AUSTRALIA
Koala rescued after pileup
A koala has been rescued after causing a five-car pileup while trying to cross a six-lane freeway in the country’s south. The animal’s rescuer said she got out of her vehicle to investigate what had caused the pileup. Nadia Tugwell, with her coat in hand, teamed up with a stranger clutching a blanket to capture the marsupial. A concrete highway divider had blocked the koala’s crossing. The koala later was released in a forest.
NEW ZEALAND
China ban prompts query
The government yesterday said it is urgently seeking clarification from Chinese authorities after Beijing suspended imports from two of its seafood factories. Shipments from a Sanford Ltd facility that processes mussels and a Sealord Group fish processing plant have been suspended due to “issues around the interpretation of the World Health Organization’s COVID guidance, and food safety management,” the Ministry for Primary Industries said. The move followed live video audits by Chinese customs at both premises late last month, it said. Chinese shoppers are growing reluctant to buy overseas food products after COVID-19 infections were reported among people handling such items.
CAMBODIA
Vaccination program begins
The country yesterday launched its COVID-19 inoculation drive, using 600,000 vaccine doses donated by China, with the sons of long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen and government ministers among the first recipients. Hun Sen had vowed to take the first dose, but later said that at 68 he was above the age to get the vaccine, made by Sinopharm. His sons and the justice and environment ministers were among the first to get it instead. “I feel even more confident that I have a defense system in my body against COVID,” said Hun Manet, the prime minister’s eldest son, flashing a thumbs-up sign at the Calmette Hospital in the capital, Phnom Penh.
CHINA
Publisher imprisoned
Publisher Geng Xiaonan (耿小南), 46, who spoke out in support of a dissident academic, has been jailed for three years in Beijing after she pleaded guilty to illegal business operations. Geng and her husband, Qin Zhen, were arrested in September last year on suspicion of publishing thousands of illegal titles. According to reports, Geng told the court she was guilty of the charges against her, that she was the primary decisionmaker, and asked it to show leniency to her husband and staff who were just following instructions. She also asked for leniency for herself, because she was sole carer to her ailing father. Qin was given a suspended sentence of two-and-a-half years.
ISRAEL
People take up screaming
Tired of COVID-19 confinement and seeking both communion and emotional release, some Israelis have taken to group screaming. While some Israelis take part in street demonstrations, others take to nature and shout to the heavens. “We decided to meet, our group together, in order to take the group screaming so that we can release our bad energies,” Mary Peery said, leading 10 mostly elderly companions on a yell-punctuated hike through an orange orchard and over a hilltop. “When we do it in a group it’s like a prayer ... and maybe God will hear us and release us from this COVID-19 curse.” To scream, the group stood in choric proximity and removed their masks.
UNITED STATES
‘Gorilla Glue’ fails on hair
Louisiana resident Tessica Brown last week posted a video on TikTok saying that she used “Gorilla Glue” industrial-strength spray adhesive after her regular hair product ran out. “Bad, bad, bad idea,” said Brown, on the verge of tears. Her story has gone viral. On Saturday, Brown posted photographs of herself at a hospital, but the visit failed to solve the problem. She started a fundraising campaign on GoFundMe to cover the medical costs of her treatment and had raised more than US$15,000 by Tuesday.
FRANCE
Le Pen on trial for IS tweets
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen yesterday went on trial on charges that she broke hate speech laws by posting images of Islamic State (IS) atrocities on Twitter. Opinion polls show that Le Pen is likely to face off again against Emmanuel Macron in next year’s presidential contest, after her National Rally party made its strongest showing ever in the 2017 vote. Le Pen shared the gruesome images in December 2015, a few weeks after IS militants killed 130 people in attacks in Paris, in response to a journalist who drew a comparison between IS and her party.
UNITED KINGDOM
Fossil fuels linked to deaths
Air pollution caused by the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and oil was responsible for 8.7 million deaths globally in 2018, research has found. Countries with the most prodigious consumption of fossil fuels are experiencing the highest death tolls, with the study finding more than one in 10 deaths in both the US and Europe were caused by the resulting pollution, along with nearly one-third of deaths in eastern Asia. “We are discovering more and more about the impact of this pollution,” said Eloise Marais, a geographer at University College London and a study coauthor. “The more we look for impacts, the more we find.”
UNITED STATES
Oscars shortlist unveiled
An expose about government corruption around a Bucharest nightclub fire, a look into the extent of the FBI’s surveillance of Martin Luther King Jr and an exploration of the origins of the disability rights movement are among the documentary films that are advancing to the next round of Oscar voting. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences yesterday unveiled its shortlists for several categories, including documentary feature, international feature, original song, original score, visual effects and makeup, and hairstyling. Titles as diverse as Tenet (for score and visual effects), Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (for the original song Wuhan Flu) and Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Story (for score, song and makeup) are in the initial mix. Academy award nominations are to be unveiled on March 15.
UNITED STATES
Suit against Trump winds up
A former contestant on The Apprentice is trying to get her defamation lawsuit against former president Donald Trump moving again now that he is out of office. Summer Zervos — who is suing Trump for calling her a liar after she accused him of sexually assaulting her in 2007 — last week asked New York State’s highest court to dismiss an appeal from Trump that had put the case on hold. The appeal had argued that a sitting president cannot be sued in a state court. Now that he is out of office, the “issues presented have become moot,” Zervos’ lawyers, Beth Wilkinson and Moira Penza, wrote in yesterday’s filing.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
UNSCHEDULED VISIT: ‘It’s a very bulky new neighbor, but it will soon go away,’ said Johan Helberg of the 135m container ship that run aground near his house A man in Norway awoke early on Thursday to discover a huge container ship had run aground a stone’s throw from his fjord-side house — and he had slept through the commotion. For an as-yet unknown reason, the 135m NCL Salten sailed up onto shore just meters from Johan Helberg’s house in a fjord near Trondheim in central Norway. Helberg only discovered the unexpected visitor when a panicked neighbor who had rung his doorbell repeatedly to no avail gave up and called him on the phone. “The doorbell rang at a time of day when I don’t like to open,” Helberg told television
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