While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, April 6
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy greets Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in California.
PHOTO: AFP
House Speaker McCarthy meets Taiwan leader Tsai in US
US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy hosted Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in California on Wednesday, becoming the most senior US figure to meet a Taiwanese leader on US soil in decades and stressed the need to speed up arms deliveries to Taiwan in the face of increasing threats from China.
Mr McCarthy – the third highest ranking official in the US leadership hierarchy – and other Republican and Democratic lawmakers met Ms Tsai at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California despite threats of retaliation from China, which claims self-ruled Taiwan as its own.
A China foreign ministry spokesman quickly denounced the meeting, accusing the United States of colluding with separatists seeking “Taiwan independence” and saying that for a long time it had breaching it commitments over the island.
Ms Tsai thanked the US Congress for standing by Taiwan when democracy was under threat and said she had cited former US President Reagan in telling Mr McCarthy and other Republican and Democratic lawmakers of her belief that “to preserve peace, we must be strong”.
Ukraine’s Zelensky aims for Western warplane coalition
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said during a trip to Warsaw on Wednesday that Poland would help form a coalition of Western powers to supply warplanes to Kyiv, adding that Ukrainian troops were still fighting for Bakhmut in the east but could withdraw if they risked being cut off.
Neighbouring Poland is a close ally of Ukraine and helped galvanise support in the West to supply main battle tanks to Kyiv. During Mr Zelensky’s visit, Poland announced it would send 10 more MiG fighter jets on top of four provided earlier.
“Just as your (Polish) leadership proved itself in the tank coalition, I believe that it will manifest itself in the planes coalition,” Mr Zelensky said, in a speech on a square in Warsaw.
Trump urges defunding US Justice Department and FBI
AFP
Former president Donald Trump on Wednesday called on his fellow Republicans in Congress to slash funding for the US Justice Department and the FBI, one day after pleading not guilty in New York to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
Trump, who is seeking to regain the presidency in 2024, took aim at federal law enforcement authorities even though the criminal charges against him - the first brought against any former or sitting president - were pursued not by them but by the Manhattan district attorney.
But Trump faces two Justice Department criminal investigations led by Special Counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed by US Attorney-General Merrick Garland. Both have seemed to accelerate in recent months.
Greek seismologist probed over April Fool’s volcano joke
One of Greece’s top seismologists is under investigation over an April Fool’s joke warning that a huge “funnel” could open up under the popular tourist destination Santorini island.
Akis Tselentis, the director of Greece’s Geodynamic Institute and Tsunami Centre, on Wednesday posted on Facebook a photo of himself in a mock mugshot pose, holding a sign that read “guilty of April Fool’s joke”.
“We live in a country where humour is persecuted,” he added.
Lyle won’t let emotions get better of him in Masters farewell
REUTERS
Scotland’s Sandy Lyle insists he won’t get emotional when he takes his final bow at the scene of his greatest triumph when he plays his final Masters at Augusta National starting on Thursday.
The 65-year-old, who enjoyed a famous victory in 1988, is retiring from the Champions Tour and has also said this will be the last time he takes advantage of his lifetime qualification for the Masters.
“It’s not a hard decision. I’m not going to get that emotional about it,” Lyle said on Wednesday, after taking part in the traditional Par-3 Contest.
