CHINA
Mudslide kills 12
At least 12 people were killed after a mudslide yesterday hit a homestay house in a tourist area in the southeast as heavy rains from what remained of a tropical storm drenched the region, state media said. Elsewhere, a delivery person on a scooter was on Saturday killed after being hit by a falling tree in Shanghai, apparently because of storm-related winds, the online news outlet The Paper reported. The deaths were the first in China that appear linked to Typhoon Gaemi, which weakened to a tropical storm after making landfall on Thursday. The mudslide struck the homestay house at about 8am and trapped 21 people in Yuelin in Hunan Province, China Central Television reported online. About 30cm of rain was recorded in the area over a 24-hour period.
IRAN
Ayatollah endorses president
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei yesterday gave his official endorsement of reformist Masoud Pezeshkian as the Islamic republic’s ninth president, following snap elections that had concluded earlier this month. “I endorse the vote [for] the wise, honest, popular and scholarly Mr Pezeshkian, and I am appointing him as the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” a message from the leader read by the director of Khamenei’s office said. The new president is due to be sworn in before parliament tomorrow.
UNITED STATES
Park Fire continues to grow
A fire raging out of control in northern California has rapidly become among the biggest ever in the western state, authorities said on Saturday. The Park Fire burned more than 142,000 hectares as of Saturday evening, making it the seventh-largest ever recorded in the state’s history, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said. The fire, which prompted orders for more than 4,000 people to flee their homes, was burning through a largely rural, mountainous area near the city of Chico. “Extreme fire conditions continue to challenge firefighters,” Cal Fire wrote on X. The fire was just 10 percent controlled, despite the efforts of more than 3,700 personnel with more than a dozen helicopters and several planes, the agency said.
UNITED STATES
Trump courts crypto vote
Former president Donald Trump, once a cryptocurrency skeptic, on Saturday vowed to be a “pro-bitcoin president” if elected in November, as the Republican nominee sought backing from an industry irked by US regulations. “The Biden-Harris administration’s repression of crypto and bitcoin is wrong, and it’s very bad for our country,” Trump said to cheers at a conference in Tennessee, referring to US President Joe Biden and Vice President and likely Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. The ex-president likened cryptocurrencies to the growth of the “steel industry of 100 years ago,” and said that if president, he would not allow the US government to sell its bitcoin holdings, saying it would be a strategic stockpile. Meanwhile, on Friday, Trump told a crowd in West Palm Beach, Florida, that if Christians vote for him, “in four years, you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good, you’re not gonna have to vote.” It was not clear what he meant by his remarks, in a campaign where his opponents have accused him of being a threat to democracy, and after his attempt to overturn his 2020 defeat to Biden that led to the Capitol riots on Jan. 6, 2021.
DEADLOCK: Putin has vowed to continue fighting unless Ukraine cedes more land, while talks have been paused with no immediate results expected, the Kremlin said Russia on Friday said that peace talks with Kyiv were on “pause” as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin still wanted to capture the whole of Ukraine. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said that he was running out of patience with Putin, and the NATO alliance said it would bolster its eastern front after Russian drones were shot down in Polish airspace this week. The latest blow to faltering diplomacy came as Russia’s army staged major military drills with its key ally Belarus. Despite Trump forcing the warring sides to hold direct talks and hosting Putin in Alaska, there
North Korea has executed people for watching or distributing foreign television shows, including popular South Korean dramas, as part of an intensifying crackdown on personal freedoms, a UN human rights report said on Friday. Surveillance has grown more pervasive since 2014 with the help of new technologies, while punishments have become harsher — including the introduction of the death penalty for offences such as sharing foreign TV dramas, the report said. The curbs make North Korea the most restrictive country in the world, said the 14-page UN report, which was based on interviews with more than 300 witnesses and victims who had
COMFORT WOMEN CLASH: Japan has strongly rejected South Korean court rulings ordering the government to provide reparations to Korean victims of sexual slavery The Japanese government yesterday defended its stance on wartime sexual slavery and described South Korean court rulings ordering Japanese compensation as violations of international law, after UN investigators criticized Tokyo for failing to ensure truth-finding and reparations for the victims. In its own response to UN human rights rapporteurs, South Korea called on Japan to “squarely face up to our painful history” and cited how Tokyo’s refusal to comply with court orders have denied the victims payment. The statements underscored how the two Asian US allies still hold key differences on the issue, even as they pause their on-and-off disputes over historical
Decked out with fake crystal chandeliers and velvet sofas, cosmetic surgery clinics in Afghanistan’s capital are a world away from the austerity of Taliban rule, where Botox, lip filler and hair transplants reign. Despite the Taliban authorities’ strict theocratic rule, and prevailing conservatism and poverty in Afghanistan, the 20 or so clinics in Kabul have flourished since the end of decades of war in the country. Foreign doctors, especially from Turkey, travel to Kabul to train Afghans, who equally undertake internships in Istanbul, while equipment is imported from Asia or Europe. In the waiting rooms, the clientele is often well-off and includes men
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