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.
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
‘FRAGMENTING’: British politics have for a long time been dominated by the Labor Party and the Tories, but polls suggest that Reform now poses a significant challenge Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party yesterday in local elections that dealt a blow to the UK’s two establishment parties. Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities, including one mayoralty. The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics. “For the movement, for the party it’s a very, very big
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
SUPPORT: The Australian prime minister promised to back Kyiv against Russia’s invasion, saying: ‘That’s my government’s position. It was yesterday. It still is’ Left-leaning Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday basked in his landslide election win, promising a “disciplined, orderly” government to confront cost-of-living pain and tariff turmoil. People clapped as the 62-year-old and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, who visited his old inner Sydney haunt, Cafe Italia, surrounded by a crowd of jostling photographers and journalists. Albanese’s Labor Party is on course to win at least 83 seats in the 150-member parliament, partial results showed. Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s conservative Liberal-National coalition had just 38 seats, and other parties 12. Another 17 seats were still in doubt. “We will be a disciplined, orderly
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