PHILIPPINES
China offers joint drills
Beijing has offered to hold joint military drills with Manila, armed forces Chief of Staff Romeo Brawner Jr said late on Wednesday. The Chinese ambassador to Manila made an “informal” proposal for defense exercises, he said, adding that his office would study China’s pitch. The joint drills would not be held in the disputed South China Sea if it pushes through, Brawner said. “We are opening up to any country who would like to help us,” he told reporters in Manila. More modern countries could help Manila with its anti-insurgency efforts, he said.
PAKISTAN
China rolls overs loan
China has rolled over a US$2.4 billion loan for the Islamic nation for two years, Pakistani Minister of Finance Ishaq Dar said yesterday. The latest extension in loan maturities is a boost to the nation’s fragile foreign exchange reserves, which are still only enough to pay the import bill for two months. In a post on the X platform, Dar said the Export-Import Bank of China rolled over for two years the “principal amounts” of the US$2.4 billion loan, which Islamabad was to have paid back next year and in 2025. Islamabad would now only make interest payments in both years.
AUSTRALIA
97 beached whales die
The last of nearly 100 whales that beached in Western Australia were euthanized on Wednesday after a second day of frantic, but unsuccessful efforts to rescue them, authorities said. The pod of 97 long-finned pilot whales stranded themselves on Tuesday on Cheynes Beach, with scores stranding themselves on the sand. Despite the efforts of 100 wildlife officers and 250 volunteers wearing wetsuits to protect against the southern hemisphere winter cold, 52 stranded whales died on the beach. The remaining 45 were euthanized on Wednesday after efforts to lead them to deeper water failed. The survivors continually returned to the shallows, the Western Australia Parks and Wildlife Service said in a statement late on Wednesday. “Sadly, the decision had to be made to euthanize the remaining whales to avoid prolonging their suffering,” it said.
UNITED KINGDOM
London jury acquits Spacey
A London jury on Wednesday acquitted Kevin Spacey on sexual assault charges after a four-week trial at Southwark crown court in which the actor said he was a “big flirt” who had consensual flings with men and whose only misstep was touching a man’s groin while making a “clumsy pass.” Three men accused the Oscar winner of aggressively grabbing their crotches. A fourth, an aspiring actor seeking mentorship, said he awoke to the actor performing oral sex on him after going to Spacey’s London apartment for a beer and either falling asleep or passing out. The 64-year-old Oscar-winning actor sobbed in the dock as he was found not guilty of the charges.
KUWAIT
Five prisoners executed
The nation yesterday executed a man convicted over involvement in a suicide attack that killed 27 worshipers in a mosque in 2015, prosecutors said. Authorities did not specify his role in the attack, though they previously said they had arrested the suicide bomber’s driver. The man, a bedouin, was found guilty of murder and of membership of Islamic State, the prosecutor’s office said. Four other people were executed, including an Egyptian and a Sri Lankan, the public prosecutor’s office said in a statement on messaging platform X.
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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