INDONESIA
Former first lady dies
Former first lady Ani Yudhoyono has died in Singapore. She was 66. The Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement of condolences that Yudhoyono passed away on Saturday morning. She was the wife of Indonesia’s sixth president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. She had been treated for cancer at the National University Hospital in Singapore for several months. She is survived by her husband, two sons and grandchildren.
KENYA
Huawei signs AU deal
Huawei Technologies on Friday said it had signed a draft agreement to reinforce its cooperation with the African Union (AU) in a number of areas, including in 5G communications that is at the heart of the Chinese telecom giant’s dispute with the US. The draft agreement would also reinforce their cooperation in areas such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence and high-speed networks. The agreement follows one signed in 2015. “This collaboration is witness to the continued confidence between the African Union and Huawei,” said Philippe Wang, Huawei vice president of public affairs and communication for northern Africa. He added that this accord should put a rest to “rumours that Huawei equipment leaked data, given that the AU conducted a complete audit of its IT system ... and the conclusions rejected information that appeared in the press last year.” Last year, the French newspaper Le Monde reported that China had spied on the AU’s headquarters in Addis Ababa, citing sources inside the organization.
HUNGARY
Boat crash search tricky
As divers on Friday descended into the Danube, Hungarian authorities predicted it would take an extended search to find the 21 people still missing after a boat carrying South Korean tourists was rammed by a cruise ship and sank into the river in Budapest. Seven people so far are confirmed dead and seven others were rescued. Minister of Foreign Affairs Peter Szijjarto and his South Korean counterpart, Kang Kyung-wha, visited the site of Wednesday’s accident and met with rescue and search officials before holding talks. “We have to prepare for a protracted search,” Szijjarto said he was told by Budapest river police, adding that authorities were also expecting help from Serbia, where the Danube flows after leaving Hungary. The Ministry of Interior said that about 60 experts were experimenting with theoretical models and test dives to find a “unique” method to salvage the sunken tour boat. It said the adverse conditions would not allow for the use of any traditional methods.
UNITED STATES
Elton John slams censorship
Elton John on Friday criticized Russia’s reported censorship of gay sex scenes in the new movie musical based on his life. John and the makers of Rocketman, which depicts the warts-and-all rise to fame of the gay British musician, issued a statement after Russian media reported that scenes involving gay sex and drug taking had been cut from a screening in Russia. “We reject in the strongest possible terms the decision to pander to local laws and censor Rocketman for the Russian market,” John and the filmmakers said. “That the local distributor has edited out certain scenes, denying the audience the opportunity to see the film as it was intended, is a sad reflection of the divided world we still live in and how it can still be so cruelly unaccepting of the love between two people,” their statement added.
Tens of thousands of Filipino Catholics yesterday twirled white cloths and chanted “Viva, viva,” as a centuries-old statue of Jesus Christ was paraded through the streets of Manila in the nation’s biggest annual religious event. The day-long procession began before dawn, with barefoot volunteers pulling the heavy carriage through narrow streets where the devout waited in hopes of touching the icon, believed to hold miraculous powers. Thousands of police were deployed to manage crowds that officials believe could number in the millions by the time the statue reaches its home in central Manila’s Quiapo church around midnight. More than 800 people had sought
DENIAL: Pyongyang said a South Korean drone filmed unspecified areas in a North Korean border town, but Seoul said it did not operate drones on the dates it cited North Korea’s military accused South Korea of flying drones across the border between the nations this week, yesterday warning that the South would face consequences for its “unpardonable hysteria.” Seoul quickly denied the accusation, but the development is likely to further dim prospects for its efforts to restore ties with Pyongyang. North Korean forces used special electronic warfare assets on Sunday to bring down a South Korean drone flying over North Korea’s border town. The drone was equipped with two cameras that filmed unspecified areas, the General Staff of the North Korean People’s Army said in a statement. South Korea infiltrated another drone
COMMUNIST ALIGNMENT: To Lam wants to combine party chief and state presidency roles, with the decision resting on the election of 200 new party delegates next week Communist Party of Vietnam General Secretary To Lam is seeking to combine his party role with the state presidency, officials said, in a move that would align Vietnam’s political structure more closely to China’s, where President Xi Jinping (習近平) heads the party and state. Next week about 1,600 delegates are to gather in Hanoi to commence a week-long communist party congress, held every five years to select new leaders and set policy goals for the single-party state. Lam, 68, bade for both top positions at a party meeting last month, seeking initial party approval ahead of the congress, three people briefed by
Cambodia’s government on Wednesday said that it had arrested and extradited to China a tycoon who has been accused of running a huge online scam operation. The Cambodian Ministry of the Interior said that Prince Holding Group chairman Chen Zhi (陳志) and two other Chinese citizens were arrested and extradited on Tuesday at the request of Chinese authorities. Chen formerly had dual nationality, but his Cambodian citizenship was revoked last month, the ministry said. US prosecutors in October last year brought conspiracy charges against Chen, alleging that he had been the mastermind behind a multinational cyberfraud network, used his other businesses to launder
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