CHINA
Xi backs Fiji PM’s plan
President Xi Jinping (習近平) told visiting Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka he backed his “Ocean of Peace” plan during a meeting in Beijing on Tuesday, state media reported. China also pledged to step up its trade ties with the state, which wants to upgrade its ports and ship building, roads and sewage infrastructure, but can only do so by securing better terms for its agricultural and fisheries exporters owing to deep debts. “China appreciates Prime Minister Rabuka’s vision for an Ocean of Peace and is committed to working with Fiji to contribute to international peace and security,” Xi said, according to a readout released late on Tuesday night. Rabuka is to visit Tonga next week for a meeting of the heads of 18 Pacific island countries and territories, where they are to consider a regional policing proposal backed by Australia. Rabuka has proposed an “Ocean of Peace” foreign policy to Pacific leaders that envisions engagement with all major powers and avoids militarization of the islands region. Beijing also agreed to invest in Fiji’s tourism, agriculture and fisheries industries and support a road upgrade project, the readout said.
SOUTH KOREA
First lady to be cleared
Prosecutors are set to clear the wife of President Yoon Suk-yeol of any criminal charge over her receiving a luxury handbag under questionable circumstances, a report said, winding up a probe into a case that has rocked the country’s politics. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office has concluded there is no direct link between Yoon’s duties and First Lady Kim Keon-hee receiving the bag that was purchased for 3 million won (US$2,242). They found no evidence that favors were offered in return to the individual, a pastor, who gave her the bag, Yonhap News reported, citing sources it did not identify. The probe team is expected to report the results of its investigation to the top prosecutor in the coming days, Yonhap said.
INDONESIA
Crocodile kills woman
A crocodile killed a woman bathing in a river in the country’s east, police and locals said yesterday. Locals later recovered parts of her body from the slaughtered animal. Halima Rahakbauw, 54, was swimming in a river in Wali village on the Maluku islands after spending Tuesday morning looking for clams when the reptile struck. Rahakbauw’s neighbour, Rustam Ilyas, said relatives and friends started a search when she failed to return home. After spotting a sandal and a body part in the river, villagers reported the incident to police who killed the reptile. “The crocodile was quite big, around 4m long,” Ilyas said.
IRAN
Bus overturns, killing 28
At least 28 Pakistani pilgrims traveling to Iraq for a Shiite Muslim ritual were killed as their bus crashed in central Iran, state media reported early yesterday. “A bus carrying 51 Pakistani pilgrims overturned and caught fire in front of Dehshir-Taft checkpoint in the central province of Yazd on Tuesday night... Twenty-eight people have been killed and 23 injured so far with the possibility of the death toll increasing,” state television reported. “Of the 23 injured, six have already been discharged from hospital, while the condition of seven others is critical,” Yazd Province crisis management chief Ali Malek-zadeh said. “The dead consisted of 11 women and 17 men,” he added. The pilgrims were headed through Iran to Iraq to attend the Arbaeen commemoration, one of the biggest events of the Shiite calendar.
Seven people sustained mostly minor injuries in an airplane fire in South Korea, authorities said yesterday, with local media suggesting the blaze might have been caused by a portable battery stored in the overhead bin. The Air Busan plane, an Airbus A321, was set to fly to Hong Kong from Gimhae International Airport in southeastern Busan, but caught fire in the rear section on Tuesday night, the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. A total of 169 passengers and seven flight attendants and staff were evacuated down inflatable slides, it said. Authorities initially reported three injuries, but revised the number
A colossal explosion in the sky, unleashing energy hundreds of times greater than the Hiroshima bomb. A blinding flash nearly as bright as the sun. Shockwaves powerful enough to flatten everything for miles. It might sound apocalyptic, but a newly detected asteroid nearly the size of a football field now has a greater than 1 percent chance of colliding with Earth in about eight years. Such an impact has the potential for city-level devastation, depending on where it strikes. Scientists are not panicking yet, but they are watching closely. “At this point, it’s: ‘Let’s pay a lot of attention, let’s
‘BALD-FACED LIE’: The woman is accused of administering non-prescribed drugs to the one-year-old and filmed the toddler’s distress to solicit donations online A social media influencer accused of filming the torture of her baby to gain money allegedly manufactured symptoms causing the toddler to have brain surgery, a magistrate has heard. The 34-year-old Queensland woman is charged with torturing an infant and posting videos of the little girl online to build a social media following and solicit donations. A decision on her bail application in a Brisbane court was yesterday postponed after the magistrate opted to take more time before making a decision in an effort “not to be overwhelmed” by the nature of allegations “so offensive to right-thinking people.” The Sunshine Coast woman —
CHEER ON: Students were greeted by citizens who honked their car horns or offered them food and drinks, while taxi drivers said they would give marchers a lift home Hundreds of students protesting graft they blame for 15 deaths in a building collapse on Friday marched through Serbia to the northern city of Novi Sad, where they plan to block three Danube River bridges this weekend. They received a hero’s welcome from fellow students and thousands of local residents in Novi Said after arriving on foot in their two-day, 80km journey from Belgrade. A small red carpet was placed on one of the bridges across the Danube that the students crossed as they entered the city. The bridge blockade planned for yesterday is to mark three months since a huge concrete construction
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