Workers try to clear a sea of garbage and debris brought by intense monsoon rains at the Redemptorist Water Channel in Paranaque City, Metro Manila, yesterday.
Beijing has quietly confirmed the deaths of two Chinese sailors in a collision in the contested South China Sea, according to government statements nearly a year after the incident. In August last year, a China Coast Guard ship collided bow first with a Chinese naval destroyer while chasing a Philippine patrol boat near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島), video footage released by Manila showed. A China Coast Guard spokesperson confirmed at the time that there had been a confrontation, but did not mention the collision, nor injuries or deaths. The Chinese People’s Armed Police Force said on social media on Wednesday
South Korean police yesterday raided the Starbucks national headquarters, the chain’s local operator told reporters, following allegations that an advertising campaign defamed activists slain in 1980 pro-democracy protests. Seoul-based Starbucks Korea caused an uproar this year when it launched a “Tank Day” promotion on May 18, touting a new line of capacious tumblers for its coffee beverages. The date marked the anniversary of the 1980 Gwangju pro-democracy uprising, when at least 165 civilians were killed as a military dictatorship rolled tanks out onto the streets. The chain was accused of trivializing the nation’s landmark protest movement and insulting the dead, remembered as martyrs
