CHINA
Scientist protests eviction
The first scientist to publish a sequence of the COVID-19 virus in the nation was staging a sit-in protest after authorities locked him out of his lab. Virologist Zhang Yongzhen (張永振) wrote in a post on Weibo on Monday that he and his team were suddenly notified they were being evicted from their lab, the latest in a series of setbacks, demotions and ousters since he first published the sequence in early January 2020. The post was later deleted. Zhang wrote that he had been sitting outside his lab since Sunday despite pouring rain. When reached by phone yesterday, Zhang said it was “inconvenient” for him to speak, but a collaborator confirmed to the Associated Press on Monday the protest was taking place.
YEMEN
Houthi attack damages ship
A missile attack by Houthi rebels on Monday damaged a ship in the Red Sea, authorities said, the latest assault in their campaign against shipping in the crucial maritime route. The attack happened off the coast of Mokha, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) center said. The ship was damaged in the attack, but its crew was safe and heading to its next port of call, it said, urging vessels to exercise caution in the area. The US military’s Central Command identified the ship damaged as the Cyclades, a Malta-flagged, Greece-owned bulk carrier. It added that it had shot down a drone on a flight path toward the USS Philippine Sea and USS Laboon. Houthi military spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree in a statement early yesterday claimed the attack on the Cyclades and targeting the US warships. Meanwhile, the Italian Ministry of Defense said its frigate Virgino Fasan shot down a Houthi drone on Monday morning near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
ESTONIA
Russia violating airspace
Accusing Russia of violating international airspace regulations by interfering with GPS signals, Minister of Foreign Affairs Margus Tsahkna said it would take up the matter with its NATO and EU partners. Finnair on Monday announced a temporary suspension of its flights to Tartu for a month due to ongoing GPS disturbances that prevented two aircraft from landing. The Finnish airline said it did not know where the interference originated, but in the past had reported similar problems near Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave and Finland’s eastern border with Russia. “GPS interference in Estonian airspace by RF [Russian Federation]) has affected civil aviation in our region. In doing so Russia violates international regulations,” Tsahkna wrote on X, without providing evidence to support the claim. Neither the Kremlin nor the Russian defense ministry immediately replied to requests for comment.
INDONESIA
Ruang volcano alert raised
Ruang volcano early yesterday spewed explosive incandescent lava into the night sky as lightning flashes lit up its crater, prompting authorities to raise the alert status and warn of a possible tsunami. The Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation warned residents living on Tagulandang Island, the island closest to the volcano, that a tsunami could be triggered by volcanic material collapsing into the ocean. The warning was issued yesterday morning, with center official Hetty Triastuty saying it remained in placed as of the afternoon. The agency raised the alert status of Ruang to the highest level, urging residents not to go near the volcano.
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