News in Brief
William, Harry pay tribute: Princes William and Harry paid tribute Monday to their grandfather, Prince Philip, remembering his wit, sense of duty and barbecue skills.
The brothers issued separate statements amid a family rift that led to Harry’s decision to step away from royal duties last year, and some have speculated that their grandfather’s funeral may offer an opportunity for them to talk over their differences. Philip, who had been married to Queen Elizabeth II for more than seven decades, died last week at 99.
William, who is second in line to the throne, honored Philip’s lifetime of service to the queen and the United Kingdom as he remembered his grandfather’s “mischievous sense of humor.”
“My grandfather was an extraordinary man and part of an extraordinary generation,’’ said the 38-year-old William. “Catherine and I will continue to do what he would have wanted and will support The Queen in the years ahead. I will miss my Grandpa, but I know he would want us to get on with the job.
Harry, who stepped away from royal duties last year and now lives in California, has arrived in the U.K. to attend Philip’s funeral service, which will take place Saturday at Windsor Castle, west of London. His wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, is pregnant and was advised by her doctor not to make the long journey. (AP)
HK elections set for Dec:
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said Tuesday that the semiautonomous Chinese territory’s legislative elections will take place in December, more than a year after they were postponed by authorities citing public health risks from the coronavirus pandemic.
Lam also said that laws will be amended so that inciting voters not to vote or to cast blank or invalid votes will be made illegal, although voters themselves are free to boycott voting or cast votes as they wish.
“When a person willfully obstructs or prevents any person from voting at an election, we will consider it corrupt conduct,” said Lam.
Lam said that the elections will take place on Dec. 19. The elections were initially slated to be held last September.
Lam was speaking a day ahead of the first reading of draft amendments to various laws in the city’s legislature, to accommodate Beijing’s planned changes to the city’s electoral system.
Beijing in March announced changes to Hong Kong’s electoral system, expanding the number of seats in the legislature while reducing the number of directly-elected seats from 35 to 20.
The move is part of a two-phase effort to rein in political protest and opposition in Hong Kong, which is part of China but has had a more liberal political system as a former British colony. (AP)
Manila summons China’s envoy:
The Philippine government of President Rodrigo Duterte summoned the Chinese ambassador to press its demand for Chinese vessels to immediately leave a reef claimed by Manila in the South China Sea and said their presence was stoking tensions, officials said Tuesday.
The escalating feud between Manila and Beijing started after more than 200 Chinese vessels suspected by Philippine authorities to be operated by militias were spotted early last month at Whitsun Reef. The Philippine government demanded the vessels leave then deployed coast guard and patrol vessels to the area but China said it owns the reef and the Chinese vessels were sheltering from rough seas.
After summoning Ambassador Huang Xilian on Monday, Philippine Foreign Undersecretary Elizabeth Buensuceso expressed to him Manila’s “displeasure over the illegal lingering presence of Chinese vessels around Julian Felipe Reef,” the foreign affairs department said in a statement, using the Philippine name for Whitsun Reef in the most hotly disputed Spratlys region of the busy waterway.
“The continuing presence of Chinese vessels around the reef is a source of regional tension,” Buensuceso said. (AP)
3 killed in Pakistan protest:
Two demonstrators and a policeman were killed Tuesday in violent clashes between Islamists and police in Pakistan, hours after authorities arrested the head of an Islamist party in the eastern city of Lahore, a senior official and local media reported.
The policeman was killed in overnight clashes with the supporters of Saad Rizvi, the head of the Tehreek-e-Labiak Pakistan who was arrested on Monday, a senior police officer Ghulam Mohammad Dogar said. Ten policemen were also wounded in these clashes in the town of Shahadra near Lahore.
Two Islamists were reportedly killed in the eastern Punjab province. The violence began Monday after police arrested Rizvi for threatening protests if the government did not expel France’s ambassador over depictions of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad. (AP)