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.
HOLLYWOOD IN TURMOIL: Mandy Moore, Paris Hilton and Cary Elwes lost properties to the flames, while awards events planned for this week have been delayed Fires burning in and around Los Angeles have claimed the homes of numerous celebrities, including Billy Crystal, Mandy Moore and Paris Hilton, and led to sweeping disruptions of entertainment events, while at least five people have died. Three awards ceremonies planned for this weekend have been postponed. Next week’s Oscar nominations have been delayed, while tens of thousands of city residents had been displaced and were awaiting word on whether their homes survived the flames — some of them the city’s most famous denizens. More than 1,900 structures had been destroyed and the number was expected to increase. More than 130,000 people
Some things might go without saying, but just in case... Belgium’s food agency issued a public health warning as the festive season wrapped up on Tuesday: Do not eat your Christmas tree. The unusual message came after the city of Ghent, an environmentalist stronghold in the country’s East Flanders region, raised eyebrows by posting tips for recycling the conifers on the dinner table. Pointing with enthusiasm to examples from Scandinavia, the town Web site suggested needles could be stripped, blanched and dried — for use in making flavored butter, for instance. Asked what they thought of the idea, the reply
US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen on Monday met virtually with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) and raised concerns about “malicious cyber activity” carried out by Chinese state-sponsored actors, the US Department of the Treasury said in a statement. The department last month reported that an unspecified number of its computers had been compromised by Chinese hackers in what it called a “major incident” following a breach at contractor BeyondTrust, which provides cybersecurity services. US Congressional aides said no date had been set yet for a requested briefing on the breach, the latest in a serious of cyberattacks
A group of Uyghur men who were detained in Thailand more than one decade ago said that the Thai government is preparing to deport them to China, alarming activists and family members who say the men are at risk of abuse and torture if they are sent back. Forty-three Uyghur men held in Bangkok made a public appeal to halt what they called an imminent threat of deportation. “We could be imprisoned and we might even lose our lives,” the letter said. “We urgently appeal to all international organizations and countries concerned with human rights to intervene immediately to save us from
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