AUSTRALIA
Frigate joins US warships
A frigate has joined three US warships in the South China Sea near an area where a Chinese vessel is suspected to be exploring for oil, officials said yesterday. The warships arrived this week close to where Chinese government survey ship Haiyang Dizhi 8 has been operating, which is in turn near where a vessel operated by Malaysia’s state-owned Petronas oil company is conducting exploratory drilling, regional security sources said. The USS America amphibious assault ship and the USS Bunker Hill, a guided missile cruiser, were joined by HMAS Parramatta and a third US vessel, the destroyer USS Barry, as part of a joint exercise, the Department of Defence said.
GERMANY
Eight thought kidnapped
Eight crew members of a Singapore-owned container ship are missing and thought to have been kidnapped after it was stormed by pirates off Benin, the ship’s management firm said on Tuesday. Transeste said that the vessel, Tommi Ritscher, had been boarded on Sunday off the port of Cotonou. It added that an operation to recover the ship found 11 crew members aboard, but “regrettably, eight crew members remain missing and are now believed to have been kidnapped.”
CANADA
Shooting toll rises to 23
The death toll from a mass shooting in Nova Scotia has risen to 23, police said on Tuesday, after remains were found in burned-out homes and vehicles. “We believe there to be 23 victims, including a 17-year-old [girl]. All other victims are adults, both men and women,” the police said in a statement, adding that at least five homes and buildings, as well as several vehicles, had been set alight by the suspect, 51-year-old Gabriel Wortman.
UNITED KINGDOM
Queen has quiet birthday
The country on Tuesday marked Queen Elizabeth II’s 94th birthday with silence, as the nation in lockdown amid the COVID-19 pandemic forwent the usual gun salutes and ringing of bells. With thousands dead amid the outbreak, the monarch decided that the celebratory display of military firepower would not be appropriate. Nor was a celebratory peal of bells at Westminster Abbey, as the church where the queen was married and crowned is closed. The royal family took to social media to share images of Elizabeth as she marked the occasion — but in keeping with social distancing rules, there were no visits.
UNITED STATES
Tooth fairy immune to virus
The country’s top health and infectious disease specialist, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci has assured a young girl that the tooth fairy is not at risk of infection during the pandemic. The popular doctor was yesterday to appear as a guest on actor Will Smith’s Snapchat show Will From Home. In a preview clip of their interview, posted to YouTube on Monday, a seven-year-old girl called in from Los Angeles with a pressing question. “Can the tooth fairy still come if I lose my tooth because of the coronavirus?” asked the girl, who introduced herself as Ava. “And can she catch the virus?” Fauci was quick to reassure her: “I don’t think you need to worry about the tooth fairy,” he said, smiling. “When ... your tooth [falls] out, you stick it under the pillow, and I’ll guarantee you that tooth fairy is not going to get infected and is not going to get sick.”
UNITED STATES
Harvard holds on to handout
Harvard University said it plans to keep an US$8.6 million grant it received as part of a stimulus package to blunt the economic impact of the COVID-19 lockdown, contradicting President Donald Trump, who pledged the university would return it. Speaking at a news briefing on Tuesday, Trump pointed to the institution’s ample endowment — worth nearly US$41 billion — as the reason why it should hand over the money. “Harvard is going to pay back the money and they shouldn’t be taking it,” Trump said, adding that Harvard has one of the largest endowments “in the country, maybe in the world.” However, in a statement issued moments after the briefing ended, Harvard said it planned “to direct 100% of the funds to financial assistance to students, and will not be using any of the funds to cover institutional costs.” Trump late on Tuesday said that Harvard’s endowment system should be looked at. “Harvard should give back the money now. Their whole ‘endowment’ system should be looked at,” he said in a tweet. The university said it received the grant through the educational relief program that was part of the US$2.3 trillion stimulus passed at the end of last month.
UNITED STATES
Emergency package passed
The Senate on Tuesday approved a bipartisan, US$480 billion emergency package that replenishes a depleted program to help devastated small businesses, funds hospitals and ramps up nationwide testing during the pandemic. The measure, which passed by unanimous consent after more than a week of negotiations between Democrats, Republicans and the White House, headed to the House of Representatives, where a vote could occur as early as today.
PHISHING: The con might appear convincing, as the scam e-mails can coincide with genuine messages from Apple saying you have run out of storage For a while you have been getting messages from Apple saying “your iCloud storage is full.” They say you have exceeded your storage plan, so documents are no longer being backed up, and photos you take are not being uploaded. You have been resisting Apple’s efforts to get you to pay a minimum of ￡0.99 (US$1.33) a month for more storage, but it seems that you cannot keep putting off the inevitable: You have received an e-mail which says your iCloud account has been blocked, and your photos and videos would be deleted very soon. To keep them you need
For two decades, researchers observed members of the Ngogo chimpanzee group of Kibale National Park in Uganda spend their days eating fruits and leaves, resting, traveling and grooming in their tropical rainforest abode, but this stable community then fractured and descended into years of deadly violence. The researchers are now describing the first clearly documented example of a group of wild chimpanzees splitting into two separate factions, with one launching a series of coordinated attacks against the other. Adult males and infants were targeted, with 28 deaths. “Biting, pounding the victim with their hands, dragging them, kicking them — mostly adult males,
The Israeli military has demolished entire villages as part of its invasion of south Lebanon, rigging homes with explosives and razing them to the ground in massive remote detonations. The Guardian reviewed three videos posted by the Israeli military and on social media, which showed Israel carrying out mass detonations in the villages of Taybeh, Naqoura and Deir Seryan along the Israel-Lebanon border. Lebanese media has reported more mass detonations in other border villages, but satellite imagery was not readily available to verify these claims. The demolitions came after Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz called for the destruction of
SUPERFAN: The Japanese PM played keyboard in a Deep Purple tribute band in middle school and then switched to drums at university, she told the British rock band Legendary British rock band Deep Purple yesterday made Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s day with a brief visit to their high-profile superfan as they returned to the nation they first toured more than half a century ago. Takaichi’s reputation as an amateur drummer, and a fan of hard rock and heavy metal has been well documented, and she has referred to Deep Purple as one of her favorite bands along with the likes of Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden. “You are my god,” a giddy Takaichi said in English to Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice, presenting him with a set of made-in-Japan
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