SOUTH KOREA
Drone filmed defense site
A suspected North Korean drone had photographed a US missile defense shield in the southeastern town of Seongju Korea before it crashed near the border where it was found last week, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The finding came four days after the North tested new anti-ship missiles in a continuation of its weapons launches that have complicated President Moon Jae-in’s push to improve ties frayed over the North’s nuclear ambitions. The drone was found at a border town on Friday and investigators have since discovered hundreds of photos from its Sony-made in-built camera, a ministry official said, requesting anonymity because of department rules. Ten of the photos were of US missile launchers and a radar system installed in Seongju earlier this year, while the rest show mostly residential areas, farming fields and other less-sensitive areas in the South, the official said.
JAPAN
Reactors’ restart approved
A court yesterday gave the green light to switch on two more nuclear reactors despite heavy public opposition, in the latest victory for the government’s pro-atomic push. Local residents lost their bid for an injunction to block the refiring of the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at the Genkai nuclear power plant on safety grounds, a district court official said. The site, operated by Kyushu Electric Power, lies about100km north of Kumamoto Prefecture, which was hit by a deadly earthquake last year. Residents unsuccessfully argued that the utility had not taken enough measures to prevent an accident linked to a natural disaster. The restarts are not likely to happen for at least several months. Dozens more reactors across the nation remain offline.
SOUTH KOREA
Professor hurt by explosion
A professor was injured yesterday after opening a concealed explosive device brought to his university office in Seoul, police said. The crudely made device was made with explosive powder, four batteries and dozens of bolts that were packed inside a vacuum bottle, and it exploded after the professor opened the bottle inside his office, the Seoul Metropolitan Agency said. The victim is a professor in the mechanical engineering department at Yonsei University. The professor found the bottle inside a box that was inside a shopping bag hung on his office door, but police have yet to find the sender. The professor had burns in his hands, chest and necks, but his injuries were not considered life-threatening. Police are examining the device and security camera video, and also trying to determine whether the attack targeted a random individual or was based on personal grudge.
SOUTH AFRICA
Water shortages persist
Cape Town remains gripped by critical water shortages, despite being lashed by torrential rains last week in the region’s worst storm in 30 years, officials said yesterday. More than eight people were killed and thousands forced from their homes after gale-force winds and flash floods hit shanty towns already coping with Cape Town’s worst drought in a century. “It may take a few seasons of normal rainfall for the dams to recover and therefore continuing to cut water use drastically is vital,” said Xanthea Limberg, a city mayoral committee member responsible for water services. Limberg said if rainfall does not significantly boost dam levels, Cape Town could run out of water by September.
UNITED STATES
Martinelli arrested in Miami
Former Panamanian president Ricardo Martinelli — accused by his nation of corruption and spying on political opponents — was arrested at his residence near Miami late on Monday, local media reported. Martinelli, detained at his home in Coral Gables south of Miami, is being held in a US federal prison and faces extradition to Panama, the Miami Herald quoted the US Marshals Service as saying. Martinelli was due to appear in federal court yesterday morning, the newspaper said. The Panamanian Supreme Court ordered his arrest in 2015 over accusations that he used public funds to illegally spy on telephone calls and e-mails of more than 150 prominent opponents. Martinelli denies the accusations, saying they are politically motivated. A supermarket tycoon, he governed from 2009 to 2014. Panamanian authorities have opened about 200 investigations into Martinelli’s administration, according to Transparency International. Allegations include accusations that he helped embezzle US$45 million from a government school-lunch program, as well as other cases of extortion, bribe-taking, misappropriation of public funds and abuse of power.
IRAQ
Mass poisoning at camp
The minister for health said a mass food poisoning at a camp for displaced people near the northern city of Mosul has killed at least two and sickened hundreds. Adila Hamoud yesterday said that 752 people took ill after a meal the previous evening at the Khazir camp. The food, provided by a non-governmental organization, was for an iftar, a meal with which Muslims break their dawn-to-dusk fasting during the holy month of Ramadan. Hamoud said a woman and a girl died, while about 300 people remain in critical condition. She would not speculate whether the poisoning might have been intentional. The camp houses thousands of people who have fled their homes in Mosul after a US-backed Iraqi offensive to dislodge the Islamic State group from the city.
FRANCE
LafargeHolcim probe opens
A judicial inquiry into the Syrian activities of French-Swiss cement and construction giant LafargeHolcim has been launched, Paris prosecutors said yesterday. Three judges — one dealing with anti-terrorism matters and two financial judges — would handle the probe, which was opened on Friday last week and would look into the “financing of a terrorist enterprise” and “endangering lives,” the prosecutors said. Earlier this year, LafargeHolcim admitted that it had resorted to “unacceptable practices” to continue operations at one of its now-closed factories in Syria, and an internal probe had confirmed that finding.
GERMANY
More Britons seek passports
The number of Britons who became German citizens leaped 361 percent last year, the Federal Statistics Office said yesterday, with many concerned that the Brexit vote would make it more difficult for them to live and work in the EU. In total, 2,865 Britons took German citizenship last year, the office said. The rise is likely to be far greater this year as it takes several months to obtain a German passport. “The link to Brexit seems clear,” the office said. Britain is due to leave the EU in 2019, but last week’s election disaster for British Prime Minister Theresa May, who no longer has an overall majority in parliament, has raised questions over what kind of a Brexit deal would be agreed.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in 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
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was