United States
Rushdie makes appearance
Author Salman Rushdie made his first in-person public appearance after being stabbed repeatedly and hospitalized nine months ago. He on Thursday night attended the annual gala of PEN America, the literary and free expression organization for which he once served as president. “I feel great,” Rushdie said. “I have a long association with PEN America, and I’m just happy to be among writers and book people,” he said. In August last year, Rushdie was at an event at the Chautauqua Institution, a nonprofit education and retreat center in western New York, when he was assaulted by a young man carrying a knife. Rushdie sustained multiple wounds, leaving him blind in his right eye and struggling to write.
New Caledonia
Tsunami warning lifted
The government lifted a tsunami warning yesterday, after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck in the Pacific Ocean off the archipelago. The police had evacuated the coast of the territory, and tsunami sirens had been activated on the coast urging people to evacuate.
United States
Group disputes TikTok ban
A group of Montana TikTok creators with hundreds of thousands of followers sued to challenge the first statewide ban of the popular app, saying that the law contravenes free-speech rights and would disrupt their livelihoods. Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed a measure on Wednesday that would prohibit the app’s download by the general public beginning next year. The law “attempts to exercise powers over national security that Montana does not have, and to ban speech Montana may not suppress,” the complaint said.
New Zealand
Alleged arsonist charged
A 48-year-old man accused of igniting a New Zealand hostel fire that killed at least five people said that someone else started the blaze during a court appearance yesterday. During the hearing, he shouted: “I need bail, I need a good lawyer. Someone else done it.” Prosecutors charged him with two counts of arson: setting the four-story Loafers Lodge on fire in the early hours of Tuesday, and earlier burning a couch in the building. Wearing a dark hooded top, he gestured frantically with his hands and paced from side to side in the dock during his first hearing at Wellington District Court. The man, whose name was not released by the court, was remanded in custody.
United States
Ford attends film premiere
Harrison Ford was in Cannes for the much-anticipated premiere of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny on Thursday evening, 15 years after the actor last picked up the adventurous archaeologist’s iconic bullwhip and hat on the big screen. The new film, which also stars Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen and Phoebe Waller-Bridge of British dramedy Fleabag, is the fifth in the series and the first not directed by Steven Spielberg. The director was James Mangold of Ford v Ferrari. Celebrities and fans turned out on the Boulevard de la Croisette for the film. A visibly-moved Ford, 80, received an honorary award for his cinema career ahead of the premiere. “They say when you’re about to die, you see your life flash before your eyes, and I just saw my life flash before my eyes, a great part of my life,” he told the audience.
Airlines in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia and Singapore yesterday canceled flights to and from the Indonesian island of Bali, after a nearby volcano catapulted an ash tower into the sky. Australia’s Jetstar, Qantas and Virgin Australia all grounded flights after Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki on Flores island spewed a 9km tower a day earlier. Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, India’s IndiGo and Singapore’s Scoot also listed flights as canceled. “Volcanic ash poses a significant threat to safe operations of the aircraft in the vicinity of volcanic clouds,” AirAsia said as it announced several cancelations. Multiple eruptions from the 1,703m twin-peaked volcano in
A plane bringing Israeli soccer supporters home from Amsterdam landed at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport on Friday after a night of violence that Israeli and Dutch officials condemned as “anti-Semitic.” Dutch police said 62 arrests were made in connection with the violence, which erupted after a UEFA Europa League soccer tie between Amsterdam club Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Israeli flag carrier El Al said it was sending six planes to the Netherlands to bring the fans home, after the first flight carrying evacuees landed on Friday afternoon, the Israeli Airports Authority said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also ordered
Former US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi said if US President Joe Biden had ended his re-election bid sooner, the Democratic Party could have held a competitive nominating process to choose his replacement. “Had the president gotten out sooner, there may have been other candidates in the race,” Pelosi said in an interview on Thursday published by the New York Times the next day. “The anticipation was that, if the president were to step aside, that there would be an open primary,” she said. Pelosi said she thought the Democratic candidate, US Vice President Kamala Harris, “would have done
Farmer Liu Bingyong used to make a tidy profit selling milk but is now leaking cash — hit by a dairy sector crisis that embodies several of China’s economic woes. Milk is not a traditional mainstay of Chinese diets, but the Chinese government has long pushed people to drink more, citing its health benefits. The country has expanded its dairy production capacity and imported vast numbers of cattle in recent years as Beijing pursues food self-sufficiency. However, chronically low consumption has left the market sloshing with unwanted milk — driving down prices and pushing farmers to the brink — while
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