US invited to Astana talks on Syria: Lavrov
Reuters, Moscow
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday that the United States had been invited to upcoming talks on the Syria conflict that are to take place in the Kazakh capital, Astana, later this month, RIA news agency reported.
Duterte taunts bishops to take drugs
AFP, Manila
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday taunted the country’s Catholic priests and bishops to take highly addictive crystal methamphetamine, as he accused them of “hypocrisy” for criticising his deadly drug war.
Duterte launched his broadside in response to the powerful Catholic Church mounting a campaign to stop the killings in his anti-drugs drive, which has claimed about 6,000 lives in less than seven months.
China to spend $2.7b on cleaning capital’s air
AP, Beijing
Beijing will spend $2.7 billion to fight air pollution in the capital this year, state media reported Thursday.
Part of the money will be used to close or upgrade more than 2,000 polluting factories, replace the use of coal with clean energy on the outskirts of the city and phase out 300,000 high-polluting older vehicles, the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing Beijing’s acting mayor, Cai Qi.
Authorities are eager to bring about a visible improvement in China’s bad air, especially in the high-profile capital and its surrounding areas.
Vietnam police halt anti-China protest
Reuters, Hanoi
Police in Vietnam’s capital stopped an anti-China protest within minutes on Thursday at a ceremony to commemorate a clash between the two countries in the South China Sea more than four decades ago.
Vietnam and China have a longstanding dispute over the South China Sea, nearly all of which is claimed by China. Four other countries have claims in the sea, through which an estimated $5 trillion in trade passes each year.
The protest in Hanoi started after a peaceful commemoration for soldiers of what was then South Vietnam who were killed in 1974, when China seized the Paracel islands, which it still holds.
