HONG KONG
Activists’ sentences quashed
The territory’s top court yesterday quashed the prison terms of three Tiananmen vigil activists, saying that it was a “miscarriage of justice” to jail them for refusing to submit information to national security police. Authorities in 2021 used Beijing’s National Security Law against the now-disbanded Hong Kong Alliance, which organized vigils to mark Beijing’s 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown before the events were banned. Three group leaders — Chow Hang-tung (鄒幸彤), Tang Ngok-kwan (鄧岳君) and Tsui Hon-kwong (徐漢光) — were jailed, each for four-and-a-half months, after they refused to turn over details on group members and finances. However, five judges at the Court of Final Appeal yesterday sided with the trio and said the prosecution “made it impossible for them to have a fair trial.” Tang, who had finished serving his prison term, said the ruling was a vindication of his group and urged people not to forget the victims of the Tiananmen crackdown.
Photo: AFP
VIETNAM
Provinces to merge
The government is planning to merge provinces and eliminate district-level authorities, it said yesterday, as a streamlining drive aiming to slash billions of dollars from state budgets gathers pace. The cost-cutting measures have already seen the number of government ministries and agencies slashed from 30 to 22, and one in five public-sector jobs would be cut over the next five years. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said in a statement on the government’s Web site that a “key and urgent task” was to complete the rearrangement of “administrative boundaries ... merging some provinces ... and cutting off the district level.”
Photo: AFP
TIBET
Economic progress touted
Lawmakers yesterday hailed recent economic progress and vowed to keep “high pressure” on alleged separatists in the region as they convened in Beijing for China’s annual “Two Sessions” political conclave. The Tibet region’s GDP was up 6.3 percent last year — above average for China — and disposable income per capita rose for urban and rural residents, a government statement said. Local lawmakers added that stability was “improving,” but warned it was necessary to maintain “high pressure” on alleged secessionists. Delegates also hailed “Sinicization” of Tibetan Buddhism.
Photo: AFP
LITHUANIA
Bomb treaty exited
Vilnius yesterday quit an international convention banning cluster bombs, citing security concerns over Russia. The nation has also signaled its intention to leave another international treaty prohibiting the use of anti-personnel land mines. It said it wants to strengthen its defenses following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, fearing it could be next if Moscow succeeds. Parliament voted to leave the cluster munitions convention in July last year, but the country had to wait six months after submitting exit documents to the UN for the decision to take full effect.
Photo: AFP
UNITED STATES
Education order expected
President Donald Trump was expected to sign an executive order instructing his newly confirmed Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to dismantle the department she now leads, US media reported on Wednesday. The Wall Street Journal cited a draft of the order, which directs McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Education Department” based on “the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law.”
MONEY GRAB: People were rushing to collect bills scattered on the ground after the plane transporting money crashed, which an official said hindered rescue efforts A cargo plane carrying money on Friday crashed near Bolivia’s capital, damaging about a dozen vehicles on highway, scattering bills on the ground and leaving at least 15 people dead and others injured, an official said. Bolivian Minister of Defense Marcelo Salinas said the Hercules C-130 plane was transporting newly printed Bolivian currency when it “landed and veered off the runway” at an airport in El Alto, a city adjacent to La Paz, before ending up in a nearby field. Firefighters managed to put out the flames that engulfed the aircraft. Fire chief Pavel Tovar said at least 15 people died, but
LIKE FATHER, LIKE DAUGHTER: By showing Ju-ae’s ability to handle a weapon, the photos ‘suggest she is indeed receiving training as a successor,’ an academic said North Korea on Saturday released a rare image of leader Kim Jong-un’s teenage daughter firing a rifle at a shooting range, adding to speculation that she is being groomed as his successor. Kim’s daughter, Ju-ae, has long been seen as the next in line to rule the secretive, nuclear-armed state, and took part in a string of recent high-profile outings, including last week’s military parade marking the closing stages of North Korea’s key party congress. Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) released a photo of Ju-ae shooting a rifle at an outdoor shooting range, peering through a rifle scope
India and Canada yesterday reached a string of agreements, including on critical mineral cooperation and a “landmark” uranium supply deal for nuclear power, the countries’ leaders said in New Delhi. The pacts, which also covered technology and promoting the use of renewable energy, were announced after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney hailed a fresh start in the relationship between their nations. “Our ties have seen a new energy, mutual trust and positivity,” Modi said. Carney’s visit is a key step forward in ties that effectively collapsed in 2023 after Ottawa accused New Delhi
Gaza is rapidly running out of its limited fuel supply and stocks of food staples might become tight, officials said, after Israel blocked the entry of fuel and goods into the war-shattered territory, citing fighting with Iran. The Israeli military closed all Gaza border crossings on Saturday after announcing airstrikes on Iran carried out jointly with the US. Israeli authorities late on Monday night said that they would reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel to Gaza yesterday, for “gradual entry of humanitarian aid” into the strip, without saying how much. Israeli authorities previously said the crossings could not be operated safely during
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