2-1 loss to Argentina, remembered for Diego Maradona’s “Hand of God” goal. Carved in 1999, the untitled artwork ends with Romania’s 2-1 victory at the 1998 World Cup. Its sale comes in the wake of one of England’s worst-ever performances in a World Cup last year, in which the team lost to Italy and Uruguay and crashed out without a single win.
The pledge by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to “work, work, work, work and work” for her country has been named the catchphrase of the year, recognizing the effort Japan’s first female leader had to make to reach the top. Takaichi uttered the phrase in October when she was elected as head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Many were initially as worried about her work ethic as supportive of her enthusiasm. In a country notorious for long working hours, especially for working women who are also burdened with homemaking and caregiving, overwork is a sensitive topic. The recognition triggered a
A plan by Switzerland’s right-wing People’s Party to cap the population at 10 million has the backing of almost half the country, according to a poll before an expected vote next year. The party, which has long campaigned against immigration, argues that too-fast population growth is overwhelming housing, transport and public services. The level of support comes despite the government urging voters to reject it, warning that strict curbs would damage the economy and prosperity, as Swiss companies depend on foreign workers. The poll by newspaper group Tamedia/20 Minuten and released yesterday showed that 48 percent of the population plan to vote
A powerful magnitude 7.6 earthquake shook Japan’s northeast region late on Monday, prompting tsunami warnings and orders for residents to evacuate. A tsunami as high as three metres (10 feet) could hit Japan’s northeastern coast after an earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.6 occurred offshore at 11:15 p.m. (1415 GMT), the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said. Tsunami warnings were issued for the prefectures of Hokkaido, Aomori and Iwate, and a tsunami of 40cm had been observed at Aomori’s Mutsu Ogawara and Hokkaido’s Urakawa ports before midnight, JMA said. The epicentre of the quake was 80 km (50 miles) off the coast of
RELAXED: After talks on Ukraine and trade, the French president met with students while his wife visited pandas, after the pair parted ways with their Chinese counterparts French President Emmanuel Macron concluded his fourth state visit to China yesterday in Chengdu, striking a more relaxed note after tough discussions on Ukraine and trade with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) a day earlier. Far from the imposing Great Hall of the People in Beijing where the two leaders held talks, Xi and China’s first lady, Peng Liyuan (彭麗媛), showed Macron and his wife Brigitte around the centuries-old Dujiangyan Dam, a World Heritage Site set against the mountainous landscape of Sichuan Province. Macron was told through an interpreter about the ancient irrigation system, which dates back to the third century
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