UNITED STATES
Pandas returned to China
All three giant pandas in the Washington zoo began a one-way trip back to China on Wednesday, leaving only a few of the cuddly creatures in the US amid tense diplomatic relations with Beijing. Now in their mid-20s, pandas Mei Xiang (美香) and Tian Tian (添添) arrived at the Smithsonian National Zoo in 2000 and quickly became a main attraction. The duo and their three-year-old cub, Xiao Qi Ji (小奇蹟) — “Little Miracle” in English — boarded a special cargo plane to begin the 19-hour journey to Chengdu, China, on Wednesday, the zoo said. Early in the morning, the pandas were carried out of the zoo in ventilated crates, along with boxes of apples and piles of tasty bamboo shoots. While the pandas’ departure had been expected due to a longstanding contract agreement, the iconic animals’ return was widely seen as a symbol of US-Chinese tensions. A first pair of black-and-white fur balls arrived from China in 1972 as a gift, following then-US president Richard Nixon’s historic visit to the communist nation. Recognizing the species’ uncanny ability to attract fans — and a source of income for its conservation program — China continued to loan pandas to Washington and zoos worldwide in a program since dubbed “panda diplomacy.”
SOUTH KOREA
Metro workers launch strike
More than 10,000 unionized metro workers yesterday launched a two-day strike in protest against the subway operator’s push for job cuts to stem snowballing debt, causing disruptions for some commuters in Seoul. The strike came hours after negotiations between Seoul Metro and its two major unions fell apart due to differences over the operator’s plan to scale back its workforce by about 13 percent — or more than 2,200 positions — by 2026. Seoul’s metro operators have grappled for years with debt, partly from free rides for senior citizens, as Asia’s fourth-largest economy faces a rapidly aging population and surging welfare costs. There was no major impact during the morning rush hour as the strike began at 9am and a smaller union dropped out at the last minute. Yet city authorities warned of some delays in the evening and pledged to mobilize emergency trains, buses and substitute workers. Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jung-sik expressed regret over the strike and said he would strive for a compromise while responding to any illegal acts. Lee called for efforts to curb the metro operator’s debt, which topped 1.7 trillion won (US$1.3 billion) last year.
SOUTH KOREA
Robot kills worker
An industrial robot crushed a worker to death at a vegetable packaging plant, police said yesterday, as they investigate whether the machine was unsafe or had potential defects. The man died of head and chest injuries on Tuesday after he was grabbed and pressed against a conveyor belt by the machine’s robotic arms, police officials in the southern county of Goseong said. Police did not release his name, but said the man was an employee of a company that installs industrial robots and was sent to the plant to examine whether the machine was working properly. The machine was one of two pick-and-place robots used at the facility that packages bell peppers and other vegetables exported to other Asian countries, police said. Such machines are common in the nation’s agricultural communities. “It wasn’t an advanced, artificial intelligence-powered robot, but a machine that simply picks up boxes and puts them on pallets,” Gosong Police Station officer Kang Jin-gi said.
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including
UNREST: The authorities in Turkey arrested 13 Turkish journalists in five days, deported a BBC correspondent and on Thursday arrested a reporter from Sweden Waving flags and chanting slogans, many hundreds of thousands of anti-government demonstrators on Saturday rallied in Istanbul, Turkey, in defence of democracy after the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu which sparked Turkey’s worst street unrest in more than a decade. Under a cloudless blue sky, vast crowds gathered in Maltepe on the Asian side of Turkey’s biggest city on the eve of the Eid al-Fitr celebration which started yesterday, marking the end of Ramadan. Ozgur Ozel, chairman of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which organized the rally, said there were 2.2 million people in the crowd, but
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