UNITED KINGDOM
Britain rejoins EU program
The kingdom is rejoining the EU’s science-sharing program Horizon Europe, the two sides announced yesterday, more than two years after membership became a casualty of Brexit. British scientists expressed relief at the decision, the latest sign of thawing relations between the EU and its former member. After months of negotiations, the government said the kingdom was becoming a “fully associated member” of the research collaboration body. Starting yesterday, UK-based scientists can bid for Horizon funding and would be able to lead Horizon-backed science projects from next year. The kingdom is also rejoining Copernicus, the EU space program’s Earth observation component. ”
CHINA
90 nations to join BRI meet
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said that 90 countries have confirmed attendance for its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) conference next month. Several foreign leaders are expected to attend, including Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Argentine President Alberto Fernandez, state media reported. Russian President Vladimir Putin also has a scheduled visit to China next month, when the country hosts the One Belt One Road forum, Russian state news agency TASS quoted Putin’s aide, Yuri Ushakov, as saying recently. Beijing has signed Belt and Road cooperation documents with more than 150 countries and over 30 international organizations, Xinhua news agency cited the ministry as saying.
AUSTRALIA
More Qatar flights rejected
Canberra yesterday cited Qatar’s “invasive” searches of female air passengers three years ago as a factor in its decision to block extra flights by the nation’s airline. Female passengers on a series of Qatar Airways flights from Doha — including one bound for Sydney — were subjected to gynecological examinations in October 2020, as the authorities searched for the mother of a newborn baby found in an airport bathroom. The women had been escorted at gunpoint from their planes for “invasive searches” in ambulances on the tarmac, Minister for Transport Catherine King reminded reporters as she explained her decision to reject the carrier’s request for 21 extra international flights into Australia. King said she decided on July 10 to refuse Qatar Airways’ request for more flights to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane in the “national interest.”
FIJI
Cult members to be ejected
High-ranking members of South Korea’s “Grace Road Cult” are to be kicked out of the nation, immigration authorities said yesterday. Grace Road Church founder Shin Ok-ju prophesied that South Korea would be doomed by famine and disaster, persuading hundreds of followers in 2014 to start a new life in Fiji. The movement quickly established political and commercial clout in its new home, snapping up swathes of agricultural land and building a sprawling network of successful companies. However, it was also dogged by claims of bizarre and violent rituals, with Shin being imprisoned by South Korean authorities in 2019 on a string of criminal charges. Minister for Home Affairs and Immigration Pio Tikoduadua said Interpol had urged the previous government to arrest senior members of the “Grace Road Cult,” but the request had been ignored for years. Tikoduadua said seven Grace Road members, including Shin’s son Daniel Kim, had been declared “prohibited immigrants” and would be deported to South Korea. Two fugitive members had evaded police and “remain at large,” he added.
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
RSS