UNITED STATES
Biden to warn China on NK
President Joe Biden is to warn Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) at a meeting tomorrow that North Korea’s continued pursuit of weapons development would lead to an enhanced US military presence in the region, the White House said. The US is concerned that North Korea plans to resume nuclear bomb testing for the first time since 2017 and believes China and Russia have the leverage to persuade it not to do so. Biden and Xi are set to hold their first face-to-face meeting as national leaders on the sidelines of a summit of the G20 grouping of countries in the Indonesian resort island of Bali. National Security AdviserJake Sullivan said Biden would tell Xi that North Korea represented a threat, not just to the US and its allies South Korea and Japan, but to peace and stability across the entire region. “If North Korea keeps going down this road, it will simply mean further enhanced American military and security presence in the region,” he told reporters on Air Force One yesterday, as Biden flew to Cambodia for meetings at the weekend. “And so the People’s Republic of China has an interest in playing a constructive role in restraining North Korea’s worst tendencies,” Sullivan said.
UNITED STATES
Voice of Batman dies
Kevin Conroy, the prolific voice actor whose gravelly delivery on Batman: The Animated Series was for many Batman fans the definite sound of the Caped Crusader, has died at 66. Conroy died on Thursday after a battle with cancer, series producer Warner Bros announced on Friday. Conroy was the voice of Batman on the acclaimed animated series that ran from 1992-1996, often acting opposite Mark Hamill’s Joker. Conroy continued as the almost exclusive animated voice of Batman, including some 15 films, 400 episodes of television and two dozen video games, including the Batman: Arkham and Injustice franchises. In the eight-decade history of Batman, no one played the Dark Knight more. “For several generations, he has been the definitive Batman,” Hamill in a statement. “It was one of those perfect scenarios where they got the exact right guy for the right part, and the world was better for it... He will always be my Batman.”
UNITED STATES
Twitter halts pay system
Twitter on Friday moved to curb fake accounts that have proliferated since billionaire Elon Musk’s takeover, suspending sign-ups for a new paid checkmark system and reinstating a gray “official” badge on some accounts. The U-turn was the latest of a string of chaotic developments at the social network, which has lurched back and forth on the question of account verification since Musk’s US$44 billion buyout late last month. The @TwitterSupport account tweeted early on Friday that a gray checkmark indicating an “official” account was coming back, only days after it was introduced — then almost immediately scrapped. “To combat impersonation, we’ve added an ‘Official’ label to some accounts,” the profile announced. The rollout of the label appeared inconsistent: It appeared briefly then disappeared from the network’s own account, @Twitter. By Friday morning, the firm had also disabled sign-ups for Twitter Blue, the feature touted by free-speech proponent Musk as bringing “power to the people” by offering ordinary users a verified blue tick — until then reserved for prominent accounts — for US$8 per month. An internal memo for Twitter staff, obtained by US media, confirmed the feature had been disabled to “help address impersonation issues.”
Botswana is this week holding a presidential election energized by a campaign by one previous head-of-state to unseat his handpicked successor whose first term has seen rising discontent amid a downturn in the diamond-dependent economy. The charismatic Ian Khama dramatically returned from self-exile six weeks ago determined to undo what he has called a “mistake” in handing over in 2018 to Botswanan President Mokgweetsi Masisi, who seeks re-election tomorrow. While he cannot run as president again having served two terms, Khama has worked his influence and standing to support the opposition in the southern African country of 2.6 million people. “The return of
SOUTH CHINA SEA TENSIONS: Beijing’s ‘pronounced aggressiveness’ and ‘misbehavior’ forced countries to band together, the Philippine defense chief said The Philippines is confident in the continuity of US policies in the Asia-Pacific region after the US presidential election, Philippine Secretary of Defense Gilberto Teodoro said, underlining that bilateral relations would remain strong regardless of the outcome. The alliance between the two countries is anchored in shared security goals and a commitment to uphold international law, including in the contested waters of the South China Sea, Teodoro said. “Our support for initiatives, bilaterally and multilaterally ... is bipartisan, aside from the fact that we are operating together on institutional grounds, on foundational grounds,” Teodoro said in an interview. China’s “misbehavior” in the South
‘SHARP COMPETITION’: Australia is to partner with US-based Lockheed Martin to make guided multiple launch rocket systems, an Australian defense official said Australia is to ramp up missile manufacturing under a plan unveiled yesterday by a top defense official, who said bolstering weapons stockpiles would help keep would-be foes at bay. Australian Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy said the nation would establish a homegrown industry to produce long-range guided missiles and other much-needed munitions. “Why do we need more missiles? Strategic competition between the United States and China is a primary feature of Australia’s security environment,” Conroy said in a speech. “That competition is at its sharpest in our region, the Indo-Pacific.” Australia is to partner with US-based weapons giant Lockheed Martin to make
Pets are not forgotten during Mexico’s Day of the Dead celebrations, when even Fido and Tiger get a place at the altars Mexican families set up to honor their deceased loved ones, complete with flowers, candles and photographs. Although the human dead usually get their favorite food or drink placed on altars, the nature of pet food can make things a little different. The holiday has roots in Mexican pre-Hispanic customs, as does the reverence for animals. The small, hairless dogs that Mexicans kept before the Spanish conquest were believed to help guide their owners to the afterlife, and were sometimes given