CHINA
Tornado leaves 5 dead
A strong tornado on Saturday wreaked havoc through the city of Guangzhou, killing five people and injuring 33, Xinhua news agency said. The tornado, which occurred early afternoon, was accompanied by a hailstorm with hailstones as big as fists, and the extreme weather event lasted until 7pm, the Guangzhou Meteorological Bureau said. The tornado also damaged 141 factories, Xinhua reported. The Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport reported a blackout at one of its terminals late on Saturday, and said that about 70 flights were delayed for more than one hour as of 11pm due to bad weather.
UNITED KINGDOM
Watch sets ‘Titanic’ record
A gold watch found on the body of the richest passenger on the Titanic was on Saturday auctioned in England for ￡1.17 million (US$1.48 million). It was a record sum for an object linked to the notorious 1912 shipping disaster, auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son said. A US buyer won the bidding war, smashing the auctioneer’s presale estimate of between ￡100,000 and ￡150,000. The watch, engraved with the initials JJA, belonged to the US business magnate John Jacob Astor. Astor was 47 when he died as the Titanic sank. He was reputed to be one of the richest men in the world at the time.
RUSSIA
Two journalists arrested
Two Russian journalists were arrested by their government on “extremism” charges and were on Saturday ordered by courts there to remain in custody pending investigation and trial on accusations of preparing materials for a YouTube channel run by a group founded by the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Konstantin Gabov and Sergey Karelin both denied the charges for which they are to be detained for a minimum of two months before any trials begin. Each faces a minimum of two years in prison and a maximum of six years for alleged “participation in an extremist organization,” according to Russian courts.
UNITED STATES
Anti-war protesters detained
Police detained more than 150 people while clearing pro-Palestinian encampments at two US universities on Saturday, in the latest campus clashes triggered by protests over Israel’s war against Hamas. On the East Coast, police in Boston detained about 100 people while clearing a protest camp at Northeastern University, with social media posts showing security forces in riot gear and officers loading tents onto the back of a truck. In the Southwest, Arizona State University police arrested 69 people for trespassing after the group set up an “unauthorized encampment” on campus. The action in Boston was taken after some protesters resorted to “virulent anti-Semitic slurs, including ‘Kill the Jews,’” Northeastern University wrote on X.
UNITED STATES
Harvey Weinstein in hospital
Disgraced Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein was hospitalized on Saturday upon his return to New York after the city’s highest court overturned his 2020 conviction on sex crime charges. The 4-3 decision was a reversal of one of the defining cases of the #MeToo movement, but Weinstein is to remain jailed on a separate 16-year rape sentence. Attorney Arthur Aidala said Weinstein was moved to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan after his arrival on Friday to city jails. “It seems like he needs a lot of help, physically. He’s got a lot of problems. He’s getting all kinds of tests. He’s somewhat of a train wreck health wise,” Aidala said.
MINERAL DEPOSITS: The Pacific nation is looking for new foreign partners after its agreement with Canada’s Metals Co was terminated ‘mutually’ at the end of last year Pacific nation Kiribati says it is exploring a deep-sea mining partnership with China, dangling access to a vast patch of Pacific Ocean harboring coveted metals and minerals. Beijing has been ramping up efforts to court Pacific nations sitting on lucrative seafloor deposits of cobalt, nickel and copper — recently inking a cooperation deal with Cook Islands. Kiribati opened discussions with Chinese Ambassador Zhou Limin (周立民) after a longstanding agreement with leading deep-sea mining outfit The Metals Co fell through. “The talk provides an exciting opportunity to explore potential collaboration for the sustainable exploration of the deep-ocean resources in Kiribati,” the government said
The head of Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic intelligence agency, was sacked yesterday, days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he no longer trusts him, and fallout from a report on the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack. “The Government unanimously approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposal to end ISA Director Ronen Bar’s term of office,” a statement said. He is to leave his post when his successor is appointed by April 10 at the latest, the statement said. Netanyahu on Sunday cited an “ongoing lack of trust” as the reason for moving to dismiss Bar, who joined the agency in 1993. Bar, meant to
Indonesia’s parliament yesterday amended a law to allow members of the military to hold more government roles, despite criticisms that it would expand the armed forces’ role in civilian affairs. The revision to the armed forces law, pushed mainly by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s coalition, was aimed at expanding the military’s role beyond defense in a country long influenced by its armed forces. The amendment has sparked fears of a return to the era of former Indonesian president Suharto, who ex-general Prabowo once served and who used military figures to crack down on dissent. “Now it’s the time for us to ask the
The central Dutch city of Utrecht has installed a “fish doorbell” on a river lock that lets viewers of an online livestream alert authorities to fish being held up as they make their springtime migration to shallow spawning grounds. The idea is simple: An underwater camera at Utrecht’s Weerdsluis lock sends live footage to a Web site. When somebody watching the site sees a fish, they can click a button that sends a screenshot to organizers. When they see enough fish, they alert a water worker who opens the lock to let the fish swim through. Now in its fifth year, the
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