INDONESIA
Downed ferry likely located
Indonesia has identified the suspected location of an overcrowded ferry that sank on June 17 in Lake Toba with about 200 people on board, but will need international help to recover the wreck, the chief of the national search and rescue agency said yesterday. An object that was possibly the ferry was at a depth of 490m, the rescue agency said in a statement on Sunday. The search agency chief, Muhammad Syaugi, said in a television interview that divers could reach depths of only 50m in the cold and dark waters. “We will do our best to salvage this wreck,” Syaugi said. “For us, the most important thing is to get as many victims as possible.”
NORTH KOREA
Anti-US rally canceled
North Korea has opted not to hold an “anti-US imperialism” rally marking the anniversary of the start of the Korean War, another sign of detente following the summit between leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump. Fist-pumping, flag-waving and slogan-shouting masses of North Koreans normally join the annual rally that sets off a month of anti-US, Korean War-focused events designed to strengthen nationalism and unity.
VIETNAM
Floods, landslides kill seven
Flash floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains have killed at least seven people and left 12 missing in northern Vietnam. In the worst hit province of Lai Chau, five people were killed and authorities have been mobilizing forces to search for the 12 missing, the provincial government said in a statement yesterday. Heavy rains are forecast to continue in the region for the next two days.
GREECE
Earthquake hits near Pylos
A magnitude 5.5 earthquake yesterday struck off the coast of southern Greece, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. The earthquake hit at a depth of 30km, about 70km southwest of the city of Kalamata, the US Geological Survey said. The epicenter was in the sea off the town of Pylos. “The quake had a long duration and initially we were worried, but right now we have absolute calm,” Pylos Mayor Dimitris Kafantaris told Antenna TV.
FRANCE
Ultra-right suspects detained
Ten people with links to the radical far-right have been arrested by anti-terrorist police in France over an alleged plot to attack Muslims, judicial sources said on Sunday. The suspects had an “ill-defined plan to commit a violent act targeting people of the Muslim faith,” one source close to the probe said. Another source said the gang was looking to hit “targets linked to radical Islam.” France is home to 5.7 million Muslims, a report released by the Pew Research Center at the end of last year showed.
MEXICO
All police in town detained
The whole police force in the town of Ocampo, where a mayoral candidate was slain this week, has been detained for an internal investigation, authorities said on Sunday. “All of them are being interviewed to proceed as due under the law in the event that anyone has taken part in acts that violate the town’s codes,” said the security secretariat in Michoacan state, where the town of about 20,000 people is located. Since the campaign season started in Mexico, which is to conclude with elections on July 1, more than 100 politicians and candidates, mostly local, have been murdered.
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