Wife paid for years of housework
A CHINESE court has ordered a man to pay his former wife 50,000 yuan (US$7,700) as compensation for housework she did during their five-year marriage.
Under a landmark civil code that seeks to better protect the rights of individuals, spouses can seek compensation from their partners in a divorce if they have shouldered more responsibilities — including housework.
The woman, who did not work outside the home during the marriage, sought compensation for housework she had done after her husband filed for divorce at a district court in Beijing last year.
The judge ruled in her favor, telling the man to pay 50,000 yuan for her labor.
He must also pay 2,000 yuan a month to support their child, with other assets such as property to be divided equally.
GEELY Automobile and sister company Volvo Cars will abandon merger plans but launch a new entity to combine their powertrain operations and expand cooperation on electric vehicles, they said yesterday.
A year ago the two said they were planning to merge and list in Hong Kong and possibly Stockholm, giving Volvo access to public markets, as global automakers pursue alliances to respond better to the cost of the transition to electric cars, tougher emission rules and autonomous driving.
In a joint statement yesterday Geely Automobiles and Volvo Cars that they would persevere with their existing separate corporate structures after “a detailed review of combination options.”
They said, however, they would launch a new company to combine their existing powertrain operations.
The new entity, expected to become operational this year, will provide engines, transmissions systems and petrol-electric hybrid systems for use by both companies as well as other automakers.
THE United States is seeking a return to the UN Human Rights Council, three years after former president Donald Trump’s administration withdrew, the US top diplomat told the rights body yesterday.
“I’m pleased to announce the United States will seek election to the Human Rights Council for the 2022-24 term,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the council in a video message.
“We humbly ask for the support of all UN member states in our bid to return to a seat in this body.”
The United States announced earlier this month that it would re-engage with the 47-member council after Trump’s administration pulled the country out in June 2018.
While Washington has vowed to begin active participation in the council’s activities immediately, it could not automatically regain the membership it walked away from three years ago.
Elections for the next term will be held toward the end of this year.
“The United States is placing democracy and human rights at the center of our foreign policy, because they are essential for peace and stability,” Blinken told the council’s main annual session, which this year is being held mainly virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“This commitment is firm and grounded in our own experience as a democracy: imperfect and often falling short of our own ideals, but striving always for a more inclusive, respectful, and free country,” he said, striking a very different tone than his predecessor Mike Pompeo.
But while the US under new President Joe Biden is eager to return to the fold of the council, Blinken stressed that the country still agrees with some of the criticisms lobbed by the previous administration.
“Institutions are not perfect,” he said.
“As the United States reengages, we urge the Human Rights Council to look at how it conducts its business. That includes its disproportionate focus on Israel,” Blinken added.
The council, set up in 2006, has a stand-alone item on the Palestinian territories on its agenda every session — the only issue with such treatment — which both Democratic and Republican administrations have opposed.
It routinely adopts resolutions condemning alleged violations by Israel in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
Washington’s rights record has been criticized before the council, including with a dedicated special debate last June, without US participation, following the death of George Floyd.
Floyd’s killing on May 25, 2020 after a white Minneapolis police officer — since charged with murder — pressed a knee on his neck for nearly nine minutes, set off a global outcry over racism and police brutality.
Blinken stressed Biden’s commitment to addressing “systemic racism.”
Washington, he said, was also “eager to find a more effective and inclusive way to put ‘fighting racism’ at the top of the global human rights agenda.”
He acknowledged that his country was not perfect, but said “we strive every day to improve, to hold ourselves accountable.”
The solo photo exhibition by Yu Huiwen features 63 selected works Yu has created over the past decade. The artist, in her 70s, is best known for shooting from a unique angle with brilliant colors to reflect the vicissitudes of the city. The different layers of brilliant hues in her photographs unwittingly give a strong texture similar to an oil canvas. One of the highlights of the exhibition is the swift use of lighting in the lamp box behind her photos, offering the viewers an unexpected visual experience.
Dates: Through February 28 (closed on Mondays), 10am-5pm
Venue: Shanghai Jiushi Art Museum
Address: 6F, 27 Zhongshan Rd E1
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THE warning signs flashed last year and after three home defeats in this season’s UEFA Champions League last 16, the decline of Spanish football on the European stage is becoming ever harder to ignore.
The country’s pride was already hurting from Barcelona being hammered 4-1 by Paris Saint-Germain and Sevilla losing 2-3 to Borussia Dortmund, but Atletico Madrid’s limp 0-1 loss against Chelsea on Tuesday was perhaps the hardest defeat to swallow.
Atletico has been the best side in Spain all season but against a Chelsea side still learning the ropes under Thomas Tuchel, it was utterly toothless and failed to have a shot on target.
“This is a big reflection of how poor La Liga is at the moment,” said 2008 UCL winner with Manchester United Rio Ferdinand on BT Sport.
Former Chelsea player Joe Cole added: “If that’s the best La Liga’s offering they have problems. It’s definitely shifting.”
Spanish sides won six of the previous 10 UCL titles but last year no teams reached the semifinals for the first time since 2007.
The writing was on the wall then, as Barcelona was humiliated 8-2 by Bayern, Real Madrid was outclassed by Manchester City in the last 16 and Atletico was overpowered by RB Leipzig.
Now, there is a serious threat of Spain not having a team in the quarterfinals for the first time since the 2004-05 campaign. Its hopes may rest on Real, which was visiting Atalanta yesterday.
Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman has said it’s too early to jump to conclusions about Spain’s decline in Europe, but his side are a case in point.
The vanguard of football a decade ago, the Catalans have failed to evolve their style of play or squad while squandering hundreds of millions of euros on flops such as Philippe Coutinho, Antoine Griezmann, and Ousmane Dembele.
Real has also recruited poorly, with record signing Eden Hazard being riddled with injuries and expensive Brazilian youngsters Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo failing to deliver.
Spanish clubs’ misadventure in the transfer market was recently mocked by the Bundesliga CEO when he talked of “poorly managed cash-burning machines” last week.
But physical weakness may be an even bigger factor in Spanish clubs’ decline.
While Barcelona played far more passes than PSG last week, it fell way short in distance covered, the French
side running 1.4 kilometers more.
Atletico was also overrun by Chelsea, and although Sevilla outperformed Dortmund in nearly every area, it made a string of individual errors which the Germans ruthlessly pounced upon thanks to their superior pace.
“It’s impossible when your opponents run like they’re on a motorbike and you do not,” said former Real Madrid youth player and coach Alvaro Benito on radio station Cadena SER.
“The reality is in Spain players want the ball at their feet. They get accustomed to the speed of their league and playing at 80 percent instead of 100.”
When it comes to intensity, few teams can match UCL holder Bayern, which thrashed Lazio 4-1 away on Tuesday.
“A recent statistic showed Bayern ran 20km more per game than the average La Liga team. That’s the style that made them European champions, everyone breaking into space, going for second balls, arriving in the area,” added Benito.
Meanwhile, Bayern teenager Jamal Musiala has decided to play in the future for the German national team instead of England after a talk with Germany coach Joachim Loew, the attacking midfielder said yesterday.
The 17-year-old became the youngest English scorer in the UCL when he netted the 4-1 last 16 first leg win over Lazio.
Hours later he announced his decision to play for Germany.
“I have a heart for Germany and a heart for England,” Musiala told Germany’s ARD Television. “I thought about it a lot but at the end I listened to the feeling that it is the right decision to play for Germany.”
The Stuttgart-born Musiala played almost his entire youth career at Chelsea from 2011 before joining Bayern in 2019 and thus was eligible to also play for England.
He has also represented both Germany and England at national youth level but said a chat with coach Loew helped swing the decision in Germany’s favor. “I had a very good and honest discussion with Joachim Loew. We met in Munich and he showed me clearly my way to the national team,” Musiala revealed.
He said Germany team director Oliver Bierhoff had also been present.
“I was impressed by how well informed they both were. Mr Loew analyzed very well my style and my weaknesses. He sees me in the future in my strongest position, that in the attacking midfield,” Musiala added.
Germany has advanced to this year’s European Championship and Loew said Musiala would be called up next month for the team’s three World Cup 2022 qualifying matches.
Germany hosts Iceland on March 25 before visiting Romania for another World Cup qualifier three days later. It also plays North Macedonia on March 31.