UNITED STATES
Judge drops Twitter suit
A California judge has dismissed a Twitter lawsuit against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in which the social platform accused the Republican of using his office to retaliate against Twitter for banning the account of former president Donald Trump. Paxton announced an investigation into Twitter and four other major technology firms for what he called “the seemingly coordinated de-platforming of the President.” Twitter on March 8 responded with the federal lawsuit. In her ruling, Senior District Judge Maxine Chesney of San Francisco ruled that Paxton’s administrative summonses were not “self-executing,” meaning that Twitter was not bound to comply with them absent a court order, so she dismissed the social media firm’s suit.
UNITED STATES
Internet subsidies begin
Americans could yesterday begin applying for US$50 off their monthly Internet bill as part of an emergency government program to keep people connected during the COVID-19 pandemic. The US$3.2 billion program is part of December last year’s US$900 billion pandemic-relief package. The government is increasing spending on broadband as the pandemic meant that millions of Americans did not have access to and could not afford broadband when jobs, school and healthcare were moving online. It is unclear how long the money would last, but it is expected to be several months. Tens of millions of people are eligible.
UNITED STATES
Bear’s bold antics surprise
Residents of an Arizona border city were left in disbelief by a surprise visit from a bear. The Arizona Game and Fish Department said the bear appeared on Sunday in downtown Douglas. Bolder than your average bear, the animal climbed up two utility poles and even sat on the wires at one point. State wildlife officials, Douglas police, the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office and Border Patrol closed off Highway 191 and tried to get the bear to leave. Authorities said that the seemingly unfazed bear eventually climbed down and scampered off, sending about two dozen onlookers scattering.
UNITED STATES
Huge telescope set for space
The world’s largest and most powerful space telescope on Tuesday unfolded its giant golden mirror for the last time on Earth, a key milestone before the US$10 billion observatory is launched in to space later this year. The James Webb Space Telescope’s 6.5m mirror was commanded to fully expand and lock itself into place, NASA said — a final test to ensure it will survive its 1.6 million kilometer journey and is ready to discover the origins of the Universe. “It’s like building a Swiss watch at 40 feet-tall [12m] ... and getting it ready for this journey that we take into the vacuum at minus-240°C, four times further than the moon,” said Scott Willoughby of lead contractor Northrop Grumman.
UNITED STATES
Basquiat sells for US$93.1m
Jean-Michel Basquiat’s painting In this Case on Tuesday sold for US$93.1 million in an auction at Christie’s in New York, the second-highest price paid for a work by the late artist. The 1983 painting, which depicts a skull on a red background, sold for US$81 million, but with fees and commissions the final price came to US$93.1 million, well above the estimate of US$50 million. In a sign of Basquiat’s growing status in the art world, the same canvas was sold in November 2002 for just US$999,500, barely more than one-100th of the price paid on Tuesday.
UKRAINE
Putin ally indicted
Kiev on Tuesday indicted Viktor Medvedchuk, a top opposition figure who is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, with treason and attempts to steal natural resources from Russia-annexed Crimea. Along with the indictment, security service agents also searched Medvedchuk’s house. Prosecutor-General Irina Venediktova said that charges under several articles were brought against Medvedchuk’s business partner Taras Kozak. The charges carry potential sentences of up to 15 years. Medvedchuk is accused of transferring oil and gas production licenses from one of the fields in Crimea to Russian authorities. “Medvedchuk, as the organizer of illegal activities, having strong ties with the top leadership of the Russian Federation, began subversive activities against Ukraine, including in the economic sphere,” Venediktova said at a briefing. Medvedchuk is also charged with disclosing secret data on the deployment of Ukrainian military units last year.
UNITED NATIONS
Election integrity urged
UN Special Representative for Iraq Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert on Tuesday urged voters to uphold the integrity of “all-important national elections” in October, saying that the world will be watching to see that voting is free and transparent without political pressure or interference. Hennis-Plasschaert told the UN Security Council that Iraqis demanded these elections during demonstrations in which some paid with their lives and “now is not the time to let them down.” She said: “For elections to be trusted, disinformation must be combated with facts, and intimidation must be replaced with accountability. The failure to hold credible elections would cause significant, lasting, widespread anger and disillusionment, which in turn could further destabilize the country at a time where strength and unity are desperately needed.”
EGYPT
Suez Canal to be widened
Cairo on Tuesday announced plans to widen and deepen the southern part of the Suez Canal where a hulking vessel ran aground and closed off the crucial waterway in March. The head of the Suez Canal Authority, Lieutenant General Osama Rabie, announced details of the plan in a televised ceremony in the canal’s city of Ismailia. President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and top government officials attended the ceremony. The plan includes widening the canal’s southernmost stretch by about 40m to the east, on the side of the Sinai Peninsula, Rabie said. That segment would also be deepened to 21.9m from the current 20.1m. That part of the canal is 30km long. The plan also includes a 10km extension of a second lane of the waterway that opened in 2015. That would bring the double-lane stretch of the canal to 82km, allowing more vessels to use the canal at the same time.
EGYPT
Tombs found in Sohag
Archeologists have discovered about 250 tombs in the country’s southern province of Sohag, dating back about 4,200 years, the Ministry of Antiquities said on Tuesday. The graves “include some with a well or several burial wells, and other cemeteries with a sloping corridor that ends with a burial room,” the ministry said in a statement. Supreme Council of Antiquities Secretary-General Mostafa Waziri said that one tomb dating back to the Old Kingdom had faint remains of hieroglyphic inscriptions and a chamber for “sacrifices.”
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese