HONG KONG
Limbs operation criticized
An animal rights group yesterday called for an e-commerce company to stop conducting experiments that it said involve keeping detached animal heads and limbs “viable” for hours. Hong Kong Technology Venture Co (HKTV), the parent company of popular shopping platform HKTV mall, announced in a stock exchange filing on Monday that its research team has been developing “equipment designed to maintain the viability of detached body organs.” Without specifying what animals were involved, the company said its team of doctors, professors and researchers had conducted “38 experiments in which the animals’ limbs or heads were separated from their bodies” since 2022. “The detached heads remained viable for approximately seven hours,” the company said, adding that it believes the case to be a world first. The detached limbs were kept alive for approximately 46 hours, according to measurements made using electrodes. PETA Asia president Jason Baker called on the company to “immediately cease and permanently prohibit” the experiments and other similar tests. “In addition to being cruel, this research is purely exploratory, with highly speculative benefit,” Baker said in a letter sent to HKTV and the media.
Photo: AFP
BRAZIL
Rio zipline blocked
A federal judge on Tuesday blocked plans to build a zipline on Rio de Janeiro’s iconic Sugarloaf Mountain, a project that had faced strong opposition from residents and environmental advocates. Construction had begun in September 2022 with drilling into the rock. The project later received approval from the Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (Iphan). The case had been in court since 2023. In his ruling, Judge Paulo Andre Manfredini declared Iphan’s administrative actions to install the zipline null and void. The institute and the developer were ordered to pay 30 million reals (US$5.8 million) for “collective moral damages,” the judge said, noting the “inestimable value of Sugarloaf Mountain, not only for Brazilians, but for people worldwide.” Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2012 alongside other Rio landmarks such as Corcovado Hill and its Christ the Redeemer Statue, Sugarloaf Mountain each year welcomes more than 1.6 million visitors who take the cable car to the peak for a breathtaking view of the “Marvelous City.” The developer, Companhia Caminho Aereo Pao de Acucar, had hoped visitors would be able to descend via four ziplines connecting the famous rock hill about 396m above sea level with its neighbor Urca, at 220m high. Covering the 755m zipline distance could bring riders to speeds of nearly 100kph.
UNITED STATES
Toilet mocks Trump
Here is one monument President Donald Trump probably is not too happy to see emblazoned with his name: a golden toilet near the White House. Ensconced in the kind of over-the-top faux marble that Trump loves, the gold-painted toilet bears a plaque reading: “A throne fit for a king.” The pop-up installation created by a clandestine artistic group calling itself the “Secret Handshake” drew long lines of tourists and Trump opponents near the Lincoln Memorial on Tuesday, blocks from the White House. “I came to Washington to take this photo because I hate Trump,” said Nancy Chase, 78. William Hoker, who bicycled to the satirical golden toilet, said it was a fitting memorial. “I wanted to see this statue before it disappeared, and I think it epitomizes perfectly the guy in the White House,” he said.
SPEAKING OUT: After Siranudh Scott’s allegations surfaced, celebrities and public figures took to social media to share their own experiences of sexual misconduct and abuse A high-profile alleged sexual abuse case within a wealthy Thai beer brewing family has prompted a wave of painful accounts from survivors of unconnected abuse in the conservative nation. Siranudh Scott, a member of the billionaire Thai family that founded the ubiquitous Singha beer brand, posted an emotional video this month accusing his elder brother Sunit of repeatedly abusing him when he was a teenager. Sunit, who is in his 30s, later denied the allegations in a video posted online, but Singha parent Boonrawd dismissed him from his executive role with the company on Tuesday last week. “I felt I needed to speak
SEEKING ORDER: Rodrigo Paz said that ‘anyone who wants to destroy the nation will have to deal with this president and the full force of the constitution’ Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz on Wednesday said that the nation was at a “breaking point” after nearly a month of protests that have caused shortages of food, fuel and medicine. Paz, who took office six months ago amid the worst economic crisis there in four decades, is battling a groundswell of fury over his policies. The political capital, La Paz, has been besieged by low-income workers and members of the indigenous majority calling for his resignation. “The country needs order and is reaching breaking point,” the 58-year-old said at a public event in La Paz, renewing his appeal for dialogue. On Tuesday, the Bolivian
COMMUNITY CONFLICT: Concerns about disease spread from corpses has run up against friends and families’ desire to bury their dead as infection spreads in the area Angry residents of a town at the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) attacked and burned a tent that was part of a health center where people are being treated for the virus, the staff there said Saturday. It was the second such attack in the region in a week. No one was hurt in the attack, according to reports but as patients ran out to escape the fire, 18 people with suspected Ebola infections fled the facility and are unaccounted for, a hospital director said. Angry residents arrived at the clinic in the
Forecasters in Europe yesterday warned of exceptional heat as record temperatures driven by a “heat dome” push temperatures well above seasonal norms across the continent. The surge follows a record-breaking Monday, with France logging its hottest day in the month of May on record, its weather agency said, and the UK also posting unprecedented highs. A so-called “heat dome” of warm air from northern Africa trapped under a high-pressure system over western Europe is behind the high temperatures not usually seen until high summer. Restrictions on outdoor work were imposed in parts of Italy, beaches in southwest France filled earlier than usual and
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