Shenzhen, China, May 1

 At least 19 people were killed when a motorway in China’s Guangdong province collapsed on Wednesday, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported.

A total of 30 people were also taken to hospital for treatment after the road collapsed.

Pictures on social media showed a motorway running along a slope. One carriageway had partially collapsed and was torn away. Wrecked cars could also be seen, which had apparently tumbled down the slope from the carriageway.

The region has been experiencing heavy rainfall for days.

The collapsed section of the road was around 18 metres long and covered an area of around 184 square metres, CCTV reported.

Following the accident, around 500 members of the emergency services from the police, fire brigade and other authorities were involved in the rescue operation.

The cause of the accident is currently being investigated. AGENCIES

Seoul:

North Korea has installed land mines on an inter-Korean road within the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, a South Korean military official said on Monday, the latest in a series of moves to shut down cross-border roads.

The military detected the North laying mines on the unpaved road inside the DMZ late last year near Arrowhead Hill in Cheorwon, 85 km northeast of Seoul, Yonhap news agency reported, citing the official.

The path was created under a 2018 inter-Korean military agreement to connect the South and the North for joint efforts to excavate remains of those killed near the hill during the 1950-53 Korean War.

Since late last year, the North has installed mines on all roads between the two Koreas once seen as symbols of inter-Korean reconciliation and cooperation.

In January, North Korean troops were spotted installing mines on two inter-Korean roads — the Gyeongui road between the South’s western border city of Paju and the North’s Kaesong and the Donghae road along the east coast.

Last month, the military also detected the North removing dozens of streetlights along the two roads.

The moves came after the North’s leader Kim Jong-un called for scrapping a decades-long policy of seeking unification with South Korea and defining their relations as those between “two states hostile to each other.”

In January, Kim gave instructions for “strict” measures to block all the channels of inter-Korean communication along the border, such as cutting off the Gyeongui land route to an “irretrievable level.” AGENCIES

Seoul:

 South Korea’s Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong, on Monday, said that the government plans to deploy more medical staff as senior doctors at five major hospitals in Seoul decided to take a weekly day off starting this week.

Cho also renewed a pledge to accomplish medical reform, although a mass walkout by trainee doctors has crippled public health services at major hospitals for more than two months, Yonhap news agency reported.

The government will “further strengthen the emergency treatment system by sending more medical personnel to prevent damage to patients because of sudden resignations or leaves of absence by medical professors,” Cho told at a government response meeting.

Cho said that the government will “unwaveringly push for medical reform,” while calling for senior and junior doctors to stop their collective action against the government’s plan to hike the number of medical students.

Last week, medical professors working for South Korea’s five major hospitals — Asan Medical Center, Samsung Medical Center, Severance Hospital, Seoul National University Hospital, and Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital — decided to suspend their work either on a day, or every week.

Those serving at Seoul National University Hospital will take a day off on Tuesday, and Severance professors will take a weekly break starting Tuesday through end of May.

Asan centre professors vowed not to work on Tuesday and Friday, and professors for Samsung and St. Mary’s hospitals are discussing exactly when to take a day off, the report said.

About 12,000 trainee doctors have left their worksites since February 20 in protest of the plan to boost the number of medical students by 2,000, causing delays in medical treatments, with some emergency rooms partially limiting their treatment of critically ill patients.

The government launched a special presidential commission on medical reform on Thursday for talks on the issue with the medical community, including doctors.

It also decided to allow universities to decide their quotas by a range of 50 to 100 per cent of what the government assigned for next year.

But doctors have rejected the proposals, calling for the government to revisit the issue from scratch.

Separately, Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo repeated calls for doctors to find progress through talks to resolve the standoff over the hike in medical school admissions, the report said.

“The government has a willingness to hold one-on-one dialogues with the medical community,” Park said.

Park said the government would increase compensation for treatment of cerebrovascular disease and organ transplants, as part of its efforts to support essential medical fields.

AGENCIES

Washington:

 A conviction for former President Donald Trump on any of the 91 criminal charges he is facing across four separate cases will not prevent him from running for the White House but it will cost him the support of a third of his own Republican party voters and Independents, according to polls, and deprive him of his own vote.

Trump is currently on trial in Manhattan in a case of falsification of business records in regard to hush-money he allegedly paid an adult porn star in 2016 for not going public with their affair.

He is facing 34 charges in the case, each of which carries the punishment of four years in jail. But a conviction will not land him in prison immediately as he will be able to appeal it in the appellate court and eventually the Supreme Court.

The other three cases have not gone on trial yet.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll in February found that while the majority of Americans – 55 per cent – will not vote for Trump if he is either convicted or is in jail, a third of Republicans – 32 per cent – said they won’t, and 24 per cent said they were not sure yet of what they will do.

A vast majority of Democrats – 90% – said they won’t vote for him if he was convicted or jailed.

Another poll by Ipsos, done with Politico magazine in Month, found that a third of Independent voters said they would be less likely to support Trump if he were to be convicted in the Justice Department’s case against him for trying to subvert the 2020 election through the January 6 insurrection and the Manhattan case of falsifying business records.

Independent voters are critical in determining the electoral outcomes in the handful of swing states that decide the presidential election every cycle.

The poll did not cover views about the two other cases, mishandling of classified documents and trying to overturn the 2020 vote count in Georgia.

A conviction would not, however, stop him from running. The US Constitution only lays down three qualification rules for running for President: 35 years of age, a natural-born citizen, and a resident of the US for 14 years.

There are no rules on criminals and felons, and although some states have barred felons from running, these rules do not apply to elections for federal offices. But a conviction will take away his vote in Florida, where he lives.

People convicted of a felony are disenfranchised by Florida state law till the completion of the jail sentence or payment of a fine. Felons can, however, apply for a waiver from the Governor.

He could, however, switch to New York state where he has lived most of his life to keep his vote because of the more permissive rules, which allow felons to vote during parole or probation.

But if he is imprisoned, he will lose his vote. Only the states of Vermont, Maine, and Washington DC allow felons to vote.

The four cases against Trump

Falsification of business records, Manhattan, New York: Trump faces 34 charges of falsifying records to pay Stormy Daniels, an adult film star, to keep quiet about an affair they had in 2005 (he has denied the affair). The money was paid to Daniels by Michael Cohen, a one-time fixer for Trump, and he was later reimbursed as legal fees.

Mishandling of classified documents: The US Justice Department has charged Trump with 40 counts for carrying away classified documents from the White House at the end of his term. He had held on to them despite requests from the National Archives, which is the custodian of all presidential records. President Joe Biden was also found later to have carried away classified documents after his two terms as Vice President in 2016.

January 6 efforts to overturn 2020 presidential election: The US Justice Department has also charged Trump with four counts for instigating supporters to attack the US Capitol, home to the US Congress, to stop a joint sitting of the two chambers to prevent the certification of Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential election.

Georgia state efforts to overturn 2020 vote count: The former President faces 13 counts of conspiring with his accomplices over the vote count in the state to overturn his defeat to Biden into victory. AGENCIES

London:

 UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has again refused to rule out a July general election, amid speculation that a disastrous set of local election results for the Tories could force his hand.

Sunak said he would not “say anything more than I’ve already said”, which is that the national poll is likely to be in the second half of the year.

Most Westminster analysts take this as meaning October or November, although it could technically also mean July.

However, a drubbing in mayoral and council elections on May 2 could either lead to a challenge to his leadership or persuade him that an earlier polling day could be a better solution than limping on with a divided party.

The defection of a Conservative ex-health minister to Labour could further spook already restive Tory MPs and increase the pressure on the Prime Minister.

Dan Poulter on Saturday announced he was quitting the Tory Party, which he accused of no longer prioritising the overstretched NHS.

Sunak was asked on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, recorded before Poulter’s shock defection, whether the latter half of 2024 could mean July.

The Prime Minister said: “I’m not going to say anything more than I’ve already said, I’ve been very clear about that.”

Pressed repeatedly whether he was ruling out July, he said: “I’m not going to do that.”

“You’re going to try and draw whatever conclusion you want from what I say. I’m going to always try and say the same thing. You should just listen to what I said, same thing I’ve said all year.”

When presenter, Trevor said he wanted to know when to book his summer holidays, the Prime Minister replied: “Actually, Trevor, it’s more important than your holiday or anyone’s holiday. I’ve got a job to do which is delivering for the country.”

“And as we’ve been talking about, we are delivering when it comes to tackling illegal migration. We’re delivering when it comes to investing in our defence.”

The full interview will air on Sky News on Sunday morning.

In less than a week, the Tories are expected to lose about half of their council seats up for election, while their two most high-profile regional mayors face difficult contests.

Some analysts believe defeat for West Midlands Mayor Andy Street and Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen could lead to the Prime Minister facing a no-confidence vote, with 52 Tory MPs needed to trigger one.

Rumours were swirling in Westminster on Friday that Sunak could fire the starting gun on an election campaign as soon as Monday in a bid to thwart a possible challenge from restive MPs, though Downing Street brushed them off.

The latest possible date he could hold the election is January 28, 2025.

Sunak sought to bolster his premiership this week with a flurry of announcements, including the passing of Rwanda asylum legislation and a pledge to spend 2.5 per cent of the gross domestic product on defence by 2030.

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps urged colleagues considering ousting Sunak before the general election to “let him get on with the job.”

“Now is not the time or place” to try to put in place yet another Conservative leader, he told The Times.

But a BMG survey for the i paper suggested that voters who backed the Conservatives in 2019, but have since deserted the party, would be more likely to vote Tory under a different leader. AGENCIES

Colombo:

 An Indian firm jointly taking over the management of China-built country’s second biggest airport in Hambantota – one of the hotspots of China’s controversial Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Sri Lanka – sends a strong signal of Colombo’s growing power shift to New Delhi from Beijing.

On Friday, the Sri Lankan Cabinet of Ministers gave the green light to hand over the management of the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) to Shaurya Aeronautics (Pvt.) Ltd of India and Airports of Regions Management Company of Russia for a period of 30 years.

“The Cabinet of Ministers expressed their consent to the resolution furnished by the Minister of Ports, Shipping and Aviation to entrust M/s Shaurya Aeronautics (Pvt.) Ltd of India and Airports of Regions Management Company of Russia with the management of the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport for 30 years,” the Department of Government Information announced.

“A total of five institutions submitted their proposals and two companies were selected,” Cabinet Co-Spokesman and Minister Bandula Gunawardena told media announcing the decision to hand over the management of the airport branded as one of the “emptiest” airports in the world.

Built at a cost of $209 million Chinese commercial loan, out of which $190 million was taken on a high-interest from the Exim Bank of China, the airport has been plagued with problems since its inauguration in 2013 with hardly any flights operating from it considering its 230 km access from capital Colombo.

Due to the mounting losses, Sri Lanka has been looking for commercial partners to manage the airport since 2016.

The National Audit Office (NAO) revealed that over the period 2017-2022, the MRIA has accumulated losses of over Rs 42.81 billion. The decision to shift the management of the airport also takes place while Sri Lanka is in talks with China’s EXIM Bank to reorganise the airport loan, which is a part of the $4.2 billion borrowed for various infrastructure projects.

The airport closer to the southern tip of the island in the Indian Ocean is presently being used for handling chartered tourist flights from Russia and some countries from Central Asia.

The airport is in close proximity to the China-run harbour in Hambantota – one of the Chinese government’s major infrastructure projects under its ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), just like Gwadar in Pakistan and Djibouti in East Africa.

Unable to repay a huge Chinese loan of about $1.263 billion, Sri Lanka was forced to hand over the port on a 99-year lease to China Merchants Port Holdings which turned out to be a classic example of ‘debt trap diplomacy’ which focused on cornering countries with loans and seizing strategic assets after they cannot repay.

Since the debt swap, China has attempted to use the port for vessels carrying controversial operations. In April 2021, Sri Lanka asked a China-bound cargo ship to leave the strategic Hambantota port after it was found to be carrying radioactive uranium without declaring it to the Lankan authorities.

In August 2022, both India and the US expressed strong protest against the entry of the controversial Chinese navy vessel ‘Yuan Wang 5’ into Hambantota Port.

Amidst continuous protest against China’s attempts to bring down research vessels to Lankan waters, the Ranil Wickremesinghe government temporarily banned allowing research vessels citing “security threats” to the Indian Ocean region.

Suffered by continuous perilous impacts on its economy which includes the Easter Sunday attacks, the Covid-19 pandemic and the international financial crisis, Sri Lanka in May 2022 became the first Asian lower-middle-income country to default on its sovereign debt in two decades.

The island nation declared a debt default on over USD 51 billion in foreign loans out of which 52 per cent is owed to China, the largest lender.

Amidst the unprecedented financial crisis faced since 1948 independence, India came to the rescue of its southern neighbour with Lines of Credit worth over USD 4 billion in different sectors, including the supply of essentials such as petroleum, fertilisers, medicine, development of railways, infrastructure, defence sector and renewable energy.

India also took the initiative with other bilateral creditors like Japan and the Paris Club to speed up the debt restructuring process, the action which helped the country to secure an International Monetary Fund (IMF) conditional bailout package of nearly $ 3 billion for three years. AGENCIES

Berlin:

 Russia and Ukraine continued to attack each other with drone strikes a day before, according to local authorities on Sunday.

Ukrainian Governor Vitaly Kim said a hotel and an energy supply facility were hit in the southern city of Mykolaiv.

The exact damage is still being determined, he wrote in a post on Telegram. However, there were no casualties.

According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia deployed four Iranian-made Shahed-131/136 combat drones — so-called ‘kamikaze’ drones — and five other drones of unknown design.

The four Shahed drones and one other drone were shot down, officials said.

The Russian air attacks on Ukraine were not as intense as those on Saturday when dozens of rockets, cruise missiles and combat drones hit targets in the country.

Meanwhile, the Russian Defence Ministry in Moscow said that 17 Ukrainian drones had been shot down over areas close to the border on Sunday night.

DPA is unable to independently confirm details of the strikes provided by either side.

The Governor of the Kaluga region in Russia, Vladislav Shapsha, said that three Ukrainian drones had been intercepted near a fuel depot.

Ukraine has been fending off a full-scale Russian invasion of the country for more than two years. Russian airstrikes have targeted areas throughout the country, with particularly intense attacks recently aimed at Ukraine’s energy supplies.

Ukraine, meanwhile, has increased the range of its own combat drones and is increasingly targeting Russian refineries and fuel supply facilities as well. AGENCIES

Dhaka:

 The authorities in Bangladesh have issued another heatwave alert for three more days from Sunday as the South Asian country is facing its longest heatwave in 75 years.

Bangladesh reported the season’s highest temperature at 42.7 degrees Celsius on Friday in the south-western district of Chuadanga. Dhaka’s maximum temperature was 38.2 degrees that day, according to Meteorological data.

The blistering heat has forced the government to shut schools for a week, with hospitals preparing to receive higher numbers of patients with heat-related ailments.

The heatwave reached a 29th day on Sunday, the longest since the government started keeping records in 1948, said meteorologist Shaheenul Islam.

The previously record hot spell of 23 days was recorded in 2019, according to data tracked by Bangladesh’s Meteorological Department.

“The hot spell is impacting more than 50 out of 64 administrative districts,” said Khandaker Hafizur Rahman, another meteorologist.

Rahman said hot weather is likely to continue until the first week of May.

Physician Mohammad Niatuzzaman, head of state-run Mughdah Hospital in Dhaka, said his hospital received a large number of patients suffering from heatstroke, dehydration, exhaustion and respiratory problems.

Thousands of worshippers in different parts of Muslim-majority Bangladesh prayed in the past week for rain in line with an Islamic tradition.    AGENCIES

Tehran:

 The Iranian military on Sunday presented a new attack drone designed to fly into targets and explode, like the kind used by Russia in the war in Ukraine.

According to the state Tasnim news agency, the new Iranian drone — which has not yet been publicly named — is similar to the Russian Zala Lancet drone, which was first produced in 2020.

Tasnim published a video of the new drone in the report.

Iran claims to have made great progress in the production of drones in recent years, and Iranian-produced drones have been used extensively by Russian forces in the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

The US, the UK and Canada imposed new sanctions against Tehran on Thursday targeting the country’s drone production and export efforts, following Iranian air attacks on Israel.

Iran angrily condemned the sanctions.

“These sanctions will not influence our will, on the contrary … they will only strengthen our military willpower and independence,” said Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Nasser Kanaani.

Kanaani added that Iran has the legitimate right to arm itself militarily for the defence of the country, just as it is legitimate to take military action against hostile aggression such as that of Israel.

The Iranian attacks on Israel came after a suspected Israeli airstrike on the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus, which killed high-ranking officers from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, among others.

AGENCIES

Berlin:

 Germany’s Minister of Education and Research, Bettina Stark-Watzinger, has called on universities to scrutinise any joint projects with China in the light of recent arrests over spying allegations.

“The arrest of three Germans for suspected espionage once again makes it abundantly clear that we must not be naive in our dealings with China,” the liberal politician told German news magazine Wirtschaftswoche.

“We need to weigh up the risks and benefits of cooperation even more carefully, especially in science and in universities. This includes reviewing existing cooperative relationships.”

A week ago, a married couple and another man were arrested in the western German cities of Dusseldorf and Bad Homburg on suspicion of having procured information on military technology in order to pass it on to the Chinese secret service.

According to the federal prosecutor’s office, they were in negotiations about research projects that could be useful for expanding China’s naval combat power.

Stark-Watzinger said that support would only be given to projects “that have a clear added value for Germany and Europe”.

At the same time, she said that Berlin would “continue to support the expansion of independent China expertise”.

AGENCIES