TURKEY
Russian spy ship sinks
A Russian naval spy ship on Thursday sank in the Black Sea off Turkey’s coast after hitting a Togo-flagged vessel packed with livestock, but all of its 78 crew were rescued. The Russian military said the Liman — a former research ship refitted as an intelligence vessel — had a hole ripped out of its hull in the collision with the Youzarsif H. The collision, whose precise circumstances remain to be explained, took place in fog outside the northwestern entrance to the Bosphorus Strait. The Liman was struck at 11:53am with the ship sinking three hours later, Turkish and Russian sources said. Of 78 Russian personnel on board the ship, 63 were rescued by the coast guard and the other 15 by the Youzarsif H, the coast guard said.
UNITED STATES
Singaporean jailed
A Singaporean man was on Thursday sentenced to 40 months in prison for helping ship US-made radio frequency modules to Iran that were eventually found in improvised explosive devices in Iraq. Lim Yong Nam, 43, also known as Steven Lim, in December last year pleaded guilty in Washington to fraud charges related to sanctions violations by helping route 6,000 of the modules through Singapore to Iran. Lim and others he worked with had declared Singapore as the final destination for the electronics, but instead they were forwarded from the city-state in five lots to Iran, the Department of Justice said.
AUSTRALIA
Toddler walks after surgery
A toddler born with three legs was yesterday returning home to Bangladesh after a complex and rare surgery enabled her to walk and run, her doctor said. A team of surgeons spent several months mapping out a procedure to reconstruct her anatomy. “A twin had grown out of her pelvis, but the twin was only part of a twin... The problem is there’s no rulebook for this, because she’s a very unique individual, so you have to try and work out what was where,” Monash Children’s Hospital paediatric surgery head Chris Kimber told reporters.
ESTONIA
Police to carry teddy bears
Police will soon carry teddy bears in their patrol cars to comfort children caught up in accidents or distressing situations, the organizer of the charity Traumamommik (“Trauma Teddy”) told reporters. The plan is to see cuddly toys added to the equipment in the country’s 100 police patrol cars in time for Children’s Day, which is celebrated there on June 1. Additional bears are to be kept at police stations. “The teddy bears will hopefully help lift the spirits of these kids and be a support if the children need it,” said Kaur Vahtrik, the charity’s 25-year-old organizer.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese