Subject: Morning Brief: Chinese scientists and officials blast researcher for rogue gene editing
From: "Foreign Policy" <[email-masked]>
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Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2018 07:36:59 -0600 (CST)

Chinese Scientists and Officials Blast Researcher For Rogue Gene Editing

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MORNING BRIEF

Today's Global News from Foreign Policy

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11/27/2018

11/27/2018

TOP NEWS

Chinese Scientists and Officials Blast Researcher For Rogue Gene Editing

Top News: In the wake of Chinese researcher He Jiankui’s announcement that he used CRISPR technology to edit the genes of two baby girls born this month, Chinese scientists and officials have blasted He for being reckless, saying the work endangered his research subjects, and has opened a “Pandora’s box.” The hospital from which He claims to have received approval for the research has denied any awareness of it.

China’s vice minister for science and technology told reporters that efforts to alter the genes of human embryos had been prohibited in the country since 2003, adding that “We don’t know if this work is real or fake. If it’s real, then this is certainly banned in China.”

Democratic Republic of the Congo: The U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa is closed for a second day running, after “credible and specific information of a possible terrorist threat against U.S. Government facilities,” led to an initial closure on Monday. The U.S. State Department has advised citizens in the country to “keep a low profile” and “maintain heightened levels of vigilance.” Tensions in the DRC are rising in anticipation of a long-postponed election set for Dec. 23.

AFRICA

•  Ugandan police arrested 15 supporters from the Forum for Democratic Change, the country’s largest opposition party, after accusing them of holding an “illegal meeting.” Videos circulated on social media of teargas being used to break up the gathering.

•  South Africa’s president approved a new law setting South Africa’s minimum wage at 20 rand an hour, approximately $1.45.

•  The NBA opened a training center in Senegal, with the intention of opening up the world’s most famous basketball league to more African players.

AMERICAS

•  Hassan al-Kontar, a Syrian refugee who had been living in a Malaysian airport for more than six months as he struggled to resolve visa issues, landed in Vancouver on Tuesday morning, where he will be hosted by a Canadian citizen.

•  U.S. President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, is in solitary confinement in a Virginia jail, and facing new penalties after lying repeatedly to federal investigators in violation of the plea deal he agreed to.

•  The brother of Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández is facing drug-trafficking charges in Miami, where he is accused of being so enmeshed in the drug trade that he has his own brand of cocaine.

ASIA

•  Lu Guang, a New York-based photographer, has gone missing in China’s Xinjiang region.

•  In Afghanistan, the polarizing Hazara militant, Abdul Ghani Alipur, often referred to as “Commander Sword,” was freed, following two days of protests in Kabul calling for his release.

•  In the latest act of cultural diplomacy on the Korean peninsula, North Korea and South Korea are filing a joint bid to have their wrestling traditions recognized by UNESCO.

EUROPE

•  British Prime Minister Theresa May has challenged Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn to a televised debate over Brexit. May told reporters, “I have got a plan. He hasn’t got a plan.”

•  President Emmanuel Macron has extended plans to reduce French dependence on nuclear energy by a decade. Instead of closing 50 percent of the country’s nuclear plants by 2025, Macron declared on Tuesday that the new deadline is 2035.

•  After Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko warned Parliament of a “highly serious threat” from Russia, the country was moved into a state of martial law on Monday afternoon.

MIDDLE EAST

•  The Open Society Foundations, funded by billionaire philanthropist George Soros, will shut down operations in Turkey, saying that the intensity of “baseless claims” against the organization, including those from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, have made it impossible to operate in the country.

•  As Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman prepares to travel to Buenos Aires for the upcoming G-20 summit, authorities in Argentina are investigating him for war crimes in Yemen.

•  A day after being pardoned by the president of United Arab Emirates, British graduate student Matthew Hedges, who had been detained for months and was facing a life sentence over accusations of spying, landed at London’s Heathrow airport on Tuesday.

- By Jefcoate O'Donnell

(Gregor Fischer/Picture Alliance/Getty Images)

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