GERMANY
Merkel computer hacked
A computer in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s legislative office was hit by a cyberattack that targeted the lower house of parliament last month, the Bild reported yesterday. The daily, which did not cite its sources, said the cyberattack was broader and greater than originally anticipated and the Bundestag struggled to control it. The attack “infected” one of the computers in Merkel’s Bundestag office. Bild said the computer was one of the first on which the Trojan Horse-style attack was discovered on Friday. The Trojan Horse software was found on five computers.
MEXICO
Hurricane warning issued
A hurricane warning has been issued as Hurricane Carlos is expected to strengthen and increase its forward speed over coming days as it heads toward the southwest of the country. The US National Hurricane Center said the hurricane’s eye was slowly drifting north on Saturday night and was about 170km south of Acapulco and that Carlos’ winds had increased to 140kph. Carlos is expected to produce 5cm to 10cm of rain across the southwestern coast through tomorrow, which forecasters warned could cause life threatening flash floods and mudslides.
MOLDOVA
Voters go to the polls
Voters went to the polls yesterday in local polls that are seen as a test of whether the nation is committed to European integration or will move closer to Russia. The elections came two days after pro-European Prime Minister Chiril Gaburici resigned after he was questioned about the authenticity of his high school diplomas and university degree. About 2.8 million eligible voters are choosing mayors and local councils. A runoff is slated for June 28 for seats with no candidate who secures 50 percent of the vote.
GUYANA
UN help sought
The government said it plans to formally ask the UN to intervene and help resolve an escalating border dispute with Venezuela. Foreign Minister Carl Greenidge on Saturday said in a statement that it was time for what he called a “judicial settlement.” Venezuela has long claimed about two-thirds of the nation west of the Essequibo River, as well as a large marine area where Exxon Mobil Corp has said it made a significant oil discovery.
UNITED STATES
Body repatriated
The body of a Massachusetts man killed while fighting alongside the Kurds against the Islamic State group has been returned home. WBZ-TV reports a Turkish Airlines plane on Saturday arrived at Logan Airport in Boston carrying the body of 36-year-old Keith Broomfield, who was killed on June 3 in Syria. His parents told the television station that he had no military training, but he felt compelled to fight against what he considered “evil.” He went overseas in February.
ISRAEL
Soldiers quizzed on beating
Seven soldiers yesterday were to face a disciplinary hearing after video emerged of troops beating an unarmed Palestinian in a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. In the footage, men in military uniforms were seen repeatedly striking the civilian, including with a rifle butt near the back of the head and a punch in the face. The beating was accompanied by the chanting of obscenities. The army said seven soldiers were being investigated for possible disciplinary action over the alleged assault on Friday in the Jalazoun refugee camp near Ramallah.
JAPAN
US rower rescued
A US woman attempting to cross the Pacific by rowboat has ended her solo attempt because of expected bad weather. Sonya Baumstein was rescued off the Japanese coast on Saturday after sending out a distress signal, Kyodo news agency reported yesterday. The 30-year-old Baumstein departed from Choshi, Japan, one week ago, hoping to become the first woman to row solo across the Pacific. She was headed for San Francisco but sent out the signal on Saturday at 2:20pm about 250km off the coast of Japan. A freighter traveling nearby rescued her at about 5 pm on Saturday and passed her on to a coast guard ship around 8:55pm the Japanese coast guard said.
ALGIERS
Man dies in ethnic conflict
A man who was injured in clashes in southern Algeria, site of frequent confrontations between Berber and Arab communities, has died of his wounds, the country’s national news agency said on Saturday. The 33-year-old was wounded during clashes between groups of youths that began late on Friday in Berriane, according to the APS news agency, and later died in the hospital. Four other people were wounded in the clashes, APS reported. It added that riot police used tear gas to disperse the groups. Berriane lies near the southern town of Ghardaia, in the M’Zab valley on the edge of the Sahara desert. The region has seen tensions rise sharply between its Mozabite, or Berber, and Chaamba, or Arab, communities after vandals destroyed a historic Berber shrine in December 2013.
JAPAN
Thousands rally for pacifism
Thousands of Japanese rallied yesterday in protest at plans by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to bolster the role and scope of the pacifist nation’s military. The protest, which surrounded the parliament building, was held as the nationalist premier tries to force through parliament a set of controversial bills making the changes. The bills are a pet project of Abe, who said Japan can no longer shy away from its responsibility to help safeguard regional stability, and must step out from under the security umbrella provided by the US. The draft legislation would broaden the remit of Japan’s well-equipped and well-trained armed forces. It would allow them to go into battle to protect allies — so-called “collective defense” — something which is banned by a strict reading of Japan’s pacifist constitution. Opponents of the bills accuse Abe of trying to move the country away from pacifism, while three scholars summoned to parliament testified this month that the bills are unconstitutional.
the WEST BANK
Palestinian killed by jeep
An Israeli army jeep struck and killed a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank yesterday, with the military and locals giving conflicting accounts of the circumstances. A military spokeswoman said the jeep, which was in Qafr Malik village as part of an operation to arrest suspected militants, accidentally hit the Palestinian after he threw a petrol bomb at it. “The driver was startled and swerved, hitting the man,” she said, adding that a military investigation would be launched. Local resident Nail Abdul Latah al-Hajj denied the Palestinian had attacked the jeep, however, saying the man was walking to work at a chicken farm when he was run down on the main street and then crushed as the vehicle crashed into a wall and overturned.
‘HYANGDO’: A South Korean lawmaker said there was no credible evidence to support rumors that Kim Jong-un has a son with a disability or who is studying abroad South Korea’s spy agency yesterday said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s daughter, Kim Ju-ae, who last week accompanied him on a high-profile visit to Beijing, is understood to be his recognized successor. The teenager drew global attention when she made her first official overseas trip with her father, as he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Analysts have long seen her as Kim’s likely successor, although some have suggested she has an older brother who is being secretly groomed as the next leader. The South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) “assesses that she [Kim Ju-ae]
In the week before his fatal shooting, right-wing US political activist Charlie Kirk cheered the boom of conservative young men in South Korea and warned about a “globalist menace” in Tokyo on his first speaking tour of Asia. Kirk, 31, who helped amplify US President Donald Trump’s agenda to young voters with often inflammatory rhetoric focused on issues such as gender and immigration, was shot in the neck on Wednesday at a speaking event at a Utah university. In Seoul on Friday last week, he spoke about how he “brought Trump to victory,” while addressing Build Up Korea 2025, a conservative conference
China has approved the creation of a national nature reserve at the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島), claimed by Taiwan and the Philippines, the government said yesterday, as Beijing moves to reinforce its territorial claims in the contested region. A notice posted online by the Chinese State Council said that details about the area and size of the project would be released separately by the Chinese National Forestry and Grassland Administration. “The building of the Huangyan Island National Nature Reserve is an important guarantee for maintaining the diversity, stability and sustainability of the natural ecosystem of Huangyan Island,” the notice said. Scarborough
DEADLOCK: Putin has vowed to continue fighting unless Ukraine cedes more land, while talks have been paused with no immediate results expected, the Kremlin said Russia on Friday said that peace talks with Kyiv were on “pause” as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin still wanted to capture the whole of Ukraine. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said that he was running out of patience with Putin, and the NATO alliance said it would bolster its eastern front after Russian drones were shot down in Polish airspace this week. The latest blow to faltering diplomacy came as Russia’s army staged major military drills with its key ally Belarus. Despite Trump forcing the warring sides to hold direct talks and hosting Putin in Alaska, there
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