ESTONIA
Scientists plan peat batteries
Peat, plentiful in bogs in northern Europe, could be used to make sodium-ion batteries cheaply for use in electric vehicles, scientists at an Estonian university said. Sodium-ion batteries, which do not contain relatively costly lithium, cobalt or nickel, are one of the new technologies that battery makers are looking at as they seek alternatives to the dominant lithium-ion model.
ALGERIA
Said Bouteflika sentenced
Said Bouteflika, the younger brother of deposed late president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, was sentenced on Tuesday to two years in prison for “obstructing the course of justice,” the Algeria Press Service reported. The prosecution had called for seven years’ jail for Said Bouteflika, who was charged with other former officials for “abuse of office,” “inciting the falsification of official documents,” “obstruction of justice” and “contempt of court.”
UNITED STATES
Land borders to reopen
Land borders are to reopen to nonessential travel next month, ending a 19-month freeze due to the COVID-19 pandemic as the country moves to require all international visitors to be vaccinated against the disease. Vehicle, rail and ferry travel between the nation, and Canada and Mexico has been largely restricted to essential travel since the earliest days of the pandemic. The new rules are to allow fully vaccinated foreign nationals to enter regardless of the reason for travel starting early next month, when a similar easing of restrictions is set to start for air travel.
UNITED STATES
Fire evacuations rise
Evacuation orders on Tuesday were expanded for a growing wildfire driven by intense winds that has shut down a southern California highway for more than a day. At least 200 firefighters battled the Alisal fire, which had scorched 31km2 along coastal Santa Barbara County. “The fire is burning in dense chaparral and is being pushed by strong winds and growing at a rapid rate,” a fire update said on Tuesday.
UNITED STATES
‘Peppa Pig’ park to open
A standalone Peppa Pig theme park at the Legoland Florida Resort is to open on Feb. 24 next year, park officials announced on Tuesday. A one-day ticket for the central Florida park is to be US$34.99 at the gate and US$30.99 online. An annual pass is to cost US$79.99. Based on the preschool animated television series, the new park is near the main Legoland theme park, but will be separately ticketed, a news release said. The Peppa Pig theme park is to feature rides, interactive attractions, themed playscapes, water play areas and live shows, mostly designed for small children and their parents, officials said.
FRANCE
Resistance fighter dies
Hubert Germain, the last of an elite group of decorated French Resistance fighters who helped liberate France from Nazi control in World War II, has died. He was 101. The office of President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday said that Germain “embodied a century of freedom.” It did not divulge details of his death. Born in Paris on Aug. 6, 1920, Germain was taking his entry exam for France’s Naval Academy in June 1940, just after the French state capitulated to the Nazis. “Rising from his examination table, he preferred to hand in a blank paper rather than give a blank check to the France that had gone to bed, that had given in to resignation and renunciation,” the office said.
DEADLOCK: Putin has vowed to continue fighting unless Ukraine cedes more land, while talks have been paused with no immediate results expected, the Kremlin said Russia on Friday said that peace talks with Kyiv were on “pause” as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin still wanted to capture the whole of Ukraine. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said that he was running out of patience with Putin, and the NATO alliance said it would bolster its eastern front after Russian drones were shot down in Polish airspace this week. The latest blow to faltering diplomacy came as Russia’s army staged major military drills with its key ally Belarus. Despite Trump forcing the warring sides to hold direct talks and hosting Putin in Alaska, there
North Korea has executed people for watching or distributing foreign television shows, including popular South Korean dramas, as part of an intensifying crackdown on personal freedoms, a UN human rights report said on Friday. Surveillance has grown more pervasive since 2014 with the help of new technologies, while punishments have become harsher — including the introduction of the death penalty for offences such as sharing foreign TV dramas, the report said. The curbs make North Korea the most restrictive country in the world, said the 14-page UN report, which was based on interviews with more than 300 witnesses and victims who had
COMFORT WOMEN CLASH: Japan has strongly rejected South Korean court rulings ordering the government to provide reparations to Korean victims of sexual slavery The Japanese government yesterday defended its stance on wartime sexual slavery and described South Korean court rulings ordering Japanese compensation as violations of international law, after UN investigators criticized Tokyo for failing to ensure truth-finding and reparations for the victims. In its own response to UN human rights rapporteurs, South Korea called on Japan to “squarely face up to our painful history” and cited how Tokyo’s refusal to comply with court orders have denied the victims payment. The statements underscored how the two Asian US allies still hold key differences on the issue, even as they pause their on-and-off disputes over historical
CONSOLIDATION: The Indonesian president has used the moment to replace figures from former president Jokowi’s tenure with loyal allies In removing Indonesia’s finance minister and U-turning on protester demands, the leader of Southeast Asia’s biggest economy is scrambling to restore public trust while seizing a chance to install loyalists after deadly riots last month, experts say. Demonstrations that were sparked by low wages, unemployment and anger over lawmakers’ lavish perks grew after footage spread of a paramilitary police vehicle running over a delivery motorcycle driver. The ensuing riots, which rights groups say left at least 10 dead and hundreds detained, were the biggest of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s term, and the ex-general is now calling on the public to restore their
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