HONG KONG
Protest song ban rejected
A judge yesterday denied a government request for an injunction banning Glory to Hong Kong (願榮光歸香港), an anthem that emerged from the territory’s huge pro-democracy protests in 2019. The government last month requested an injunction order so that the song — penned anonymously — would be banned from being disseminated or performed “with the intention of inciting others to commit secession or with a seditious intent.” However, Judge Anthony Chan (陳健強) said in his ruling that banning the song would raise serious freedom of expression issues. “I believe that the intrusion to freedom of expression here, especially to innocent third parties, is what is referred to in public law as ‘chilling effects,’” he wrote. “Whilst I entirely accept that no chilling effect is intended behind the injunction, it is the duty of the court to keep in mind that there is a whole spectrum of Hong Kong people,” he said.
DENMARK
Countries battle bird flu
Norway and Finland face record outbreaks of bird flu this year, which have killed thousands of seagulls and other species, put livestock at risk and restricted travel in some areas, officials said. Avian influenza has circulated throughout Europe in the past few years, leading to a cull in May and last month of millions of birds on French farms alone and affecting the supply of poultry meat and eggs. Officials in the Arctic town of Vadso, part of Norway’s Finnmark County, said they had collected more than 10,000 dead birds in the area and the Norwegian Food Safety Authority on Thursday imposed a travel ban covering three nature reserves. Finland also said wild birds were heavily affected and that the H5N1 strain has now been found in 20 fur farms, up from 12 earlier this week.
MYANMAR
Suu Kyi moved from prison
Civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was ousted in a 2021 military coup, has been moved from prison to a government building on Monday night, an official from her National League for Democracy party said yesterday on condition of anonymity. Aung San Suu Kyi has been seen only once since she was held after the Feb. 1, 2021 putsch — in grainy state media photos from a bare courtroom in Naypyidaw. The party official also confirmed that Aung San Suu Kyi had met lower house Speaker Ti Khun Myat and was likely to meet Chinese special envoy for Asian affairs Deng Xijun (鄧錫軍), who is visiting the country. A source from another political party said she had been moved to a VIP compound in Naypyidaw. There have been concerns about the health of the Nobel laureate, 78, since her detention.
UNITED STATES
Eagles’ Meisner dies at 77
Randy Meisner, a founding member of the Eagles who added high harmonies to such favorites as Take It Easy and The Best of My Love, and stepped out front for the waltz-time ballad Take It to the Limit, has died, the band said on Thursday. Meisner died on Wednesday night in Los Angeles of complications from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the Eagles said in a statement. He was 77. The bassist had endured numerous afflictions in recent years and personal tragedy in 2016 when his wife, Lana Rae, accidentally shot herself and died. Called “the sweetest man in the music business” by former bandmate Don Felder, the baby-faced Meisner joined Don Henley, Glenn Frey and Bernie Leadon in the early 1970s to form a quintessential Los Angeles band and one of the most popular acts in history.
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
RISING TENSIONS: The nations’ three leaders discussed China’s ‘dangerous and unlawful behavior in the South China Sea,’ and agreed on the importance of continued coordination Japan, the Philippines and the US vowed to further deepen cooperation under a trilateral arrangement in the face of rising tensions in Asia’s waters, the three nations said following a call among their leaders. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and outgoing US President Joe Biden met via videoconference on Monday morning. Marcos’ communications office said the leaders “agreed to enhance and deepen economic, maritime and technology cooperation.” The call followed a first-of-its-kind summit meeting of Marcos, Biden and then-Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida in Washington in April last year that led to a vow to uphold international
US president-elect Donald Trump is not typically known for his calm or reserve, but in a craftsman’s workshop in rural China he sits in divine contemplation. Cross-legged with his eyes half-closed in a pose evoking the Buddha, this porcelain version of the divisive US leader-in-waiting is the work of designer and sculptor Hong Jinshi (洪金世). The Zen-like figures — which Hong sells for between 999 and 20,000 yuan (US$136 to US$2,728) depending on their size — first went viral in 2021 on the e-commerce platform Taobao, attracting national headlines. Ahead of the real-estate magnate’s inauguration for a second term on Monday next week,
CYBERSCAM: Anne, an interior decorator with mental health problems, spent a year and a half believing she was communicating with Brad Pitt and lost US$855,259 A French woman who revealed on TV how she had lost her life savings to scammers posing as Brad Pitt has faced a wave of online harassment and mockery, leading the interview to be withdrawn on Tuesday. The woman, named as Anne, told the Seven to Eight program on the TF1 channel how she had believed she was in a romantic relationship with the Hollywood star, leading her to divorce her husband and transfer 830,000 euros (US$855,259). The scammers used fake social media and WhatsApp accounts, as well as artificial intelligence image-creating technology to send Anne selfies and other messages
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