UNITED KINGDOM
Closer ties with Asia sought
London is committed to forming ever closer links with countries in the Indo-Pacific region, including greater economic, security and defense cooperation, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs James Cleverly said in a speech in Singapore yesterday. Cleverly, whose trip to the region also included visits to Japan and South Korea, told the audience of business, finance and academic leaders that Britain is set to have “the broadest, most integrated presence in the Indo-Pacific by 2030.” The government is seeking to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which removes 95 percent of tariffs between its 11 members. “We intend to be the first European country to accede to the CPTPP — which will give the region access to the UK’s world-class financial services sector and the world’s sixth-largest economy,” he said. Taiwan and China are also seeking to become members of the trade bloc.
AUSTRALIA
Court to get female majority
Most judges on the highest court are to be women for the first time in the institution’s 121-year history, the attorney-general said yesterday. Justice Jayne Jagot is to fill a High Court vacancy on its seven-judge bench when Justice Patrick Keane retires on Oct. 17, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said. Jagot has been a Federal Court judge since 2008. Dreyfus said Jagot’s gender did not figure in his decision to choose her after consultations with leading judges and lawyers. “This was an appointment of the best possible person to the High Court,” Dreyfus told reporters. “Justice Jagot is an eminent jurist and brings tremendous experience and was nominated by very, very many people.” Jargot would be the 56th judge and only the seventh woman to serve on the High Court since it was created in 1901.
DENMARK
Queen revokes titles
Queen Margrethe, Europe’s only reigning queen and the continent’s longest serving monarch, on Wednesday stripped four of her eight grandchildren of their titles, the royal palace announced. The official reason was to allow the four children of her youngest son, Prince Joachim, to live more normal lives, and follows similar moves by other royal families in Europe to slim down their monarchies, the palace said. “As of January 1, 2023, the descendants of His Royal Highness Prince Joachim will only be able to use their titles of Count and Countess of Monpezat, their previous titles of Prince and Princess of Denmark ceasing to exist,” the royal palace wrote in a statement.
UNITED STATES
Rapper Coolio dies aged 59
Coolio, a rapper best known for the chart-topping 1995 song Gangsta’s Paradise, has died, his manager said on Wednesday. He was 59 years old. The Grammy-winner passed away in Los Angeles. No cause of death was immediately provided. Coolio’s friend and long-standing manager Jarez Posey confirmed the news to Agence France-Presse without providing additional details. Posey told celebrity news Web site TMZ that Coolio was found unresponsive in the bathroom of a friend’s house on Wednesday afternoon. Born Artis Leon Ivey Jr on August 1, 1963, in Pennsylvania, the artist spent most of his life in Compton, California, attending community college and working jobs including airport security before finding success in rap. He began his music career in the late 1980s, digging roots in the Los Angeles scene by 1994 when he signed to Tommy Boy Records.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of