RUSSIA
Arms stationed in Kurils
Russia has deployed coastal missile defense systems to a remote part of the Kuril Islands in the Pacific near Japan, the Ministry of Defense’s Zvezda TV channel said on Thursday. Japan lays claim to the Russian-held southern Kuril Islands that Tokyo calls the Northern Territories, a territorial row that dates back to the end of World War II, when Soviet troops seized them from Japan. The dispute has prevented them signing a formal peace treaty. Russia used large landing ships to deliver equipment and personnel Matua Island in the central part of the chain, Zvezda said. Russia is trying to beef up its military infrastructure on the island, the ministry said in August.
AUSTRALIA
Appointment draws ire
Lawmaker Craig Kelly — who has been permanently banned from Facebook and criticized for the online distribution of “seriously misleading” information about COVID-19 vaccines — has been appointed to a legislative committee looking into social media and online safety, a move that has raised eyebrows among other members of the committee. Kelly, of the United Australia Party, was in April banned from Facebook over posts promoting hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin, and questioning the effectiveness of masks.
SOLOMON ISLANDS
New unrest looming
The Pacific nation is bracing for further political unrest, with fresh protests and a vote of confidence in the prime minister slated for Monday. The US Department of State has warned Americans in the country of possible “demonstrations leading up to, during, and after the vote” and announced that the consular agency in Honiara would be shut for normal business. “Remember that even peaceful demonstrations can turn violent without warning,” state department officials said yesterday. Last month, a protest against Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare sparked three days of rioting in the capital. At least three people were killed and the city’s Chinatown left in ruins. Order was restored by Australian, Fijian, Papua New Guinean and New Zealand peacekeepers.
UNITED STATES
Man arrested at UN office
The UN headquarters in New York was on Thursday locked down for several hours after a man was seen pacing outside one of its main gates with a loaded shotgun, holding it under his chin at times, police said. The man was taken into custody at about 1:40pm, three hours after police said he was first spotted outside a UN security checkpoint. He was taken to a hospital for evaluation, New York Police Department chief of special operations Harry Wedin said. The gun was loaded with one shotgun shell, Wedin said, adding that the man gave police documents that he said he wanted delivered to the headquarters. UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said: “The papers appeared to be of a medical nature, nothing related to the UN.”
DENMARK
IKEA becomes storm shelter
An IKEA outlet turned into a vast bedroom on Wednesday night, as six customers and about two dozen employees were stranded by a snowstorm and spent the night in the store. Up to 30cm of snow fell, trapping the customers and employees at the outlet in Aalborg. “We slept in the furniture exhibitions and our showroom on the first floor, where we have beds, mattresses and sofa beds,” store manager Peter Elmose told the Ekstra Bladet tabloid. People could “pick the exact bed they always have wanted to try.”
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in 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
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was