NORTH KOREA
Kim offers Putin support
Kim Jong-un offered his nation’s “full support and solidarity” to Moscow in a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday, state media reported. Kim sent the message of congratulations on the national day of Russia, one of a handful of nations that maintain friendly relations with Pyongyang. His message, published by the Korean Central News Agency, did not directly mention the invasion of Ukraine or Moscow’s involvement in an armed conflict, but praised Putin’s “correct decision and guidance ... to foil the hostile forces’ escalating threats.” The North Korean people, it added, extend their “full support and solidarity to the Russian people in their all-out struggle for implementing the sacred cause to preserve the sovereign rights, development and interests of their country against the imperialists’ high-handed and arbitrary practices.”
CHINA
Marriages fall to 37-year low
New marriages dropped to an almost 40-year low last year, increasing the likelihood that the population of the world’s second-largest economy would continue to fall. About 6.8 million couples registered marriages in China last year, down 11 percent from 2021 and the lowest number since 1985, when available government data began. The data shows the number of unions peaked in 2013 and has since rapidly declined. The economy faces pressure as people grow older and births fall. The drop in marriages is likely attributable to a decline in the number of young people, as well as couples choosing to get married later, changing attitudes toward marriage and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
PAKISTAN
Discounted crude welcomed
The government yesterday welcomed the arrival of the first shipment of discounted crude oil from Russia under a key deal between Islamabad and Moscow. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif hailed it as a “fulfillment of promises” to the nation, while Minister of Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb said that it marked a “true service” for the people. The cargo was being unloaded in the port city of Karachi, the nation’s main hub for imports. The cash-strapped nation had been in talks with Russia to import discounted crude since February last year, when former prime minister Imran Khan visited Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Khan’s visit coincided with the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — a visit that at the time strained relations between Pakistan and the US. Moscow has since grappled with Western sanctions over the war, rerouting much of its supply to India, China and other Asian nations at discounted prices after Western customers shunned it in response to the invasion.
SOUTH KOREA
Man detained climbing tower
A British man yesterday attempted to scale the world’s fifth-tallest building without ropes until authorities forced him to abandon his climb more than half way up the 123-story Lotte World Tower in Seoul. The 24-year-old, wearing shorts, made his way up the landmark skyscraper for more than an hour as police and fire crews gathered below. He reached the 73rd floor where authorities forced him to get into a maintenance cradle and enter the building, a fire department official said, adding that police took him into custody for questioning. The Chosun Ilbo newspaper identified the man as George King-Thompson. British media reported that he was arrested and jailed for climbing the Shard in London in 2019.
SWEDEN
World nuclear arsenal grows
The number of operational nuclear weapons rose slightly last year, as countries implemented long-term force modernization and expansion plans, a leading conflict think-tank said yesterday, warning that the world was entering a dangerous phase. The estimated number of warheads in military stockpiles for potential use rose by 86 to 9,576, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in a statement, continuing a trend seen in the past couple of years. Russia and the US together possess almost 90 percent of all nuclear weapons, but SIPRO said the sizes of their arsenals appeared to have remained relatively stable. Overall, the number of nuclear warheads in the world continued to decline, primarily due to the US and Russia dismantling retired warheads.
UNITED STATES
Philadephia bridge collapses
Philadelphia residents yesterday were told to expect a brutal morning commute after a tanker truck fire caused an overpass collapse on a main highway. A section of Interstate 95 was on Sunday closed in both directions in the northern state after the tanker trunk carrying gasoline caught fire for reasons that were not yet clear. No deaths or injuries had been reported by late Sunday. Officials said it would take several months to rebuild the stretch of the main north-south interstate on the east coast, running from Miami to the Canadian border in the state of Maine. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro urged residents to look for alternative routes, take commuter trains or work from home if possible. He said he would make a disaster declaration to free up federal funds to help in the rebuild of a stretch of highway along which 160,000 vehicles pass daily.
ECUADOR
Woman wakes at own wake
An elderly woman who woke up inside a coffin at her own wake is being treated at the same state hospital that declared her dead two days earlier, her son said on Sunday. A video posted on Twitter shows Bella Montoya, 76, in her open coffin breathing heavily while two men assist her. Her son, Gilbert Balber, said “she was hitting the box” with her left hand after the five-hour wake. The Martin Icaza public hospital, in the town of Babahoyo, on Friday declared Montoya dead. Montoya was previously admitted to hospital with a suspected stroke “and went into cardiorespiratory arrest without responding to resuscitation maneuvers, so the doctor on duty confirmed her death,” the Ministry of Health said in a statement on Sunday, adding that it had established a committee to investigate the incident.
FRANCE
Girl, 11, shot dead in garden
An 11-year-old British girl was shot dead and her father seriously wounded when their Dutch neighbor in Brittany opened fire, authorities said. The family was in the garden of their home in the village of Saint-Herbot near Quimper on Saturday night when their neighbor appeared with a firearm, an initial probe showed. At about 10pm GMT, law enforcement officials intervened “following gunfire,” Quimper public prosecutor Carine Halley said in a statement on Sunday. The 11-year-old was found dead at the scene, while her father had sustained life-threatening injuries, the magistrate said. The mother’s life was not deemed to be in danger and a second child was unharmed, Halley said. The shooter was a 71-year-old Dutch pensioner. “It would appear that there had been a dispute between the two neighbors for several years over a plot of land adjoining the two properties,” she said.
Seven people sustained mostly minor injuries in an airplane fire in South Korea, authorities said yesterday, with local media suggesting the blaze might have been caused by a portable battery stored in the overhead bin. The Air Busan plane, an Airbus A321, was set to fly to Hong Kong from Gimhae International Airport in southeastern Busan, but caught fire in the rear section on Tuesday night, the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. A total of 169 passengers and seven flight attendants and staff were evacuated down inflatable slides, it said. Authorities initially reported three injuries, but revised the number
‘BALD-FACED LIE’: The woman is accused of administering non-prescribed drugs to the one-year-old and filmed the toddler’s distress to solicit donations online A social media influencer accused of filming the torture of her baby to gain money allegedly manufactured symptoms causing the toddler to have brain surgery, a magistrate has heard. The 34-year-old Queensland woman is charged with torturing an infant and posting videos of the little girl online to build a social media following and solicit donations. A decision on her bail application in a Brisbane court was yesterday postponed after the magistrate opted to take more time before making a decision in an effort “not to be overwhelmed” by the nature of allegations “so offensive to right-thinking people.” The Sunshine Coast woman —
BORDER SERVICES: With the US-funded International Rescue Committee telling clinics to shut by tomorrow, Burmese refugees face sudden discharge from Thai hospitals Healthcare centers serving tens of thousands of refugees on the Thai-Myanmar border have been ordered shut after US President Donald Trump froze most foreign aid last week, forcing Thai officials to transport the sickest patients to other facilities. The International Rescue Committee (IRC), which funds the clinics with US support, told the facilities to shut by tomorrow, a local official and two camp committee members said. The IRC did not respond to a request for comment. Trump last week paused development assistance from the US Agency for International Development for 90 days to assess compatibility with his “America First” policy. The freeze has thrown
TESTING BAN: Satellite photos show a facility in the Chinese city of Mianyang that could aid nuclear weapons design and power generation, a US researcher said China appears to be building a large laser-ignited fusion research center in the southwestern city of Mianyang, experts at two analytical organizations said, a development that could aid nuclear weapons design and work exploring power generation. Satellite photos show four outlying “arms” that would house laser bays, and a central experiment bay that would hold a target chamber containing hydrogen isotopes the powerful lasers would fuse together, producing energy, said Decker Eveleth, a researcher at US-based independent research organization CNA Corp. It is a similar layout to the US$3.5 billion US National Ignition Facility (NIF) in northern California, which in 2022 generated
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