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China builds a database of Uighurs’ DNA, a fire in Bangladesh fits a disturbing pattern and Karl Lagerfeld’s cat expects a comfortable inheritance. Here’s the latest:
The country is collecting genetic material as part of its vast campaign of oppression of Muslim minority groups. Critics say the DNA could be used to track and chase down whoever resists conforming.
To help it build out the DNA database, China used equipment from a U. S. company, Thermo Fisher, and also got material from a prominent Yale geneticist to compare Uighur DNA with genetic material from people around the world.
How it works: Under the guise of free medical checkups in the western region of Xinjiang, where much of the population is Uighur, the government collected DNA samples, images of irises and other personal data of tens of millions of people.
In some cases, people were told the checkups were mandatory.
Background: In 2016, the government embarked on a campaign to shift the Muslim orientation of Uighurs and other minority groups into support for the Communist Party, detaining up to a million people in what it calls “re-education” camps — efforts that have been widely condemned around the world.
The response: Thermo Fisher said it would stop selling equipment in Xinjiang. And the Yale researcher said he had believed that the Chinese authorities were operating within scientific norms that require the informed consent of DNA donors.
A blaze ripped through a crowded, historic neighborhood in the capital city of Dhaka, killing 110 people.
Witnesses said it was set off aftera gas cylinder stored at the back of a car exploded. Plastics at a nearby store and chemicals stored illegally at another store fed the flames that eventually engulfed everything in its path.
Background: Devastating fires and safety disasters are all too common in the country. In 2010, more than 120 people died in a fire in Dhaka that started when an electrical transformer exploded and ignited illegally stored chemicals — a strikingly similar situation to the recent blaze.
In 2012, a fire at a garment factory on the outskirts of Dhaka burned for more than 17 hours, killing more than 115 people.
Government action: Officials have repeatedly vowed to take action against safety violations. But the promises lack any teeth because of lax enforcement on the ground and, sometimes, corruption as business owners pay off officials and regulators.
President Nicolás Maduro ordered its border with Brazil shut on Thursday, a day after blocking all air and sea traffic with three Caribbean islands — a move that escalates his efforts to stop his opponents from bringing desperately needed humanitarian aid into the country.
