THAILAND
Musk apologizes to caver
Tesla Inc founder Elon Musk apologized to British caver Vern Unsworth for comments that he made about him following the rescue of a dozen Thai schoolboys and their soccer coach from a cave in northern Thailand. “His actions against me do not justify my actions against him, and for that I apologize to Mr Unsworth and to the companies I represent as leader,” Musk said in a tweet. “The fault is mine and mine alone.” Unsworth, who played a leading role in the rescue, on Tuesday said he has been approached by British and American lawyers and would seek legal advice after Musk directed abuse at him on Twitter.
CHINA
Air China grounded by vaping
Authorities have cut flag carrier Air China’s 737 flights and revoked the flying licenses of the cockpit crew involved in a mid-air emergency sparked by a copilot’s vape smoke, state media said yesterday. An Air China 737 last week made a rapid emergency descent after the copilot mistakenly turned off air-conditioning systems in a bid to conceal his e-cigarette smoke. The Civil Aviation Administration of China has cut the carrier’s 737 flights by 10 percent and ordered it to undertake a three-month safety overhaul, China Central Television said. Air China shares slipped more than 2 percent in Shanghai on yesterday morning following the punishment.
HONG KONG
UK ‘concerned’ by party ban
Britain yesterday expressed concern after police sought to ban a political party that promotes independence for the territory as Beijing increases pressure on challenges to its territorial sovereignty. “We note with concern the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government plans to prohibit the continued operation of the Hong Kong National Party,” the British Foreign Office said in a statement. “The UK does not support Hong Kong independence, but Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy, and its rights and freedoms, are central to its way of life, and it is important they are fully respected,” the statement added.
UNITED STATES
Clemency calls fail killer
The US state of Texas on Tuesday executed a death row inmate despite a call for clemency from a son of the man he killed. Mitesh Patel, the victim’s son, had campaigned in recent weeks to ask the Texas governor to spare Christopher Young, a father of three. Mitesh Patel visited Christopher Young on Monday and described the meeting as emotionally moving for both of them. The last words of the condemned man were addressed to the family of the victim: “I want to make sure the Patel family knows I love them like they love me.” Texas is the state that executes the most inmates in the nation: Christopher Young is the eighth sentenced to die since the beginning of the year.
UNITED STATES
Jaguar bites cable to escape
A jaguar that killed nine other animals during a weekend escape from its habitat at Audubon Zoo is believed to have bitten through a steel-cable barrier that forms the roof of its habitat, the zoo’s managing director said on Tuesday. The interlocking steel cables that form what looks like a hard net over the habitat meet Association of Zoos and Aquariums guidelines, but zoo officials are now looking for stronger materials, Burks said. “We haven’t determined the final material we’re going to use yet,” he said. Meanwhile, the jaguar exhibit is to remain closed.
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
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