CHINA
Italian president visits
Italian President Sergio Mattarella on Friday met with President Xi Jinping (習近平) on an official visit to China that came as Russia’s full-on invasion of Ukraine pitted Rome’s NATO allies against Beijing’s support for Moscow. The two exchanged greetings following a ceremony with full military honors at the Great Hall of the People in the heart of Beijing. In his opening remarks, Xi referred to the 700th anniversary of Italian adventurer and trader Marco Polo’s journey to China that encouraged cultural, economic and religious links between Europe and East Asia. Italy is heavily reliant on foreign trade such as luxury products that have a large market in China. It is also a member of NATO, which China has blamed for provoking the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Beijing has provided Moscow with assistance by purchasing its energy exports while selling it technology that can be used in drones and other armaments. Any differences on political issues were not raised in front of the media and the two leaders later oversaw the signing of a series of agreements on matters from culture to technology and trade. Italy has withdrawn from Xi’s signature global Belt and Road Initiative that seeks to deepen China’s relations with countries in Africa, Asia, Latin American and the Middle East through infrastructure investments. Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni had declined to renew the agreement, but nevertheless visited China in July.
INDONESIA
Dua Lipa concert canceled
Glastonbury headliner Dua Lipa has canceled the Indonesian leg of her Asian tour, citing unsafe staging. The 29-year-old pop star was due to perform in Jakarta yesterday, but pulled out the night before over safety issues at the capital’s 16,500-seat Indonesia Arena. “I’m heartbroken to share that I won’t be able to perform in Jakarta this Saturday,” she wrote in a social media post late on Friday. “I am here in your amazing country and ready to perform, but I am gutted to share that it has been determined that it is not safe for the performance to carry on due to safety issues with the staging.” She had just performed in Singapore, but her tour will now skip past Southeast Asia’s biggest economy and home to about 280 million people, moving on to the Philippines, Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia and Thailand. “I was so looking forward to this night, and it truly pains me that we cannot perform for you all, especially after such a long time since my last performance in Jakarta,” she said. “I love you all and truly can’t wait to be back together in the same room with you singing and dancing our hearts out as soon as possible.”
BRAZIL
Gunmen kill businessman
Police said that unidentified gunmen in a black car on Friday afternoon opened fire at Sao Paulo’s International Airport in Guarulhos, killing one person and injuring three. Police identified the victim who died as Antonio Vinicius Lopes Gritzbach, who had previously received death threats from the First Command of the Capital, a powerful international criminal group. Gritzbach, who had cryptocurrency businesses, had recently entered a plea bargain with local prosecutors to speak about his ties to the criminal organization, police said. Police have not yet determined the number of gunmen involved in the attack. Social media footage shows two people who appear to have been shot at the airport. One victim is seen lying on the ground at Terminal 2, primarily used for domestic flights, while the other is seen stranded on an access road outside the terminal.
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
‘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 —
BORDER SERVICES: With the US-funded International Rescue Committee telling clinics to shut by tomorrow, Burmese refugees face sudden discharge from Thai hospitals Healthcare centers serving tens of thousands of refugees on the Thai-Myanmar border have been ordered shut after US President Donald Trump froze most foreign aid last week, forcing Thai officials to transport the sickest patients to other facilities. The International Rescue Committee (IRC), which funds the clinics with US support, told the facilities to shut by tomorrow, a local official and two camp committee members said. The IRC did not respond to a request for comment. Trump last week paused development assistance from the US Agency for International Development for 90 days to assess compatibility with his “America First” policy. The freeze has thrown
TESTING BAN: Satellite photos show a facility in the Chinese city of Mianyang that could aid nuclear weapons design and power generation, a US researcher said China appears to be building a large laser-ignited fusion research center in the southwestern city of Mianyang, experts at two analytical organizations said, a development that could aid nuclear weapons design and work exploring power generation. Satellite photos show four outlying “arms” that would house laser bays, and a central experiment bay that would hold a target chamber containing hydrogen isotopes the powerful lasers would fuse together, producing energy, said Decker Eveleth, a researcher at US-based independent research organization CNA Corp. It is a similar layout to the US$3.5 billion US National Ignition Facility (NIF) in northern California, which in 2022 generated
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