RUSSIA
Cargo on its way to ISS
A rocket has successfully launched an uncrewed cargo ship to the International Space Station (ISS), whose crew is anxiously awaiting it after the successive failures of two previous supply missions. A Soyuz-U rocket blasted off as scheduled from Russia-leased Baikonur launch pad in Kazakhstan, placing the Progress M-28M cargo ship into a designated orbit. The previous Progress launch in April ended in failure and on Sunday a US supply mission failed too when SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket broke apart shortly after liftoff. The success of yesterday’s launch is essential for the station program, which has relied on Russian spacecraft for ferrying crews after the grounding of the US shuttle fleet. The next station crew’s launch has been pushed back from late May to late this month after April’s failure.
COLOMBIA
Miss Universe will not quit
The reigning Miss Universe said Donald Trump, the beauty pageant’s owner, was “hurtful and unfair” in his comments about Mexican migrants, but Paulina Vega said she would not be giving up her crown. Vega has been under pressure at home and from abroad to renounce her title over Trump accusing Mexico of sending rapists and drug traffickers into the US. In her first public comments, Vega said on Thursday that she wanted to join in the chorus of rebukes to Trump, but that she did not plan to resign her crown because the Miss Universe organization does meaningful social work in communities around the world. Many Colombians were outraged by Trump’s remarks and the city government of Bogota withdrew its support for a bid to host the Miss Universe pageant.
NETHERLANDS
More than 200 break curfew
Police in The Hague said yesterday that they had detained more than 200 people overnight for violating terms of a curfew, as unrest in the city continued for a fourth night. Protests in the mostly immigrant Schilderswijk neighborhood began on Monday amid anger over the death of a Caribbean man while in police custody. However, the nighttime disturbances since then have been devoid of any protest message. Residents have asked police and politicians to restore order, while Prime Minister Mark Rutte described young people lighting fireworks and throwing debris at police as “retarded.” Mayor Jozias van Aartsen promised a stronger response. Of 61 people who had been arrested in connection with the unrest through Thursday, police said almost all were teenagers suspected of vandalism. Most of the 200 detained on Thursday night and early yesterday were taken to jail by bus, fined and released to their parents’ custody.
LIBYA
Peace deal sent to Tripoli
UN mediators and the internationally recognized parliament have presented a tentative peace deal to the rival Tripoli leadership, hoping for approval within days. A UN statement said they initialed the agreement at talks in Morocco that ended early yesterday. The fifth draft of the peace deal is the latest of increasingly desperate efforts to restore stability to a nation split by rival governments in the east and west, and warring militias. Delegates of the Tripoli government participated in earlier discussions on the deal. A representative said they would vote tomorrow on the draft. The UN statement said it hoped the response would be positive and that they would “shoulder their responsibility before the Libyan people.” The deal includes a power-sharing agreement and an interim government.
SAMOA
Half-day holiday granted
Samoans have been granted a half-day holiday on Wednesday next week to mark the historic first home rugby Test against New Zealand in Apia. Samoan Prime minister Tuilaepa Sa’lele Malielegaoi, who is also chairman of the Samoa Rugby Union, declared the holiday yesterday, saying “we have to have a half-day. It’s a day where everyone should prepare to support the boys.” Samoans have been clamoring for their government to declare a full national holiday on Wednesday, to ensure as many people as possible can be freed from work or school watch the game which kicks off at 3pm. Only 8,000 fans would fit into Apia Park in the Samoan capital but many more are set to watch on big screens in front of the government buildings in central Apia.
SOUTH KOREA
Explosion kills six
An explosion at a chemical plant in South Korea killed six workers yesterday, officials said. The victims were doing welding work when the blast tore down a waste storage facility at a chemical plant run by Hanwha Chemical Co in the southeastern city of Ulsan, the officials said. The exact cause of the explosion was not immediately known. However, fire officer Kim Jung-sik said that gas trapped inside the storage might have triggered the blast. South Korean media reported the six workers were on top of the storage at the time of the explosion, but fire officials said they could not immediately confirm the reports.
UNITED STATES
Burundi assistance halted
The US suspended security assistance programs in Burundi because of abuses committed by police during political protests in the east African country, the US Department of State said. “Due to the precarious political and security situation in Burundi and the government of Burundi’s unwillingness to engage in good faith efforts to negotiate a solution, the US has today suspended several security assistance programs on which it has cooperated with Burundi,” it said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.
PHILIPPINES
Magnitude 6.1 quake strikes
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the southern Philippines yesterday, the US Geological Survey said. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties after the undersea quake struck at 2:43pm 62km northeast of Surigao city on Mindanao island. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said the earthquake occurred at a depth of 26km and was felt on Mindanao’s northeast tip as well as on nearby Leyte island. The Philippines is regularly hit by earhquakes due to its location along the so-called chain of fire of islands of the Pacific Ocean that were created by volcanic activity.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
‘DELUSIONAL’: Targeting the families of Hamas’ leaders would not push the group to change its position or to give up its demands for Palestinians, Ismail Haniyeh said Israeli aircraft on Wednesday killed three sons of Hamas’ top political leader in the Gaza Strip, striking high-stakes targets at a time when Israel is holding delicate ceasefire negotiations with the militant group. Hamas said four of the leader’s grandchildren were also killed. Ismail Haniyeh’s sons are among the highest-profile figures to be killed in the war so far. Israel said they were Hamas operatives, and Haniyeh accused Israel of acting in “the spirit of revenge and murder.” The deaths threatened to strain the internationally mediated ceasefire talks, which appeared to gain steam in recent days even as the sides remain far
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of