UNITED NATIONS
Rohingya resolution passed
A key committee on Friday overwhelmingly approved a resolution strongly condemning the continuing “gross human rights violations and abuses” against Rohingya Muslims who are treated as outsiders in Myanmar and were victims of a brutal campaign by the nation’s military. The General Assembly’s human rights committee approved the resolution by a vote of 142-10, with 26 abstentions. It is virtually certain to be formally adopted by the world body next month. Among those voting against the resolution were China, Cambodia, Laos and Russia. Bangladesh, which hosts 1.1 million Rohingya refugees, voted in favor. The resolution urgently calls on Myanmar’s government to end discrimination and provide a path to citizenship for the embattled minority.
UNITED STATES
Misconduct change mooted
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos on Friday proposed a major overhaul to the way colleges and universities handle sexual misconduct complaints. Her plan would add protections for students accused of assault and harassment, and narrow which cases schools would be required to investigate. The plan would scale back important rules passed under former president Barack Obama, while adding mandates that could reshape the school disciplinary systems that schools have developed over the past decade. Under the plan, colleges would have to investigate complaints only if the alleged incident occurred on campus or in other areas overseen by the school, and only if it was reported to certain officials.
ARGENTINA
Missing sub found year later
A private company hired by the government has located the submarine ARA San Juan about 800m below the ocean’s surface a year after it went missing with 44 crew members aboard, the navy said yesterday. The sub had a seven-day supply of air when it last reported its position on Nov. 15 last year. The crew had been ordered to return to a naval base at Mar del Plata after reporting that water had entered the vessel through its snorkel. Ocean Infinity was hired by the government following the failure of a massive international operation to find the vessel after it went missing in the South Atlantic. The San Juan was about 430km off Argentina’s Patagonian coast when it sent its last signal.
UNITED STATES
Filing questions Whitaker
An unusual filing asks the Supreme Court to move quickly to say whether President Donald Trump’s appointment of Matthew Whitaker as acting attorney general is valid. The filing by Washington lawyer Tom Goldstein came on Friday in a case that on its surface has nothing to do with Whitaker: a bid for a hearing from a convicted felon seeking to restore his gun possession rights. Goldstein is asking the court to remove Whitaker’s name as a party in the case and substitute that of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. The request contends the Whitaker appointment violates a federal statute and the Constitution. The underlying appeal originally named then-attorney general Jeff Sessions as a party. Goldstein says the court should resolve the Whitaker issue quickly to avert the possibility that thousands of criminal and immigration cases bearing his name could be called into question. Under the schedule proposed by Goldstein, the court could act on the request by early next month.
An endangered baby pygmy hippopotamus that shot to social media stardom in Thailand has become a lucrative source of income for her home zoo, quadrupling its ticket sales, the institution said Thursday. Moo Deng, whose name in Thai means “bouncy pork,” has drawn tens of thousands of visitors to Khao Kheow Open Zoo this month. The two-month-old pygmy hippo went viral on TikTok and Instagram for her cheeky antics, inspiring merchandise, memes and even craft tutorials on how to make crocheted or cake-based Moo Dengs at home. A zoo spokesperson said that ticket sales from the start of September to Wednesday reached almost
‘BARBAROUS ACTS’: The captain of the fishing vessel said that people in checkered clothes beat them with iron bars and that he fell unconscious for about an hour Ten Vietnamese fishers were violently robbed in the South China Sea, state media reported yesterday, with an official saying the attackers came from Chinese-flagged vessels. The men were reportedly beaten with iron bars and robbed of thousands of dollars of fish and equipment on Sunday off the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島), which Taiwan claims, as do Vietnam, China, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines. Vietnamese media did not identify the nationalities of the attackers, but Phung Ba Vuong, an official in central Quang Ngai province, told reporters: “They were Chinese, [the boats had] Chinese flags.” Four of the 10-man Vietnamese crew were rushed
CHINESE ICBM: The missile landed near the EEZ of French Polynesia, much to the surprise and concern of the president, who sent a letter of protest to Beijing Fijian President Ratu Wiliame Katonivere called for “respect for our region” and a stop to missile tests in the Pacific Ocean, after China launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). In a speech to the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday, Katonivere recalled the Pacific Ocean’s history as a nuclear weapons testing ground, and noted Wednesday’s rare launch by China of an ICBM. “There was a unilateral test firing of a ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean. We urge respect for our region and call for cessation of such action,” he said. The ICBM, carrying a dummy warhead, was launched by the
As violence between Israel and Hezbollah escalates, Iran is walking a tightrope by supporting Hezbollah without being dragged into a full-blown conflict and playing into its enemy’s hands. With a focus on easing its isolation and reviving its battered economy, Iran is aware that war could complicate efforts to secure relief from crippling sanctions. Cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah, sparked by Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7 last year, has intensified, especially after last week’s sabotage on Hezbollah’s communications that killed 39 people. Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon followed, killing hundreds. Hezbollah retaliated with rocket barrages. Despite the surge in
RSS