NEW ZEALAND
Anti-vaxxers ‘hurled urine’
Police accused anti-vaccine demonstrators of throwing human waste at them yesterday. The protesters nearly two weeks ago took control of the parliamentary grounds and surrounding streets, setting up a camp that continues to grow. The number of vehicles clogging downtown roads almost doubled to 800 over the weekend. In a bid to prevent further expansion, about 300 police at 3:30am escorted forklifts that were used to place concrete barricades on key roads. “Seven officers sustained injuries during the operation, ranging from scratches to an ankle injury,” police said in statement. “Some officers also had human waste thrown over them by protesters.”
JAPAN
Booster bid too slow: poll
A vast majority of residents think that the rollout of booster shots against COVID-19 is too slow and give mixed reviews to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, including last week’s decision to ease border rules, polls show. About 73 percent of respondents to a Kyodo news agency opinion poll over the weekend felt that the government’s rollout of booster shots has been far too slow, although 54.1 percent approved of how it had tackled the coronavirus overall. As of Friday, only about 12 percent of the population had received booster shots even though nearly 30 percent of the country is 65 or older and at greater risk without the protection of the booster.
CHINA
Coverage to add fertility aid
Beijing is to include 16 fertility services that use assisted reproductive technologies and are to be covered by the city’s public insurance from March 26, in a move to “take proactive fertility support measures,” the Beijing Daily reported. The new reproductive coverage could help lower out-of-pocket costs and benefit couples in lower income brackets seeking to have babies, and those with little or no access to private medical insurance. Official data showed that the country’s birthrate last year dropped to a record low, extending a downward trend that led the national government last year to begin allowing couples to have up to three children.
MYANMAR
ICJ case to replace Suu Kyi
The military government was to replace ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi at the UN International Court of Justice (ICJ) yesterday, as it seeks to dismiss a case over the alleged genocide of Rohingya Muslims. Aung San Suu Kyi personally presented the country’s arguments at the ICJ when the case was first heard in December 2019. Aung San Suu Kyi is under house arrest and trial by the same generals she defended in The Hague. In its “preliminary objections” yesterday, Myanmar was to argue that the court has no jurisdiction over the case, and must throw it out before it moves on to substantive hearings.
KAZAKHSTAN
Ex-official held over unrest
The government has detained former minister of defense Murat Bektanov after prosecutors launched a probe against him for failing to fulfil his duties during violent unrest last month, the Prosecutor General’s Office said yesterday. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has described the deadliest unrest in the country’s post-Soviet history as an attempted coup, and another senior security official, a former head of the National Security Committee, has been arrested on charges of treason and abuse of office. Tokayev sacked Bektanov as minister last month, saying that he had shown no initiative during the unrest.
SPAIN
Hundreds rally for Ukraine
About 500 people, many of them Ukrainians, on Sunday rallied in central Madrid against the threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Participants waved blue and yellow Ukranian flags or wore them draped over their backs in the Plaza de Espana. “Stop Putin” and “Say yes to Ukraine,” were among the signs held up at the demonstration. “We are all worried, we are fearful because don’t know what will happen tomorrow,” Ruslan Sendzyuk, a Ukrainian living in Madrid, told AFPTV at the protest.
UNITED STATES
Tim Scott would be Trump VP
The only black Republican in the Senate, Tim Scott of South Carolina, has indicated a willingness to be former president Donald Trump’s running mate should he mount another White House campaign. Asked by Fox News if he would consider joining a Trump ticket in 2024, Scott said: “Everybody wants to be on president Trump’s bandwagon, without any question.” The remark prompted criticism, in light of Trump’s long history of incendiary rhetoric on race. Scott, 56, is widely seen as a contender for the Republican nomination itself, although most observers think it remains Trump’s for the taking.
MEXICO
Ancient artifacts returned
Two Dutch citizens have returned 17 archeological artifacts that they had in their possession for three decades, the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Sunday. The return of the artifacts comes as Mexico works to recover thousands of archeological pieces that were illegally removed from the country — 6,000 have come back so far, official figures showed. Hubert de Boer and Liesebeth Mellis, who had been in possession of the items for 30 years, handed over the clay pieces during a ceremony at the Mexican embassy in the Netherlands. It is not clear how the two came into possession of the objects, which include a few small human figurines made between 400 and 1521 AD.
UNITED STATES
Madoff relatives found dead
The sister of Wall Street fraudster Bernie Madoff and her husband were found dead in what investigators said was an apparent murder-suicide in Florida, according to news reports. The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office on Sunday identified the couple as 87-year-old Sondra Wiener of Boynton Beach and her 90-year-old husband, Marvin. They were found unresponsive with gunshot wounds inside their residence on Thursday afternoon. “Detectives from the Violent Crimes Division championshiparrived on scene to investigate further. After further investigation it appears to be a murder/suicide,” a sheriff’s office statement said.
UNITED STATES
Disabled teen wows with win
A Virginia high-school senior who was born with no right leg and a left leg that ends at the middle of his thigh took home a state wrestling championship, surprising everyone but himself. “Really if you work hard, you can do anything — even win a state championship without legs,” Adonis Lattimore said on Saturday, after winning first place in the Virginia High School League Class 6, 106 pound (48kg) weight class at the Virginia Beach Sports Center. The Virginian-Pilot reported that the Landstown High School senior, who also has just one finger on his right hand, had Eagles coach James Sanderlin cheering wildly, while the crowd roared its approval during the final seconds as he defeated his opponent. “Amazing,” Sanderlin said. “He did all the work. I just get to be a part of the journey.”
The governor of Ohio is to send law enforcement and millions of dollars in healthcare resources to the city of Springfield as it faces a surge in temporary Haitian migrants. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on Tuesday said that he does not oppose the Temporary Protected Status program under which about 15,000 Haitians have arrived in the city of about 59,000 people since 2020, but said the federal government must do more to help affected communities. On Monday, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost directed his office to research legal avenues — including filing a lawsuit — to stop the federal government from sending
A Zurich city councilor has apologized and reportedly sought police protection against threats after she fired a sport pistol at an auction poster of a 14th-century Madonna and child painting, and posted images of their bullet-ridden faces on social media. Green-Liberal party official Sanija Ameti, 32, put the images on Instagram over the weekend before quickly pulling them down. She later wrote on social media that she had been practicing shots from about 10m and only found the poster as “big enough” for a suitable target. “I apologize to the people who were hurt by my post. I deleted it immediately when I
At first, Francis Ari Sture thought a human was trying to shove him down the steep Norwegian mountainside. Then he saw the golden eagle land. “We are staring at each other for, maybe, a whole minute,” Sture said on Monday. “I’m trying to think what’s in its mind.” The bird then attacked Sture five more times on Thursday last week, scratching and clawing the 31-year-old bicycle courier’s face and arms over 10 to 15 minutes as he sprinted down the mountain. The same eagle is believed to be responsible for attacks on three other people across a vast mountainous area of southern Norway
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is to visit Russia next month for a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) said on Thursday, a move that comes as Moscow and Beijing seek to counter the West’s global influence. Xi’s visit to Russia would be his second since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but it has backed the Kremlin’s contentions that Russia’s action was provoked by the West, and it continues to supply key components needed by Moscow for
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