AUSTRALIA
New Zealand flights nixed
Flights carrying New Zealanders returning home from New South Wales state that were scheduled to start yesterday have been called off after a COVID-19 outbreak in Sydney worsened, New Zealand Minister of Education Chris Hipkins, who overseas the country’s virus response, told a news conference on Friday. “Clearly there is an escalating risk in New South Wales,” Hipkins said. New Zealand has suspended quarantine-free travel with New South Wales. Australian authorities on Friday pleaded with Sydney residents to stay at home, warning that a three-week lockdown might be extended, as the city reported its the biggest rise in local cases this year.
CHINA
Ministry chides boycott call
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday criticized what it called the “politicization of sports” after British lawmakers urged a boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games unless China allows an investigation of alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang. A boycott “will not succeed,” ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin (汪文斌) said. The British Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee called for efforts to urge British firms to boycott the Games, scheduled for February next year. The appeal adds to pressure on Chinese Communist Party over reports of mass detentions of ethnic minorities in the northwestern region. “China firmly opposes the politicization of sports and the interference in other countries’ internal affairs by using human rights issues as a pretext,” Wang said. China, which rejects the accusations, has denied the UN unfettered access to the region to investigate the claims.
UNITED STATES
Spelling Bee streak broken
Whether dribbling a basketball or identifying obscure Latin or Greek roots, Zaila Avant-garde did not show much stress as she became the first African American winner in the 96-year history of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. The 14-year-old from Harvey, Louisiana, breezed to the championship on Thursday night. The only previous black winner was also the only champ from outside the US: Jody-Anne Maxwell of Jamaica in 1998. Zaila said she hopes that many would be following in her footsteps. “I’m hoping that within the next few years, I can see a little bit of an influx of African Americans,” she said. The competiotion has long been a showcase for spellers of color. Nine of the 11 finalists were of South Asian descent, and Zaila’s win breaks a streak of at least one South Asian winner every year since 2008.
FRANCE
‘Air Cocaine’ crew acquitted
Two French pilots convicted for their role in a 2013 drugs bust on a private jet in the Dominican Republic were on Thursday acquitted on appeal by a French court. The two men had been sentenced to six years in prison in what had become known as the “Air Cocaine” case, an attempt to smuggle 680kg of the drug out of the country. Pascal Fauret and Bruno Odos denied that they knew the cocaine was on board. A key figure in the affair, who did not appeal his own conviction, said the two pilots had been “conned.” In March 2013, Dominican police found the narcotics packed into 26 suitcases on board a Falcon 50 jet as it prepared to fly from the beach resort of Punta Cana to Saint-Tropez in the south of France. While out on bail, the two pilots managed to flee the country to a French territory in the Caribbean, but were rearrested upon return to the French mainland in 2015.
Romania’s electoral commission on Saturday excluded a second far-right hopeful, Diana Sosoaca, from May’s presidential election, amid rising tension in the run-up to the May rerun of the poll. Earlier this month, Romania’s Central Electoral Bureau barred Calin Georgescu, an independent who was polling at about 40 percent ahead of the rerun election. Georgescu, a fierce EU and NATO critic, shot to prominence in November last year when he unexpectedly topped a first round of presidential voting. However, Romania’s constitutional court annulled the election after claims of Russian interference and a “massive” social media promotion in his favor. On Saturday, an electoral commission statement
Chinese authorities increased pressure on CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd over its plan to sell its Panama ports stake by sharing a second newspaper commentary attacking the deal. The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office on Saturday reposted a commentary originally published in Ta Kung Pao, saying the planned sale of the ports by the Hong Kong company had triggered deep concerns among Chinese people and questioned whether the deal was harming China and aiding evil. “Why were so many important ports transferred to ill-intentioned US forces so easily? What kind of political calculations are hidden in the so-called commercial behavior on the
‘DOWNSIZE’: The Trump administration has initiated sweeping cuts to US government-funded media outlets in a move critics said could undermine the US’ global influence US President Donald Trump’s administration on Saturday began making deep cuts to Voice of America (VOA) and other government-run, pro-democracy programming, with the organization’s director saying all VOA employees have been put on leave. On Friday night, shortly after the US Congress passed its latest funding bill, Trump directed his administration to reduce the functions of several agencies to the minimum required by law. That included the US Agency for Global Media, which houses Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Asia and Radio Marti, which beams Spanish-language news into Cuba. On Saturday morning, Kari Lake, a former Arizona gubernatorial and US
Indonesia’s parliament yesterday amended a law to allow members of the military to hold more government roles, despite criticisms that it would expand the armed forces’ role in civilian affairs. The revision to the armed forces law, pushed mainly by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s coalition, was aimed at expanding the military’s role beyond defense in a country long influenced by its armed forces. The amendment has sparked fears of a return to the era of former Indonesian president Suharto, who ex-general Prabowo once served and who used military figures to crack down on dissent. “Now it’s the time for us to ask the
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