CHINA
Woman inks up Xi poster
A woman who live-streamed herself throwing ink onto a picture of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) has been detained, according to activists. The US-based Chinese Human Rights Defenders activist network said authorities have also taken the woman’s father and a Chinese artist into custody after they sought to publicize her plight on social media. The woman, who has been identified by activists as 28-year-old Dong Yaoqiong (董瑤瓊), went live on Twitter on July 4 in a video in which she accused the Chinese Communist Party of employing “oppressive brain control.”
BANGLADESH
Drug war death toll hits 200
The death toll from a contentious Philippines-style war on drugs since May has hit 200, a local rights group said yesterday. The crackdown was launched to smash the surging trade in yaba, a cheap methamphetamine and caffeine pill, which authorities say has spread to almost every village and town. “So many people have been killed in such a short period of time,” said Sheepa Hafiza, executive director of the Ain o Salish Kendra rights group. “We condemn these extrajudicial killings and want fair investigations into each of these killings,” she added. About 25,000 alleged drug dealers have been arrested, home ministry spokesman Sharif Mahmud Apu told reporters.
JORDAN
Prehistoric bread uncovered
Charred remains of a flatbread baked about 14,500 years ago in a stone fireplace at a site in northeastern Jordan have shown researchers of a discovery detailed on Monday that hunter-gatherers in the Eastern Mediterranean achieved the cultural milestone of bread-making far earlier than previously known, more than 4,000 years before plant cultivation took root. “We now have to assess whether there was a relationship between bread production and the origins of agriculture,” said Amaia Arranz-Otaegui, a University of Copenhagen postdoctoral researcher in archeobotany and lead author of the research published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
UNITED KINGDOM
Modifying baby genes backed
The creation of babies whose DNA has been altered to give them what parents perceive to be the best chances in life has received a cautious green light in a landmark report from the Nuffield Council on Bioethics. “It is our view that genome editing is not morally unacceptable in itself,” said Karen Yeung, chair of the Nuffield working group and professor of law, ethics and informatics at the University of Birmingham. “They acknowledge that this may worsen inequality and social division, but don’t believe that should stand in the way,” said Marcy Darnovsky of the Center for Genetics and Society in California.
UNITED STATES
Volcano boat tours continue
Hawaiian tour boat operators plan to continue taking visitors to see lava, but will follow the US Coast Guard’s revised policy and stay farther away after an explosion caused molten rock to barrel through the roof of a vessel, injuring 23 people. The coast guard had allowed boat operators to apply for a special license to get within 50m from where the Kilauea volcano’s lava oozes into the sea, but on Monday changed the distance to 300m. “As we were exiting the zone, all of a sudden everything around us exploded,” said Shane Turpin, the owner and captain of the vessel that was hit by lava. “It was everywhere.”
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
Hundreds of people in rainbow colors gathered on Saturday in South Africa’s tourist magnet Cape Town to honor the world’s first openly gay imam, who was killed last month. Muhsin Hendricks, who ran a mosque for marginalized Muslims, was shot dead last month near the southern city of Gqeberha. “I was heartbroken. I think it’s sad especially how far we’ve come, considering how progressive South Africa has been,” attendee Keisha Jensen said. Led by motorcycle riders, the mostly young crowd walked through the streets of the coastal city, some waving placards emblazoned with Hendricks’s image and reading: “#JUSTICEFORMUHSIN.” No arrest
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