CHINA
Kiribati ties established
The country and Kiribati have established diplomatic relations, state media reported yesterday, days after the tiny Pacific island nation severed ties with Taiwan. Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) and Kiribatian President Taneti Mamau on Friday signed a joint communique to establish diplomatic relations between the two countries on the sidelines of a UN climate summit, Xinhua reported.
INDIA
Floods kill at least 44
At least 44 people were killed and thousands moved to relief camps because of flooding caused by torrential rains in Uttar Pradesh state, officials said yesterday. Densely populated regions on the banks of two main rivers in the state, which are overflowing because of incessant rainfall in the past 24 to 48 hours, were among the worst hit. “We had confirmed 44 deaths till late yesterday night. The authorities are focusing on rescue and relief work in the affected regions,” Uttar Pradesh Disaster Management Authority Vice Chairman Ravindra Pratap Sahi told reporters. “We have moved thousands to relief shelters, as there is forecast of heavy rains in the next 48 hours in most of the affected districts of the state,” Sahi said.
UNITED STATES
Metallica frontman in rehab
Metallica has said its frontman James Hetfield has entered rehab, and the band is canceling its upcoming tour in Australia and New Zealand. Three of the heavy metal band’s members posted a statement on Twitter on Friday announcing the decision and apologizing to fans. The statement by drummer Lars Ulrich, guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Rob Trujillo said that anyone who purchased tickets for the remaining show dates would receive automatic refunds. The band had been scheduled to play five Australian cities from Oct. 17 to 29, followed by four shows in New Zealand. The statement said Hetfield has struggled with addiction for years and has re-entered a treatment program. The statement did not elaborate, but the band’s members said they appreciate fans’ understanding and support of the 56-year-old Metallica cofounder.
UNITED STATES
State to ban vaping products
Washington on Friday joined several other states in banning the sale of flavored vaping products amid concern over the mysterious lung illness that has sickened hundreds of people and killed about a dozen across the country. Washington Governor Jay Inslee issued an executive order asking the state Department of Health to issue the emergency rule at its next meeting, scheduled for Oct. 9. The ban is to apply to products containing nicotine as well as the cannabis extract THC. Inslee said the flavored products especially appeal to youth. “We need to act for the public health of our people,” said Inslee, a Democrat. “I’m confident this executive order will save lives.”
UNITED STATES
Fugitive yak killed in crash
A vehicle has hit and killed a yak who rose to Internet fame by making his great escape in Virginia while on the way to a butcher shop. The Washington Post has reported that the owner of the yak, Robert Cissell, said on social media that the animal named Meteor died on Friday morning on US 29 in Nelson County. Meteor had been on the loose since Sept. 10, when he kicked off the back door of a livestock trailer and ran into the mountains. Nelson County Animal Control officer Kevin Wright said there were no witnesses to the collision.
‘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
STICKING TO DEFENSE: Despite the screening of videos in which they appeared, one of the defendants said they had no memory of the event A court trying a Frenchman charged with drugging his wife and enlisting dozens of strangers to rape her screened videos of the abuse to the public on Friday, to challenge several codefendants who denied knowing she was unconscious during their actions. The judge in the southern city of Avignon had nine videos and several photographs of the abuse of Gisele Pelicot shown in the courtroom and an adjoining public chamber, involving seven of the 50 men accused alongside her husband. Present in the courtroom herself, Gisele Pelicot looked at her telephone during the hour and a half of screenings, while her ex-husband
Scientists yesterday announced a milestone in neurobiological research with the mapping of the entire brain of an adult fruit fly, a feat that might provide insight into the brains of other organisms and even people. The research detailed more than 50 million connections between more than 139,000 neurons — brain nerve cells — in the insect, a species whose scientific name is Drosophila melanogaster and is often used in neurobiological studies. The research sought to decipher how brains are wired and the signals underlying healthy brain functions. It could also pave the way for mapping the brains of other species. “You might
PROTESTS: A crowd near Congress waved placards that read: ‘How can we have freedom without education?’ and: ‘No peace for the government’ Argentine President Javier Milei has made good on threats to veto proposed increases to university funding, with the measure made official early yesterday after a day of major student-led protests. Thousands of people joined the demonstration on Wednesday in defense of the country’s public university system — the second large-scale protest in six months on the issue. The law, which would have guaranteed funding for universities, was criticized by Milei, a self-professed “anarcho-capitalist” who came to power vowing to take a figurative chainsaw to public spending to tame chronically high inflation and eliminate the deficit. A huge crowd packed a square outside Congress
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