Chinese media in Chengdu, the capital of southwest Sichuan province, released footage Sunday of the alleged quack using scissors to remove anesthetized dogs’ vocal cords while their jaws were held open with string.

The Chengdu Business Report noted that the self-proclaimed “veterinarian” conducted these five-minute procedures on a table at the side of the street.

The ground by his feet was splattered with blood, according to the video footage. The report said it appeared that he did not wash his instruments between uses.

While debarking — also known as “bark softening” — is an established surgical procedure used to reduce tissue in dogs’ vocal cords and soften (but not eliminate) their bark, the local forestry bureau said in a statement that the man, surnamed Zeng, was not licensed to operate on animals.

His business, which has been ordered to shut down, is under investigation.

Customers interviewed by Chengdu Business Report said they came to the stand because their dogs were too noisy, prompting complaints from neighbors.

Zeng charged between 50 and 80 yuan (US$8 and $12), depending on the size of the dog.//AFP

Seven aged between 11 and 18 have been arrested in connection with the fire early on Thursday. City police Chief Comm Datuk Amar Singh said the teenagers were picked up between 6pm on Friday and 2.30am yesterday.

He said insults exchanged between the youths and the students early in the week was believed to be the trigger that led to the tragic fire.

“Investigations revealed that their motive was to burn the school. Their basic intent was to cause mischief by fire.

“But maybe because of their age, they didn’t know that their actions would lead to the final result,” he said adding that there was a possibility that the suspects were “high” during the incident.

Comm Amar also confirmed that two gas cylinders were brought from the lower floor to the top floor of the building where the fire started and that an accelerant was also used.

The 5.15am fire at the tahfiz school resulted in the death of 21 students and two teachers. Six other students were injured.

He said police also seized five shirts, five pants, four helmets and three motorcycles from the suspects.

He added that six of the seven suspects also tested positive for ganja and checks showed that two of them had previous criminal records.

Comm Amar said the seven were school dropouts living nearby the area.

Comm Amar added that the seven have been remanded for seven days starting yesterday.

He said that the case was being investigated for murder, mischief by fire, sudden death and fire report.

Asked whether any fuel was found on the clothes of the suspects that were seized, Comm Amar said: “I can only confirm that five pairs of clothing and pants were seized to undergo hydrocarbon analysis.

“We have completed the investigation and with the arrests, I can confirm that the case is solved and there would not be any more arrests,” he said.

Comm Amar also confirmed that one of the suspects was caught on CCTV footage that went viral on social media.

He also urged people to stop spreading information about the case on social media as it would affect the investigation.

The police announcement shocked parents of those who died in the fire.

“I could not believe that the fire was an act of arson, as I previously thought it could have been due to a short circuit,” said Siti Salfari Ismail who lost a 10-year-old son Muhammad Aidil Aqmal Mohd Zamzuri.

She said what was even more shocking was the revelation that the suspects were teenagers.

“This is so cruel to my son and his friends. So many of them lost their lives. I cannot believe someone would do this,” Siti Salfari said.

She learnt about the news through her friends working at the police station.

The grieving mother said she hoped those involved would get their just punishment if they were proven guilty.

She also said her son was happy studying at the tahfiz school and had never complained about any untoward incidents.

Ahmad Nor Ramli, the father of 13-year-old Muhammad Hazim, said he would leave the matter to the police.

“I hope the police will find the truth and justice will prevail,” he said.

He also said his son had never complained about any disagreement involving the students at the school.

Norakma Aini Ruslan, 29, the mother of 14-year-old victim Muhammad Daniel Md Amin said, “I hope those involved will get the punishment they deserved.”

    The call from Human Rights Watch came as the UN General Assembly prepared to convene in New York, with the ongoing crisis in Myanmar billed as one of most pressing topics.

The mass exodus of Rohingya refugees to neighbouring Bangladesh has billowed into an humanitarian emergency as aid groups struggle to provide relief to a daily stream of new arrivals, more than half of whom are children.

There are acute shortages of nearly all forms of aid, with many Rohingya huddling under tarps as their only protection from monsoon rains.

Myanmar’s government hinted Sunday that would not take back all who fled across the border, accusing those refugees of having links to militants whose raids on police posts in August set off the army backlash.

Any moves to block the refugees’ return will likely inflame Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheik Hasina, who will press the UN General Assembly for more global pressure on Myanmar to repatriate all of the Rohingya massing in shantytowns along her border.

Human Rights Watch also called for the “safe and voluntary return” of the displaced as it urged governments around the globe to punish Myanmar’s army with sanctions for the “ongoing atrocities” against the Rohingya.

Call for arms embargo

“The United Nations Security Council and concerned countries should impose targeted sanctions and an arms embargo on the Burmese military to end its ethnic cleansing campaign against Rohingya Muslims,” the group said in a statement.

It called on the UN General Assembly to make the crisis a priority, urging countries to issue travel bans and asset freezes on Myanmar officers implicated in the abuses, as well as expand arms emargoes.

“Burma’s senior military commanders are more likely to heed the calls of the international community if they are suffering real economic consequences,” said John Sifton, HRW’s Asia advocacy director.

Myanmar’s government has defended the military campaign as a legitimate crackdown on the Rohingya militants, who first emerged as a fighting force last October.

On Sunday Myanmar’s Information Committee accused those who fled to Bangladesh — more than a third of the Rohingya population — of working in cahoots with the Rohingya militia, a rag-tag group of fighters armed with mostly rudimentary weapons.

“Those who fled the villages made their way to the other country for fear of being arrested as they got involved in the violent attacks,” the statement said.

“Legal protection will be given to the villages whose residents did not flee,” it added.

The violence has gutted large swaths of northern Rahkine in just over three weeks, with fires visible almost daily across the border from the Bangladesh camps.

Some 30,000 ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Hindus have also been displaced by the unrest.

While the world has watched the refugee crisis unfold with horror, there is little sympathy for the Rohingya inside mainly Buddhist Myanmar.

Many Buddhists revile the group and have long denied the existence of a Rohingya ethnicity, insisting they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.//AFP

    The glitzy ceremony in downtown Los Angeles — the first under the administration of President Donald Trump — was widely expected to have a strongly political flavor, and host Stephen Colbert set the tone in his opening monologue.

“However you feel about the president, and you do feel about the president, you can’t deny that every show was influenced by Donald Trump in some way,” he said.

“All the late night shows, obviously, ‘House of Cards,’ the new season of ‘American Horror Story.'”

Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” and HBO miniseries “Big Little Lies” were the big winners, with five statuettes each.

“Big Little Lies” cast members Nicole Kidman, Laura Dern and Alexander Skarsgard all took home Emmys, along with director Jean-Marc Vallee. It also won outstanding limited series.

“The Handmaid’s Tale,” Hulu’s acclaimed series based on the 1985 novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, won awards for writing and directing as well as the biggest prize of the night — outstanding drama series.

Ann Dowd, picking up her first Emmy at age 61 for her portrayal of brutal instructor Aunt Lydia, spoke of how her award was “a dream” while outstanding lead actress Elisabeth Moss turned the air blue with an expletive strewn acceptance speech.

Hulu will have the most to celebrate as the post-show parties get started, stealing a march on rival streaming platform Netflix, which won just four statuettes all evening.

On a night that rewarded ethnic diversity, Sterling K. Brown picked up lead actor in a drama for “This is Us” while Aziz Ansari and Lena Waithe, Riz Ahmed and Donald Glover also made it to the podium.

But politics was always going to be the story of the awards from the moment John Lithgow picked up the first one: best supporting actor in a drama for his acclaimed turn as Winston Churchill in Netflix’s British royal drama “The Crown.”

“In these crazy times his life even as an old man reminds us what leadership and courage in government really looks like,” the US actor said.

NBC’s long-running comedy sketch show “Saturday Night Live” went into Emmys week with 22 nominations — the joint-highest total alongside “Westworld” — after a year of mercilessly spoofing the new commander-in-chief.

Its haul of five Creative Arts statuettes included outstanding guest actress in a comedy series for Melissa McCarthy, whose “Unhinged Spicey” take on Sean Spicer came to embody early criticism of the administration.

The former White House press secretary, whose full-throated defence of Trump earned him derision on television, delighted his former tormentors in a surprise appearance at the opening of the show.

– ‘Greatest honor’ –

====================

SNL took four statuettes, with Kate McKinnon tearfully accepting the award for best supporting actress in a comedy series for her portrayal of Hillary Clinton.

She told reporters backstage that the role had been “the greatest honor of my life” and talked of the “special kind of electricity” on set every week.

Alec Baldwin was tapped as best supporting actor in a comedy for his Trump impersonation.

“I suppose I should say at long last, Mr President, here is your Emmy,” he joked, in a dig at Trump’s oft-stated annoyance at never having won a statuette for NBC reality show “The Apprentice” or its celebrity spin-off.

The show also picked up the award for best variety sketch show and outstanding directing.

Elsewhere in the comedy stakes, the 33-year-old Glover took home a brace of statuettes for directing and starring in the FX comedy series “Atlanta.”

The award caps a huge year for Glover, who already has two Golden Globes for the show, focused on the Georgia capital’s rap scene.

Glover got a loud cheer when he took to the stage and thanked Trump for “making black people number one on the most oppressed list.”

British funnyman Charlie Brooker also picked up two Emmys for writing and producing “San Junipero,” a feature-length episode of the dark comedy series “Black Mirror.”

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, in one of the least surprising announcements of the night, won her sixth consecutive Emmy for playing hapless ex-president Selena Meyer in HBO’s “Veep,” which also won best comedy series.

– Wide open field –

===================

The network’s fantasy epic “Game of Thrones” has a record 38 awards, but was ineligible for the 69th Primetime Emmys, having started its seventh season too late.

That left the field open for several much talked-about first-timers, including HBO sci-fi Western show “Westworld,” and Netflix’s 1980s-set horror series “Stranger Things.”

Neither was able to add to their five Creative Arts Emmys, however.

Perennial favorite HBO led the networks with 10 Emmys. Next were NBC (six), Hulu (five), Netflix (four) and FX (two).//AFP

The plan was unveiled as the country is promoting the use of biofuel, an ideal alternative to fossil fuel, according to the National Energy Administration.

According to a plan jointly released by the National Development and Reform Commission, the National Energy Administration, and the Ministry of Finance, the country will implement nation-wide use of ethanol-added gasoline by 2020, while targeting the large-scale production of cellulose ethanol and advanced biofuel technologies by 2025.

It’s the first time the government has set a timeline for promoting the biofuel, known as E10, referring to gasoline with an ethanol content of 10 per cent.

Analyst said government support has greatly boosted confidence in the sector.

“The main advantage of ethanol fuel is that it is low carbon and environmentally friendly, which is widely used in the United States and Spain”, said Zhou Dadi, former director of the energy research institute of the NDRC. The news will boost confidence in the industry, which now faces difficulties such as a high price and a low turnover rate, Zhou said, adding that without government support ethanol would likely be too expensive to survive in the market.

China is the world’s third-largest bioethanol producer and uses nearly 2.6 million metric tons a year. Gasoline blended with ethanol accounts for one-fifth of its annual gasoline consumption. China launched corn-to-ethanol pilot programs in 2004, as part of efforts to cut emissions and advance new energy.

The government also said it aims to build an ethanol production base in the country’s northeast, the main corn-growing region, without giving further details.

Experts have proposed expanding production and consumption of ethanol to balance grain supply and demand and efficiently dispose of surplus grain, an unnamed official from the National Energy Administration was quoted as saying by Xinhua News Agency.

According to Zhou, the reason to choose Northeast China in building the production base for fuel ethanol is that a great deal of grain is stored there every year.

However, he warned that the country should not promote the industry by using crops to produce fuel ethanol and that crop stalks should be the main material for fuel ethanol production.

“More technological breakthroughs are needed to lower the price and increase the production efficiency of fuel ethanol,” he said.

Insiders said the country’s plan to use ethanol gasoline across the country by 2020 will also be a blow to China’s major oil producers, including China National Petroleum Corp, the nation’s largest oil producer and supplier, and the world’s largest refiner China Petroleum & Chemical Corp.

China said on Saturday that it has started studying when to ban the production and sale of cars using traditional fuels.

Despite oil’s major and dominant role in the transportation sector for decades to come, there is room for growth in natural gas, electricity and biofuel, said Li Li, energy research director at consulting company ICIS China.

The latest Global Retirement Index, which measures indicators like health and material well-being, has ranked Singapore at 27th place – one place better than last year.

The index of 43 nations assesses factors that drive retirement security. It considers how 18 measures across four categories – health, finances in retirement, quality of life and material well-being – affect retirees.

Norway was ranked top, followed by Switzerland and Iceland, as the three best countries with the most favourable retirement security.

Compiled by Natixis Global Asset Management, the index showed that among Asia-Pacific countries, Singapore registered some of the best scores across almost all indicators within the finances in retirement sub-index.

Japan also rose in the same ranking, mainly owing to improvements in its interest rate competitiveness, bank non-performing loans, and tax pressure indicators.

New Zealand and China have jumped up the finances in retirement sub-index, with the latter scoring 66 per cent – higher than the overall score for the Asia-Pacific – to end up in the top 20.

Madeline Ho, executive managing director, head of wholesale fund distribution, Asia-Pacific, for Natixis Global Asset Management, noted that the stability and robustness of government finances are vital for a snag-free retirement but it may not suffice to guarantee retirement security over the long term, given demographic pressure.

“That’s why it’s important for investors to take on a more active role in planning their retirement to ensure that they will be able to meet and maintain their desired quality of life when they retire,” she said.

Overall, New Zealand and Australia are the region’s highest ranking performers, securing fifth and sixth place respectively in the index, ahead of Japan (22nd), South Korea (23rd), Singapore (27th), China (38th) and India (43rd).

OTHER SUB-INDEXES

New Zealand and Australia are the only non-European countries to feature in the top 10 of the quality of life sub-index, where Australia has the second-highest score for air quality and the ninth-highest for happiness – on the back of improvements in its environment. The country registers the fifth-strongest improvement of all countries in the environmental factors indicator, primarily due to declines in CO2 emissions and increased prevalence of renewable electricity.

New Zealand ranks sixth in the sub-index and finished in the top 10 for air quality (fourth) and happiness (eighth). China significantly improved its overall performance, driven by a six-point increase in its material well-being score and a three-point rise in quality of life.

However, Singapore shows mixed results with respect to these sub-indexes. It has the fifth-highest life expectancy of all the countries studied, yet finishes second-to-last in the insured health expenditure indicator, which measures the portion of that expenditure paid for by insurance.

Its only decline was registered in the material well-being sub-index, where its performance is a story of two halves. While it boasts the highest score for two of the three indicators in the sub-index – employment and income per capita – it has the fourth-lowest score for income equality among the surveyed countries. If its score for income equality was on a par with the other two indicators, Singapore would comfortably finish in the top five for material well-being.

Aviation Industry Corp of China, the State-owned aircraft giant, has put its AV500W unmanned autonomous helicopter on display at the fourth China Helicopter Expo that opened on Thursday in Tianjin.

The 7.2-metre-long aircraft, developed and produced at the AVIC Helicopter Research and Development Institute in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, has a maximum takeoff weight of 450 kilograms, a maximum speed of 170 kilometres per hour and a flight ceiling of 4,000 metres, according to the institute.

The helicopter is capable of carrying 120 kg of weapons and equipment. Its reconnaissance version can remain aloft for eight hours while the reconnaissance combat model is able to fly four hours.

All of the military drones China has offered to the international market have been fixed-wing models, making the AV500W the first Chinese unmanned military helicopter available in that market, observers said.

An armed AV500W typically carries four air-to-ground missiles, which use radar homing technology for guidance. Each missile weighs 8 kg and can hit a target 5 km away, the institute said. It also can carry bombs or a machine-gun pod.

The helicopter features good mobility, penetration capability and a high level of automation and has a stealth design. A typical mission would be a precision attack on light-duty armoured vehicles and personnel, the institute said.

Jiang Taiyu, one of the chief designers of AV500W, said the aircraft fired weapons during its maiden flight test in August.

“The helicopter is able to take off and land on almost any landform including plateaus and canyons. It can operate in cold and tropical environments. It will be useful in border patrols, counterterrorism operations and low-intensity conflicts because it can carry out very-low-altitude penetration and keep hovering for a while,” he said.

The designer added that all of the helicopter’s tests will be finished before the end of this year and it will be ready for mass-production in 2018.

“Several nations have told us that they are interested in this aircraft. This is because there are a very small number of unmanned helicopters in the world that can perform strikes, while demand for such types is not small,” Jiang said. He said only the United States and Israel have developed unmanned armed helicopters, such as the Northrop Grumman MQ-8B Fire Scout in the US.

The AV500W’s target market will be countries dealing with terrorism such as in the Middle East, he said.

Fang Yonghong, director of unmanned aircraft technology at AVIC Helicopter Research and Development Institute, said many nations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East face huge pressure to ramp up their counterterrorism efforts, so they need good, affordable equipment such as the AV500W.

More than 400 helicopter producers and parts suppliers from 22 nations and regions－such as the US, Russia and France－are taking part in the helicopter expo, the largest of its kind in China. They brought 98 aircraft to the event. Helicopters from the People’s Liberation Army Ground Force and AVIC conducted flight demonstrations at the opening ceremony on Thursday morning.

Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, 47, the president and chief executive of budget airline Vietjet Air, is South-east Asia’s only woman billionaire, and one of just two billionaires in Vietnam, according to Forbes.

Armed with two bachelor’s degrees in finance and labour economics, as well a PhD in economic management from Russia, she has built Vietjet into a prominent carrier in the local aviation industry, even beating Vietnam Airlines in terms of local market share, and is eyeing widening its reach beyond Vietnam.

Launched in December 2011, Vietjet Air has pursued its motto to “bring the opportunity to travel by air to all people”.

With a fleet of 48 aircraft, including A320s and A321s, the airline currently operates 350 flights each day on 73 routes in Vietnam and regional destinations in Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, China, Myanmar and Cambodia.

Vietjet this month tied up with Japan Airlines to expand options for the one million people that travel between the two countries.

Thao said she saw huge opportunities in the domestic aviation industry, with a population of 94 million people and a rising middle class. Since Vietjet’s entry, the domestic market has grown steadily at more than 20 per cent, making it one of the fastest-growing air transport industries in the world, with an annual average growth of 17 per cent in the last 10 years.

After five years of operation, Vietjet debuted on the stock market in February this year with its market capitalisation pegged at US$1.8 billion (S$2.5 billion) and an annual revenue of US$1.2 billion. It was ranked among the Top 500 Brands in Asia 2016 by Nielsen.

In preparation for deeper international and regional integration, the carrier plans to develop international routes within a radius of less than five flying hours. It has signed agreements with the world’s leading aircraft manufacturers to purchase brand new, modern aircraft.

Thao believes that in future, e-commerce and low-cost airlines will both grow rapidly and, with the opening of Asean skies, the aviation market will continue to expand. With the philosophy of “creating new customers” instead of “scrambling for market share at all cost”, Vietjet Air will look to cooperate with international airlines to develop its international routes.

While she has built her success in the aviation industry, Thao is also an influential entrepreneur in the finance and real estate sectors.

She is the standing vice-chairman of HDBank and chairman of Sovico Holdings, which runs several five-star resorts and hotels including Furama Resort Da Nang, Ana Mandara and An Lam Ninh Van Bay.

Aviation Industry Corp of China, the State-owned aircraft giant, and Russian Helicopters, Russia’s only helicopter manufacturer, have had 17 rounds of talks on the subject. All of the technological requirements, work assignments, collaboration methods and schedules have been finalised, said Huang Chuanyue, deputy chief engineer at Avicopter, AVIC’s helicopter branch.

“Our talks are in the final stage. The helicopter will be jointly developed and manufactured. The research, development and assembly will be in China, while the production of some key parts will be in Russia,” Huang told reporters on the sidelines of the 2017 China Helicopter Development Forum in Tianjin.

More than 300 government officials, company representatives and experts in the helicopter industry took part in the event, which was hosted by AVIC and the Tianjin government.

Huang said the new helicopter’s technologies will be unique compared with other heavy-lift models in the world because it will be designed completely in accordance with China’s requirements and geographic conditions.

“China has multiple landforms including plateaus, mountainous regions and plains, so the helicopter must be able to operate in every landform. Foreign helicopters have not met our needs, especially those in plateaus and mountains,” he said.

This is very important because China has vast plateau areas and mountainous terrain, as well as many islands that are difficult to access by other means. That has been an extremely serious problem because China is often hit by natural disasters, the designer said, adding that the helicopter will also be of value for building infrastructure in mountainous terrain and on islands.

Huang noted that it will be more robust than all other helicopters in China in terms of carrying capacity.

“It will be capable of taking 10 metric tons of cargo, or more than 100 people inside the cabin, or carry 15 tons of freight in an external sling. By comparison, the AC313, currently the strongest type, can carry four tons inside the cabin or lift five tons outside the body,” he said.

According to AVIC, the helicopter will have a maximum takeoff weight of 38.2 metric tons and a maximum cruising speed of 300 kilometres per hour. It will be capable of flying at altitudes up to 5,700 metres and have a range of 630 km.

Currently, heavy-lift helicopters in use include the United States’ Boeing CH-47 Chinook, the Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion and Russia’s Mil Mi-26 series. The US and Russia continue to upgrade these types and aspire to maintain their dominance of the heavy-lift helicopter market, observers said.

Lam made the remarks in her keynote speech at the opening of the 14th World Chinese Entrepreneurs Convention (WCEC), which kicked off on Saturday.

The agreements will cover trade in goods, trade in services, investment, economic and technological cooperation, dispute settlement and other areas, she said.

Lam highlighted the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for being an important trading partner of Hong Kong, saying that the region is Hong Kong’s second largest partner in goods trade and the fourth largest in services trade.

Pointing out that ASEAN will undoubtedly be one of the focuses of the Belt and Road Initiative, she said many major cooperation projects, including railways, roads, ports and electricity, are underway and will bring huge business opportunities and benefits to the Hong Kong SAR as well as Myanmar and other countries.

ALSO READ: Lam visits Singapore, Thailand to boost HK-ASEAN ties

The WCEC brought together more than 2,000 overseas Chinese business leaders to discuss plans of business expansion.

Under the theme of “An Opening Economy in Myanmar, A New Epoch in History,” the four-day convention is hosted by Myanmar Chinese Chamber of Commerce.

Lam, who arrived in Myanmar Thursday for the convention, met with Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and Vice President Myint Swe in Naypyidaw on Friday.

She had discussions with the two Myanmar leaders on the promotion of education, health, investment and trade.

Held in various cities every two years since 1991, the WCEC aims to provide a platform for Chinese entrepreneurs and the business and industrial sector from around the world to enhance economic cooperation and understanding.

The Hong Kong SAR and ASEAN had earlier announced the conclusion of negotiations on the Free Trade Agreement and the Investment Agreement.

Following her visits to Singapore and Thailand in early August, Myanmar is the third ASEAN country that the chief executive visited.