— Valery Spiridonov, the Russian man who has volunteered to undergo the world's first head transplant.
United States | Bad boys, bad boys
THE GIST. The recent police racism/misconduct/brutality saga in America has been reignited by the release of footage showing a police officer in South Carolina shooting Walter Scott, an unarmed, fleeing black man in the back six times.
THE LIST. Walker's death is the latest in a string of recent African-American deaths at the hands of police to gain national attention and condemnation. Others include Michael Brown (Ferguson), Eric Garner ("I can't breathe") and Tamir Rice (12 -year-old with toy gun).
WHITE HOUSE. In response to the Brown/Garner/Rice killings, the Obama administration pledged $263 million for police training and 50,000 body cameras, to be worn by police on their uniforms. Last year Washington DC police started wearing cameras, and the politicians in charge of the program expect it to reduce complaints against the cops by 80 per cent. Other people are less convinced about the body-camera policy, citing: inconclusive evidence, privacy concerns, and the idea that testimony of police without cameras will then be undermined by the age-old 'pics or it didn't happen' argument.
THIS CASE. The officer in this case, Michael Slager, claimed that Scott tried to seize his gun during a scuffle, and that's when the shots were fired. The video, however, tells an entirely different story: Scott (who was pulled over for a broken tail-light) can be seen running away from Slager, who then shoots at him eight times. Slager has since been charged with murder.
South China Sea | On shifting sand
THE GIST. China is attempting to expand its territory into the disputed South China Sea, by dredging and then dumping sand on to the aptly named 'Mischief reef'. Satellite images show that the reef is quickly becoming an island, or in the words of US Admiral Harry Harris, "a Great Wall of sand."
WHO CARES. A lot of people. The South China Sea contains several Islands, major trade routes, rich fishing grounds, and underground oil and gas. It also sits between - and parts of it are variously claimed by - Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and of course China.
YEAR OF THE CLAIM. The Chinese government has publicly claimed much of the South China Sea since 1947. In 2009 it submitted a formal note to the UN, saying in effect, 'it's ours, bugger off'. Last year they started drilling for oil on one of the islands close to Vietnam, causing huge anti-chinese riots there, a tense diplomatic stand-off, and the evacuation of thousands of chinese citizens.
GREAT LUMP FORWARD. The Mischief Reef / sand dump is within territory claimed by the Philippines, who are an American ally, adding another layer of diplomatic awkwardness to the situation. US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter says that the Chinese island manufacturing is going to "seriously increase tensions" in the area, which China really truly cares about.
Small-talk
Manchurian coffee date. Starbucks has apologised to San Franciso native Daniel Lui, after one of its executives accused him of being a Chinese Spy and wanting to "steal secrets", while he stood in line for his morning coffee. Casual racism aside, the biggest story hear seems to be that Starbucks has finally surpassed Chinese manufacturers (or at least thinks it has) in the art of being cheap, mediocre and ubiquitous.
North Korean concubines. North Korea has decided to get serious about job creation, and is recruiting women to join Kim Jong-Un's 'pleasure squads', whose function is to 'entertain' the country's portly dictator. Leading candidates are reportedly declining the opportunity, preferring instead to try their luck at the country's other leading occupations: 'hard labour', 'starvation' and 'literally anything else'.
Till death or un-friending. A New York woman, who is trying to divorce her husband, has been allowed by a judge to serve the paperwork on her elusive spouse via Facebook. Apparently the judge didn't realise that, after making a Facebook account, learning how to avoid relatives on it is pretty much the first thing you learn to do.
The word
Antithetical Adjective. directly opposed or contrasted; mutually incompatible: A Qatari sports club has attempted to break the Guinness World Record for hosting a 'megamarathon', by entering 50,000 runners. However, the organisers reportedly reached the milestone by forcing migrant slaves to participate, and run barefoot too. This seems somewhat antithetical to the boastful claim on the event's website, which says that the event was staged to counter the claims of "envious haters" and their "false allegations of persecution of workers."
