HONG KONG: Hong Kong on Friday published its draft of a new national security law, a document some lawyers said broadened what could be considered sedition and state secrets, with tougher penalties for any one convicted of those crimes and several others.
The draft, which also includes new laws encompassing treason, espionage and external interference, is being closely watched by foreign diplomats and businesses who fear it could further dent freedoms in the financial hub already subjected to a China-led crackdown on dissent that has sent many pro-democracy politicians and activists into jail or exile.
The Legislative Council started debating the bill on Friday amid tight security, and several members of the largely pro-Beijing body told reporters they expected the bill to be passed into law before mid-April.
Hong Kong leader John Lee had earlier urged lawmakers to pass the bill “at full speed.”
“The geopolitics have become increasingly complex, and national security risks remain imminent,” a government statement said.
Some lawyers analizing the draft said, at first glance, elements of the revised sentences for some listed offenses are similar to Western ones but some provisions, such as those for sedition and state secrets, are broader and potentially tougher.
The bill includes sentences of up to life imprisonment for treason, insurrection and sabotage, 20 years for espionage and 10 years for crimes linked to state secrets and sedition.
The European Union, in a statement to Reuters, said it had made clear in a diplomatic note its “grave concerns” over the far-reaching provisions in the bill on “external interference” and the law’s extra-territorial reach.
The draft bill, however, noted some rights provisions.
“Human rights are to be respected and protected, the rights and freedoms, including the freedoms of speech, of the press and of publication, the freedoms of association ... are to be protected” the bill read.
Some investors said the desire to fast-track the bill was concerning.
“The fact they are rushing through article 23 shows concern about public opposition. The business community is going to be unhappy unless there are guard rails protecting individual rights,” Andrew Collier, managing director at Hong Kong-based Orient Capital Research said.
CONCERNS OVER FREEDOMS
Hong Kong has long been a business, academic and media hub for China and the region, but in recent years critics say the rule of law and freedom of information have been undermined.
Hong Kong and Chinese officials have said the draft was similar to laws in some Western nations and that it was necessary to plug “loopholes” in the national security regime.
That regime was bolstered in 2020 by another law imposed directly by China which at the time said it was aimed at restoring stability after pro-democracy protests a year earlier.
The debate on the Hong Kong bill coincides with a move by China’s top lawmakers to create a slew of new national security laws in order to safeguard the mainland’s sovereign interests.
The Hong Kong bill proposed extending police detention for those arrested, without charge, for up to 14 days with a magistrate’s approval and potentially limited access to lawyers, compared to 48 hours currently.
The sentences for sedition, defined as inciting disaffection or hatred toward authorities through acts, words or publications, have been expanded from two to up to 10 years for offenses in collusion with foreign forces.
Critics, including media advocacy groups, had earlier called for sedition to be scrapped, noting its potential use to silence freedom of expression and the media.
The bill proposes a jail term of up to 3 years, up from one year, for possessing a seditious publication and police have the right to search any premise to seize and destroy such material.
The definition of state secrets also appears quite broad, some lawyers said, saying it includes military, security and diplomatic secrets as well as classified social, economic and technological information involving China and Hong Kong governments, and their relationship.
Hong Kong issues new national security law bill with tougher jail terms
https://arab.news/cqacv
Hong Kong issues new national security law bill with tougher jail terms
- Draft includes new laws encompassing treason, espionage and external interference
- Hong Kong leader John Lee had earlier urged lawmakers to pass the bill ‘at full speed’
Pope Leo to take charge of Catholic Church at grandiose inaugural Mass
- Sunday’s Mass will feature prayers in several languages, in a nod to the global reach of the 1.4-billion member Church, including Latin, Italian, Greek, Portuguese, French, Arabic, Polish, and Chinese
VATICAN CITY: Pope Leo XIV will formally take up his role as leader of the global Catholic Church on Sunday, with a Mass in St. Peter’s Square that will draw tens of thousands of well-wishers, including dozens of world leaders and European royalty.
Crowds are expected to cram the Square and surrounding streets in Rome for the formal celebration, which starts at 10:00 a.m. (0800 GMT) and includes the first ride in the white popemobile by Leo, the first pope from the United States.
Born in Chicago, the 69-year-old pontiff spent many years as a missionary in Peru and also has Peruvian citizenship, meaning he is also the first pope from that South American nation.
Robert Prevost, a relative unknown on the world stage who only became a cardinal two years ago, was elected pope on May 8 after a short conclave of cardinals that lasted barely 24 hours.
He replaces Pope Francis, from Argentina, who died on April 21 after leading the Church for 12 often turbulent years during which he battled with traditionalists and championed the poor and marginalized.
US Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic convert who clashed with Francis over the Trump administration’s hard-line immigration policies, will lead a US delegation alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is also Catholic.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will also attend and would be happy to meet other leaders, a top aide has said, as he did at Francis’ funeral when he had face-to-face talks with US President Donald Trump in St. Peter’s Basilica.
Zelensky last met Vance in February in the White House, when the two men clashed fiercely in front of the world’s media.
Also expected at the Vatican ceremony are the presidents of Peru, Israel and Nigeria, the prime ministers of Italy, Canada and Australia, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Many European royals will also be in the VIP seats near the main altar, including Spanish King Felipe and Queen Letizia.
FOCUS ON PEACE
In various sermons and comments since his election as pope, Leo has praised Francis repeatedly but has not offered many hints about whether he will continue with the late pontiff’s vision of opening the Church up to the modern world.
His homily on Sunday is likely to indicate some of the priorities for his papacy, having already made clear over the past 10 days that he will push for peace whenever possible.
His first words in an appearance to crowds in St. Peter’s Square on the night of his election were “Peace be with you all,” echoing words Catholics use in their celebrations.
In a May 14 address to officials of the eastern Catholic Churches, many of whom are based in global hot spots such as Ukraine and the Middle East, the new pope pledged he would make “every effort” for peace.
He also offered the Vatican as a mediator in global conflicts, saying war was “never inevitable.”
Sunday’s Mass will feature prayers in several languages, in a nod to the global reach of the 1.4-billion member Church, including Latin, Italian, Greek, Portuguese, French, Arabic, Polish, and Chinese.
As part of the ceremony, Leo will also formally receive two items as he takes up the papacy: a liturgical vestment known as a pallium, a strip of lambswool which represents his role as a shepherd, and a special band known as the fisherman’s ring.
The ceremonial gold signet ring is specially cast for each new pope and can be used by Leo to seal documents. It features a design of St. Peter holding the keys to Heaven and will be broken after his death, marking an end to his papacy.
UK PM Starmer to agree deal to strengthen EU partnership, his office says
- Brexit has grown increasingly unpopular with the British electorate
LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to agree a deal next week to strengthen the country’s post-Brexit partnership with the European Union and to facilitate trade in some food products, his office said on Saturday.
Starmer will welcome EU leaders to London on Monday to help reset relations with the bloc, with both sides aiming to secure progress in specific areas while others will remain off-limits.
Britain left the EU in 2020, but Starmer has been trying to boost ties with the country’s biggest trading partner since his center-left Labour Party won last year’s national election.
The summit will result in a deal, his office said, though it provided few details beyond saying it would improve the situation for British producers currently facing checks on products or unable to export, and also that it would ease matters for families facing higher bills and queues when traveling.
“This week, the Prime Minister will strike yet another deal that will deliver in the national interest of this country. It will be good for growth, good for jobs, good for bills, and good for our borders,” Starmer’s 10 Downing Street office said in a statement.
Starmer on Friday raised the prospect that a youth mobility deal with the European Union would be struck at the summit.
Brexit has grown increasingly unpopular with the British electorate, opinion polls suggest, with the economy faring poorly in recent years and international trade a particular weak spot.
Bomb at fertility clinic in California kills one
LOS ANGELES: An explosion outside a California fertility clinic Saturday killed one person in what the local mayor described as a bomb attack.
The blast ripped through downtown Palm Springs, badly damaging the clinic and blowing out the windows and doors of other nearby buildings, in what the city’s police chief said appeared to have been a deliberate act.
“The blast appears to be an intentional act of violence and the blast extends for blocks with several buildings damaged, some severely,” Palm Springs Police Chief Andy Mills said.
“There has been one fatality, the person’s identity is not known.”
Eyewitnesses told local media they had seen human remains near the American Reproductive Centers clinic, which appeared to have been badly damaged in the blast.
A statement posted on social media by the clinic said no staff had been hurt when the blast went off.
“This morning, an unexpected and tragic incident occurred outside our Palm Springs facility when a vehicle exploded in the parking lot near our building,” it said.
“We are heartbroken to learn that this event claimed a life and caused injuries, and our deepest condolences go out to the individuals and families affected.
“We are immensely grateful to share that no members of the ARC team were harmed, and our lab — including all eggs, embryos, and reproductive materials — remains fully secure and undamaged.”
Reproductive care, including abortion and fertility services, remain controversial in the United States, where some conservatives believe the procedures should be outlawed for religious reasons.
Violence against clinics providing such services is rare, but not unheard of.
US Attorney Bill Essayli said his office was aware of the blast.
“FBI is on scene and will be investigating whether this was an intentional act,” he said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The local ABC affiliate, which cited an unnamed law enforcement source, reported five people were injured in the explosion and the person who died was a suspect in the blast.
Video posted online by witnesses showed debris scattered in the street in front of the clinic and windows shattered at multiple businesses in the area.
People living nearby reported feeling the shaking from the blast throughout the city.
Matt Spencer, who lives in a nearby apartment complex, told the Palm Springs Post he ran outside as soon as he heard the blast, and was confronted with the sight of the burned out car and what appeared to be a body in the middle of the road.
“In front of the building [the car] was blown clear across four lanes into the parking lot of [Desert Regional Medical Center],” he told the paper.
“I could see the back of the car still on fire and the rims, that was the only thing that distinguished it as a car.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom had been briefed on the explosion, his office said.
President Donald Trump’s Attorney General Pam Bondi said federal agents were working to determine exactly what had happened.
“But let me be clear: the Trump administration understands that women and mothers are the heartbeat of America. Violence against a fertility clinic is unforgivable,” she said in a statement on social media.
Five dead in helicopter collision in Finland, police say
Five people were killed on Saturday when two helicopters collided and crashed in a wooded area near Eura Airport in southwestern Finland, police said.
Police said the mid-air collision occurred shortly after noon near the town of Kauttua, with the wreckage falling some 700 metres from the Ohikulkutie road.
"Five people have died in a helicopter accident near Eura Airport on Saturday," Detective Chief Inspector Johannes Siirilä of the National Bureau of Investigation said.
According to flight plans, there were two people aboard one helicopter and three in the other, police said, adding that both helicopters were registered outside Finland.
One helicopter was registered in Estonia, the other in Austria, according to an Estonian Public Broadcasting report, citing Finland's Helsingin Sanomat newspaper. Both belonged to Estonian companies. One was owned by NOBE and the other by Eleon, the report added.
The helicopters were reportedly en route to a hobby aviation event, according to the Pori Aviation Club, Yle News reported.
The National Bureau of Investigation is leading a joint probe with local police, and Finnish and Estonian authorities are cooperating.
Severe weather leaves at least 27 dead, including 18 in Kentucky
LONDON, Kentucky: At least 27 people have been killed by storms systems that swept across part of the US Midwest and South, with Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear announcing Saturday that 18 of the deaths came in his state and 10 others were hospitalized in critical condition.
A devastating tornado in Kentucky damaged homes, tossed vehicles and left many people homeless. Seventeen of the deaths were in Laurel County, located in the state’s southeast, and one was in Pulaski County: Fire Department Maj. Roger Leslie Leatherman, a 39-year veteran who was fatally injured while responding to the deadly weather.
Parts of two dozen state roads were closed, and some could take days to reopen, Beshear said. He also said the death toll could still rise.
“We need the whole world right now to be really good neighbors to this region,” the governor said.
State Emergency Management Director Eric Gibson said hundreds of homes were damaged,
Kayla Patterson, her husband and their five children huddled in a tub in their basement in London, the county seat, as the tornado raged around them.
“You could literally hear just things ripping in the distance, glass shattering everywhere, just roaring like a freight train,” she recalled Saturday. “It was terrible.”
The family eventually emerged to the sounds of sirens and panicked neighbors. While the family’s own home was spared, others right behind it were demolished, Patterson said as the sound of power tools buzzed in the background. The neighborhood was dotted with piles of lumber, metal sheeting, insulation and stray belongings — a suitcase, a sofa, some six-packs of paper towels.
Rescuers were searching for survivors all night and into the morning, the sheriff’s office said. An emergency shelter was set up at a local high school and donations of food and other necessities were arriving.
The National Weather Service hadn’t yet confirmed that a tornado struck, but meteorologist Philomon Geertson said it was likely. It ripped across the largely rural area and extended to the London Corbin Airport shortly before midnight.
Resident Chris Cromer said he got the first of two tornado alerts on his phone around 11:30 p.m. or so, about a half-hour before the tornado struck. He and his wife grabbed their dog, jumped in their car and scrambled to the crawlspace at a relative’s nearby home because the couple’s own crawlspace is small.
“We could hear and feel the vibration of the tornado coming through,” said Cromer, 46. A piece of his roof was ripped off, and windows were broken, but homes around his were destroyed.
“It’s one of those things that you see on the news in other areas, and you feel bad for people — then, when it happens, it’s just surreal,” he said. “It makes you be thankful to be alive, really.”
The storm was the latest severe weather to cause deaths and widespread damage in Kentucky. Two months ago, at least 24 people died in a round of storms that swelled creeks and submerged roads. Hundreds of people were rescued, and most of the deaths were caused by vehicles getting stuck in high water.
A storm in late 2021 spawned tornadoes that killed 81 people and leveled portions of towns in western Kentucky. The following summer, historic floodwaters inundated parts of eastern Kentucky, leaving dozens more dead.
Missouri pounded by storms, with deaths confirmed in St. Louis
About 1,200 tornadoes strike the US annually, and they have been reported in all 50 states over the years. Researchers found in 2018 that deadly tornadoes were happening less frequently in the traditional “Tornado Alley” of Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas and more frequently in parts of the more densely populated and tree-filled mid-South area.
The latest Kentucky storms were part of a weather system Friday that killed seven in Missouri and two in northern Virginia, authorities said. The system also spawned tornadoes in Wisconsin, brought a punishing heat wave to Texas and temporarily enveloped parts of Illinois — including Chicago — in a pall of dust on an otherwise sunny day.
“Well that was.....something,” the weather service’s Chicago office wrote on X after issuing its first-ever dust storm warning for the city. Thunderstorms in central Illinois had pushed strong winds over dry, dusty farmland and northward into the Chicago area, the weather agency said.
In Missouri, St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer said five people died, 38 were injured and more than 5,000 homes were affected in her city.
“The devastation is truly heartbreaking,” she said at a news conference Saturday. An overnight curfew was to continue in the most damaged neighborhoods.
Weather service radar indicated a likely tornado touched down between 2:30 p.m. and 2:50 p.m. in Clayton, Missouri, in the St. Louis area. The apparent tornado touched down in the area of Forest Park, home to the St. Louis Zoo and the site of the 1904 World’s Fair and Olympic Games the same year.
Three people needed aid after part of the Centennial Christian Church crumbled, St. Louis Fire Battalion Chief William Pollihan told The Associated Press.
Stacy Clark said his mother-in-law, Patricia Penelton, died in the church. He described her as a very active church volunteer who had many roles, including being part of the choir.
John Randle said he and his girlfriend were at the St. Louis Art Museum during the storm and were hustled into the basement with about 150 other people.
“You could see the doors flying open, tree branches flying by and people running,” said Randle, 19.
At the Saint Louis Zoo, falling trees severely damaged the roof of a butterfly facility. Staffers quickly corralled most of the butterflies, the zoo said on social media, and a conservatory in suburban Chesterfield is caring for the displaced creatures.
A tornado struck in Scott County, about 130 miles south of St. Louis, killing two people, injuring several others and destroying multiple homes, Sheriff Derick Wheetley wrote on social media.
Forecasters say severe weather could batter parts of the Plains
The weather service said that supercells are likely to develop across parts of Texas and Oklahoma Saturday afternoon before becoming a line of storms in southwest Oklahoma and parts of Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas on Saturday night.
The biggest risks include large to very large hail that could be up to 3.5 inches in size, damaging wind gusts and a few tornadoes.
These conditions were expected to continue on Sunday across parts of the central and southern Plains as well as parts of the central High Plains.
“Be prepared to take action if watches and warnings are issued for your area,” the weather service said.
