HONG KONG
‘Umbrella’ activist jailed
Joshua Wong (黃之鋒), one of the leaders of the 2014 “Umbrella movement,” was sent back to jail yesterday after losing an appeal against a contempt of court sentence. Wong was in January last year sentenced to three months in jail for disobeying a court order and not leaving a protest zone during the pro-democracy rallies. The Court of Appeal upheld the conviction, but reduced his jail sentence to two months. “It is an affront to the court and must be met with a deterrent sentence,” the three judges said in a written summary. “Any suggestion that he is punished because of his status or notoriety as a committed social activist or any other reason, whatever it might be, is entirely baseless and misconceived,” they wrote. As guards led Wong away, he shouted: “Everyone keep going.” Dozens of supporters in the public gallery cheered back in response.
CHINA
Building collapse traps nine
Nine construction workers were trapped after the roof of a car dealership collapsed in Shanghai yesterday while it was being renovated, but rescue personnel managed to pull 11 others to safety, authorities said. The accident occurred at about 11:30am in a central Shanghai neighborhood, the fire rescue bureau of the Ministry of Emergency Management said on its social media account. The posting showed pictures of emergency rescue personnel pulling bloodied and dust-covered construction workers out of piles of rubble, fallen concrete pillars and shattered wooden beams. The low-rise building had been used as a dealership for Mercedes-Benz vehicles, the bureau said. It did not say whether anyone was killed or provide details of any injuries suffered by those who were rescued, and authorities sealed off the area shortly after the accident.
CHINA
Swine fever ‘disastrous’
African swine fever is a national crisis requiring more government funding to quell, China Animal Agriculture Association director Li Xirong (李希榮) said yesterday. The full extent of the damage to the nation’s US$128 billion pork industry is still being fathomed, and any estimate of the economic impact on the industry would be “stunning,” Li told more than 400 people involved in the sector at a meeting in Wuhan. The combined sixth Global Pig Forum and 16th China Swine Industry Development Conference is one of the biggest industry gatherings since the disease was first reported in August last year. Other major international meetings have been canceled on concern that clothing on delegates from affected nations might introduce the virus. African swine fever has become a disastrous issue, Li said. The pig industry must focus on how to stop it spreading further, how to restore pork production and identify alternative sources of meat, he added. A State Council meeting, slated for yesterday, was to discuss ways to maintain pork supply, he said.
SRI LANKA
Alarm over reinstatement
An international rights group yesterday expressed alarm over the army’s decision to reinstate an intelligence officer accused of high-profile attacks against journalists, including the assassination of a senior editor. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said that reinstating Major Prabath Bulathwatte created new threats for the media, which is under a state of emergency following the Easter attacks. Bulathwatte was arrested in 2017 in connection with a string of attacks against journalists during the regime of former president Mahinda Rajapakse and is currently on bail. Army commander Mahesh Senanayake last week told a local TV network that Bulathwatte has been reinstated to boost the battle against local militants following the April 21 bombings.
MYANMAR
General’s Twitter deleted
Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing, who has been accused of masterminding genocide against the Muslim Rohingya, has had his Twitter account suspended, following complaints about him using the platform for hate speech. Min Aung Hlaing, who was also accused of using social media to spread anti-Rohingya propaganda, had his Facebook account deleted in August last year, after the UN called for Burmese military leaders to be prosecuted for genocide. The suspension came after Tun Khin, president of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, met Twitter executives in Silicone Valley last week and questioned them over why the account remained live.
UNITED STATES
Koons’ ‘Rabbit’ sets record
A stainless steel rabbit by artist Jeff Koons fetched US$91 million at Christie’s, establishing an auction record for a living artist. The 0.9m-tall inflatable bunny was bought by art dealer Bob Mnuchin, father of Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin. The 1986 Rabbit was a hit from the start. Media mogul S.I. Newhouse bought it in 1992 for about US$1 million, a large sum at the time, Christie’s chairman of post-war and contemporary art Alex Rotter said. Koons had been the most expensive living artist at auction as recently as November last year, when he was ousted by David Hockney, whose Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) sold for US$90.3 million. Koons’ previous auction high was US$58.4 million for an orange balloon dog.
Pakistani police yesterday said a father shot dead his daughter after she refused to delete her TikTok account. In the Muslim-majority country, women can be subjected to violence by family members for not following strict rules on how to behave in public, including in online spaces. “The girl’s father had asked her to delete her TikTok account. On refusal, he killed her,” a police spokesperson said. Investigators said the father killed his 16-year-old daughter on Tuesday “for honor,” the police report said. The man was subsequently arrested. The girl’s family initially tried to “portray the murder as a suicide” said police in
The military is to begin conscripting civilians next year, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said yesterday, citing rising tensions with Thailand as the reason for activating a long-dormant mandatory enlistment law. The Cambodian parliament in 2006 approved a law that would require all Cambodians aged 18 to 30 to serve in the military for 18 months, although it has never been enforced. Relations with Thailand have been tense since May, when a long-standing territorial dispute boiled over into cross-border clashes, killing one Cambodian soldier. “This episode of confrontation is a lesson for us and is an opportunity for us to review, assess and
The Russian minister of foreign affairs warned the US, South Korea and Japan against forming a security partnership targeting North Korea as he visited the ally country for talks on further solidifying their booming military and other cooperation. Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov spoke on Saturday in Wonsan City, North Korea, where he met North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un and conveyed greetings from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kim during the meeting reaffirmed his government’s commitment to “unconditionally support and encourage all measures” taken by Russia in its conflict with Ukraine. Pyongyang and Moscow share identical views on “all strategic issues in
‘FALSE NARRATIVE’: China and the Solomon Islands inked a secretive security pact in 2022, which is believed to be a prelude to building a Chinese base, which Beijing denied The Australian government yesterday said it expects China to spy on major military drills it is conducting with the US and other allies. It also renewed a charge — denounced by Beijing as a “false narrative” — that China wants to establish a military base in the South Pacific. The comments by a government minister came as Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made a six-day visit to China to bolster recently repaired trade ties. More than 30,000 military personnel from 19 nations are set to join in the annual Talisman Sabre exercises from yesterday across Australia and Papua New Guinea. “The Chinese military have
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