Kiribati's judicial shake-up, Gangnam Style, In China
10 years later, Kiribati s judicial shake-up and Gangnam Style were also included in the World Cup updates.
Protests erupted in cities and colleges across China this weekend as public anger over the country's draconian Covid controls spilled onto the streets. Hundreds of students gathered yesterday at Tsinghua University in Beijing, where they have been largely banned from leaving for weeks. The crowd chanted about the rule of law and democracy. In Chengdu, video showed people shouting: We want freedom, we want democracy. One of the biggest protests took place in Shanghai on Saturday when a chanting crowd called for the Communist Party and its leader Xi Jinping to step down. The police looked on as the shouting grew before the hundreds of protesters were dispersed, mostly in their twenties. Some are afraid of an official response. At least 10 people were killed in Urumqi, the regional capital of Xinjiang, where at least 10 people were killed and nine others were injured.
Many people think Covid restrictions prevented the residents in the building from fleeing or hampered rescue efforts, but the government has rejected that claim. Many Chinese people have had stories of being quarantined at home after nearly three years of restrictions, sometimes with their doors wired or welded shut or emergency exits blocked. The city was in the midst of a taxing lock down this spring. In the last few days, many neighborhoods have begun ordering frequent Covid tests again, only days after announcing that they would be seldom needed. Background: For a long time, many Chinese have accepted restrictions as a price to pay for avoiding widespread illness and deaths. Public patience has eroded as other nations have returned to normal life, partly because of access to more effective vaccines. Politics: The outpouring has created new pressures on Xi only a month after he secured a third term as party boss. Censors have been moving quickly to remove photos and video footage of the protests.
Taneti Maamau, Kiribati's president, suspended five high-level judges - all foreigners - and elevated the attorney general to acting chief justice. Maamau accused the non-citizen judges of trying to undermine the sovereignty of Kiribati, a Pacific island nation, after they challenged the government or made rulings against it. He accused judges of being neocolonial actors who were weaponizing Kiribati's laws. Foreign judges are a legacy of colonialism, and his word choice is at the heart of the issue. Local residents were not appointed to government positions during colonial times and were rarely able to earn legal qualifications. One expert said that there is a shortage of qualified citizens who are willing to take up judicial offices. The region is not the only region with foreign judges, but they are perhaps most widespread in the Pacific. More than three-quarters of judges in the nine Pacific nations that are part of the Commonwealth have been foreigners, according to the expert.
Gangnam Style took over the internet in 2012. The viral hit became the first-ever YouTube offering to surpass one billion views, with its catchy horseback dance moves. The music video has 4.6 billion and counting. It's helped pave the way for the global success of Korean pop by laying the groundwork for artists like BTS and Blackpink. Gangnam, an upscale Seoul neighborhood, has been placed on the international map. Psy, the 45-year-old artist behind the song, is haunted by Gangnam Style. He has spent years trying to replicate its virality, but he hasn't figured out the secret of its runaway success. What was so special about that one song? Psy said so. I still don't know, to this day.