GUAM
Coral bleaching avoided
Vulnerable coral reefs on Guam have not experienced severe bleaching that was predicted for this year, officials said. Pacific Daily News reported that the Guam Bureau of Statistics and Plans said a mass coral bleaching event indicated by satellite measurements of sea surface temperatures did not occur. Recent stormy weather including Super Typhoon Hagibis might have contributed to the coral’s survival through cloud cover that cooled surface water temperatures, officials said, adding that storms and wind were also likely to have created a cooling water movement.
AUSTRALIA
Man paid out for jail time
An economist who wrongfully spent nearly two decades in prison for the assassination of a high-ranking police officer was yesterday awarded more than A$7 million (US$4.74 million) in compensation. Former public servant David Eastman was convicted in 1995 of killing Australian Federal Police officer Colin Winchester and sentenced to life in prison. Eastman, who had always maintained his innocence and mounted several appeals, was freed in 2014 after his conviction was quashed.
VIETNAM
Film pulled over map
The country has pulled DreamWorks’ animated film Abominable from cinemas over a scene featuring a map that shows China’s unilaterally declared “nine-dash line” in the South China Sea, state media reported yesterday. The U-shaped line is a feature used on Chinese maps to illustrate its claims over vast expanses of the resource-rich South China Sea, including large swathes of what Vietnam regards as its continental shelf, where it has awarded oil concessions. “We will revoke” the film’s licence, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Ta Quang Dong was quoted as saying by Thanh Nien newspaper.
THAILAND
Royal puppies unveiled
Eight puppies related to the pet dog of late King Bhumibol Adulyadej have been revealed, as the country observed the third anniversary of the monarch’s death. The black, brown and white puppies were born from two royal dogs artificially inseminated with semen from two male offspring of Khun Thong Daeng, the late king’s pet. The project was supported by King Maha Vajiralongkorn, who was crowned this year after a mourning period for his father. “King Maha Vajiralongkorn kindly wished that Khun Thong Daeng’s lineage be extended so that the people may remember late King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Khun Thong Daeng,” Kasetsart University said in a statement. Khun Thong Daeng died in 2015 and was beloved by many Thais for her loyalty to the late king.
UNITED STATES
Hunter Biden leaves board
Facing intense scrutiny from President Donald Trump and his Republican allies, Hunter Biden on Sunday said he would step down from the board of directors of a Chinese-backed private equity firm at the end of the month as part of a pledge not to work on behalf of any foreign-owned companies should his father win the presidency. Biden, the 49-year-old son of former vice president Joe Biden revealed his plan in an Internet post written by his attorney, George Mesires, who outlined a defense of the younger Biden’s work in Ukraine and China, which has emerged as one of Trump’s chief lines of attack against Hunter’s father.
Yemen’s separatist leader has vowed to keep working for an independent state in the country’s south, in his first social media post since he disappeared earlier this month after his group briefly seized swathes of territory. Aidarous al-Zubaidi’s United Arab Emirates (UAE)-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces last month captured two Yemeni provinces in an offensive that was rolled back by Saudi strikes and Riyadh’s allied forces on the ground. Al-Zubaidi then disappeared after he failed to board a flight to Riyadh for talks earlier this month, with Saudi Arabia accusing him of fleeing to Abu Dhabi, while supporters insisted he was
‘SHOCK TACTIC’: The dismissal of Yang mirrors past cases such as Jang Song-thaek, Kim’s uncle, who was executed after being accused of plotting to overthrow his nephew North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has fired his vice premier, compared him to a goat and railed against “incompetent” officials, state media reported yesterday, in a rare and very public broadside against apparatchiks at the opening of a critical factory. Vice Premier Yang Sung-ho was sacked “on the spot,” the state-run Korean Central News Agency said, in a speech in which Kim attacked “irresponsible, rude and incompetent leading officials.” “Please, comrade vice premier, resign by yourself when you can do it on your own before it is too late,” Kim reportedly said. “He is ineligible for an important duty. Put simply, it was
The Chinese Embassy in Manila yesterday said it has filed a diplomatic protest against a Philippine Coast Guard spokesman over a social media post that included cartoonish images of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Jay Tarriela and an embassy official had been trading barbs since last week over issues concerning the disputed South China Sea. The crucial waterway, which Beijing claims historic rights to despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis, has been the site of repeated clashes between Chinese and Philippine vessels. Tarriela’s Facebook post on Wednesday included a photo of him giving a
‘TERRORIST ATTACK’: The convoy of Brigadier General Hamdi Shukri resulted in the ‘martyrdom of five of our armed forces,’ the Presidential Leadership Council said A blast targeting the convoy of a Saudi Arabian-backed armed group killed five in Yemen’s southern city of Aden and injured the commander of the government-allied unit, officials said on Wednesday. “The treacherous terrorist attack targeting the convoy of Brigadier General Hamdi Shukri, commander of the Second Giants Brigade, resulted in the martyrdom of five of our armed forces heroes and the injury of three others,” Yemen’s Saudi Arabia-backed Presidential Leadership Council said in a statement published by Yemeni news agency Saba. A security source told reporters that a car bomb on the side of the road in the Ja’awla area in
RSS