HONG KONG
Canada’s move condemned
Senior officials yesterday said they were “very disappointed” at Canada’s decision to suspend its extradition treaty with the territory and again slammed Washington for “interfering” in its affairs. Beijing imposed new national security legislation on the territory, despite protests from residents and Western nations, setting the territory on a more authoritarian track. “The Canadian government needs to explain to the rule of law, and explain to the world, why it allows fugitives not to bear their legal responsibilities,” Secretary for Security John Lee (李家超) told a radio program. Lee said he was very disappointed and that he strongly opposed Canada’s move, as it let politics override the rule of law. The comments followed Canada’s statement on Friday that it was suspending the treaty with the territory in the wake of the new legislation and could boost immigration from the territory.
CHINA
New donation rules mulled
The government is planning changes in its organ donation rules to tackle a shortage of donors and curb illicit harvesting after it stopped taking tissue from executed prisoners five years ago. The draft rules published on Wednesday by the National Health Commission allow people to donate the organs of relatives who have died. They also make it illegal to take organs from living minors as the country tries to stamp out child trafficking for harvesting. The draft law is available for public comment until the end of the month and no timeline has been set for debate or adoption by the legislature.
TURKEY
Factory blast kills four
Four people were killed and about 100 injured in an explosion that rocked a fireworks factory in the country’s northwest on Friday, Minister of Health Fahrettin Koca said. The government’s disaster agency called the explosion an “industrial accident” in Sakarya Province. “As of right now, four people have died ... and 97 people injured were taken to hospital,” Koca said. Sixteen of them were swiftly discharged from hospital, he added. Minister of the Interior Suleyman Soylu said three factory workers were still missing, adding that the resultant fire had been brought under control.
ETHIOPIA
Prime minister alleges plot
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Friday said that the killing of a popular singer and subsequent violence that has left nearly 100 dead this week represented “coordinated attempts” to destabilize the country. “Those external and internal forces who were not successful with the Great Ethiopia Renaissance Dam issue have tried their utmost efforts to create chaos at this time,” he said, alluding to tensions with Egypt over the construction of a large hydropower dam. Singer Hachalu Hundessa, a member of the Oromo ethnic group, the country’s largest, was shot dead in the capital, Addis Ababa, on Monday night.
SOMALIA
Explosions rock two cities
Explosions yesterday rocked two of the country’s largest cities as a suicide car bomb detonated near the port in the capital, Mogadishu, and a land mine exploded in a restaurant on the outskirts of Baidoa, killing four people. Ali Abdullahi, an official with the southwestern regional state, told reporters that the mine was detonated by remote control as people were dining during the morning rush. Several others were wounded, he said.
PHISHING: The con might appear convincing, as the scam e-mails can coincide with genuine messages from Apple saying you have run out of storage For a while you have been getting messages from Apple saying “your iCloud storage is full.” They say you have exceeded your storage plan, so documents are no longer being backed up, and photos you take are not being uploaded. You have been resisting Apple’s efforts to get you to pay a minimum of ￡0.99 (US$1.33) a month for more storage, but it seems that you cannot keep putting off the inevitable: You have received an e-mail which says your iCloud account has been blocked, and your photos and videos would be deleted very soon. To keep them you need
For two decades, researchers observed members of the Ngogo chimpanzee group of Kibale National Park in Uganda spend their days eating fruits and leaves, resting, traveling and grooming in their tropical rainforest abode, but this stable community then fractured and descended into years of deadly violence. The researchers are now describing the first clearly documented example of a group of wild chimpanzees splitting into two separate factions, with one launching a series of coordinated attacks against the other. Adult males and infants were targeted, with 28 deaths. “Biting, pounding the victim with their hands, dragging them, kicking them — mostly adult males,
The Israeli military has demolished entire villages as part of its invasion of south Lebanon, rigging homes with explosives and razing them to the ground in massive remote detonations. The Guardian reviewed three videos posted by the Israeli military and on social media, which showed Israel carrying out mass detonations in the villages of Taybeh, Naqoura and Deir Seryan along the Israel-Lebanon border. Lebanese media has reported more mass detonations in other border villages, but satellite imagery was not readily available to verify these claims. The demolitions came after Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz called for the destruction of
SUPERFAN: The Japanese PM played keyboard in a Deep Purple tribute band in middle school and then switched to drums at university, she told the British rock band Legendary British rock band Deep Purple yesterday made Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s day with a brief visit to their high-profile superfan as they returned to the nation they first toured more than half a century ago. Takaichi’s reputation as an amateur drummer, and a fan of hard rock and heavy metal has been well documented, and she has referred to Deep Purple as one of her favorite bands along with the likes of Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden. “You are my god,” a giddy Takaichi said in English to Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice, presenting him with a set of made-in-Japan
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