SINGAPORE
Leaders review gay sex law
The government is considering how to safeguard its legal position on marriage between a man and a woman, as the government reviews a colonial-era section of the country’s penal code that criminalizes gay sex, the Straits Times reported on Saturday, citing a top official. Many Singaporeans agree that gay sex should not be criminalized, Minister for Home Affairs K. Shanmugam said. Changing Section 377A of the Penal Code, which has not been enforced for more than a decade, should be discussed and decided in parliament, and not in the courts, he added. He said the government “understands” that many Singaporeans do not want the legal definition of marriage changed, and called for moderation in the debate of gay rights or “the ruptures will tear our social fabric apart,” the newspaper reported.
UNITED STATES
Biden tests positive again
President Joe Biden on Saturday again tested positive for COVID-19, slightly more than three days after he was cleared to exit isolation, the White House said, in a rare case of “rebound” following treatment with the anti-viral drug Paxlovid. White House physician Kevin O’Connor wrote in a letter that Biden “has experienced no re-emergence of symptoms, and continues to feel quite well,” adding that “there is no reason to reinitiate treatment at this time.” In accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, Biden is to re-enter isolation for at least five days.
UNITED STATES
US$1.3bn lottery ticket sold
A single ticket bought in a Chicago suburb beat the odds and won a US$1.337 billion Mega Millions jackpot. Megamillions.com said that there was one jackpot-winning ticket in the draw Friday night, and it was bought at a Speedway fuel station and convenience store in Des Plaines, Illinois. The winning numbers were: 13-36-45-57-67, Mega Ball: 14. The jackpot was the nation’s third-largest lottery prize. It grew so large because no one had matched the game’s six selected numbers in 29 consecutive draws since April 15. Lottery officials had estimated the winning take at US$1.28 billion, but on Saturday revised the number up to US$1.337 billion. The total prize is for winners who choose the annuity option, paid annually over 29 years. Most winners opt for the cash option, which for Friday night’s drawing was an estimated US$780.5 million.
SPAIN
Body positive poster edited
A government campaign encouraging women of all shapes and sizes to hit the beach has backfired, after one of the models featured said her prosthetic leg had been edited out. The likeness of Briton Sian Green-Lord features on the far left of the promotional poster, in a white swimsuit with floral patterns. Compared with an image on her Instagram account, the color of her swimsuit has been changed, and a left leg added where her prosthetic limb should be. “I don’t even know how to even explain the amount of anger that I’m feeling right now. I’m literally shaking, I’m so angry,” said the motivational speaker and model, who lost a leg when she was hit by a taxi in New York in 2013. “There’s one thing using my image without my permission, but there’s another thing editing my body, my body with my prosthetic leg. I don’t even know what to say but it’s beyond wrong.” The artist behind the body positive campaign poster, Arte Mapache, has apologized for using the models’ likenesses without their permission, and for using a typeface that she had understood to be free.
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
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