AUSTRALIA
Nation sees deadliest day
The nation yesterday recorded its deadliest day of the COVID-19 pandemic and the biggest daily rise in infections in three days, denting hopes that a second wave gripping the state of Victoria might be stabilizing. Victoria reported 21 deaths — two more than this week’s other deadliest days — and 410 new cases in the past 24 hours, ending a run of three consecutive days with new infections below 400. Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said that while the number of cases is trending downward, the effects of the strict new lockdown measures have yet to show up in the case numbers. “We all know that a week is not the life cycle of this virus ... and our experts remain firm in the view that this will drive the numbers down,” he told reporters.
AUSTRALIA
World War II sailor honored
A war hero is to be awarded the nation’s top military honor more than 77 years after he was killed while saving some of his shipmates. Queen Elizabeth II has approved awarding the Victoria Cross to Edward “Teddy” Sheean, Governor-General David Hurley announced yesterday. “After the order was given for the crew of the HMAS Armidale to abandon ship, Japanese aircraft strafed the Australian sailors who were overboard,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in a statement. “Sheean then turned back, made for the gun, strapped himself in, and returned fire to the Japanese. He fought to the very end.” A week after the ship was sunk near East Timor in December 1942, 49 crew members were rescued, Morrison said.
PAKISTAN
Bomber hits army vehicle
A Taliban suicide bomber on Tuesday blew himself up near a military vehicle carrying a brigadier and two junior officers on a bridge in the town of Ladha in South Waziristan, a former tribal region, wounding all three, officials said. Until the past few years, the region served as a base for the Taliban and foreign militants, South Waziristan Police Chief Shaukat Ali said. The government has claimed the areas were cleared of insurgents, but the violence continues.
ISRAEL
Gaza hit over fire balloons
The military yesterday said that it carried out overnight strikes on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip after incendiary balloons were launched across the border. Jets, attack helicopters and tanks struck a number of Hamas targets including “underground infrastructure and observation posts,” a statement said. Fire services in the south said that the balloons caused 60 fires on Tuesday alone, but reported no casualties. The government closed its Kerem Shalom goods crossing with the Gaza Strip in retaliation, while Hamas denounced the closure.
SOMALIA
Bill to allow child marriage
Parliament is considering a bill that would allow child marriage once a girl’s sexual organs mature and would allow forced marriage as long as the family gives their consent. It is a reworking of years of efforts to propose a law that would give more protections to women. The new Sexual Intercourse Related Crimes Bill “would represent a major setback in the fight against sexual violence in Somalia and across the globe” and should be withdrawn immediately, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict Pramila Patten said in a statement on Tuesday.
PUERTO RICO
Arecibo telescope damaged
A broken cable caused severe damage at Arecibo Observatory, resulting in operations being suspended for one of the world’s largest single-dish radio telescopes, officials said on Tuesday. The University of Central Florida, which manages the US National Science Foundation facility, said in a statement that a cable that helps support a metal platform broke and caused a 30m gash on a reflector dish. The university said eight panels in the dome were also damaged and the platform used to access the dome is now twisted. Scientists worldwide use the telescope to detect radio emissions emitted by objects such as stars and galaxies.
UNITED STATES
Arms sales ignored risks
The Department of State did not fully evaluate the risk of civilian casualties when it pushed through a massive sale of precision-guided munitions to Saudi Arabia in May last year, a government watchdog’s report said on Tuesday. “OIG [the State Department Inspector General] found that the department did not fully assess risks and implement mitigation measures to reduce civilian casualties,” the report said. Congress had requested an investigation into the decision by President Donald Trump’s administration to push ahead with more than US$8 billion in military sales to Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region, sidestepping the congressional review process by declaring an “emergency” over tensions with Iran.
UNITED STATES
‘The Rock’ still top earner
Wrestler-turned-movie star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson clung to the top slot on the list of the world’s highest-paid male actors for a second straight year, according to an annual tally released by Forbes magazine on Tuesday. Johnson earned US$87.5 million from June 1 last year to June 1 this year, Forbes said, including US$23.5 million from Netflix to star in movie thriller Red Notice. He also benefited from his “Project Rock” fitness wear line for Under Armour.
BELARUS
Protests becoming smaller
Authorities yesterday said that post-election protests were getting smaller, after police violently put down a third night of demonstrations. Protesters gathered in Minsk and other cities on Tuesday night to contest President Alexander Lukashenko’s disputed victory in Sunday’s presidential election, after his main challenger, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, left the country for Lithuania. With significant parts of central Minsk blocked off by riot police, protesters were unable to gather in large crowds as on previous nights and smaller protests erupted in parts of the city. The Ministry of Internal Affairs said more than 1,000 people had been detained on Tuesday night.
MEXICO
Ex-officers ordered arrested
A judge has issued warrants for the arrest of 19 former federal police officials under the previous government, including a former chief of police for Mexico City, for alleged organized crime and money laundering, officials said on Tuesday. According to three officials, former Mexico City police chief Jesus Orta and 18 others are suspected of embezzling millions of dollars during their time in the federal police under the 2012-to-2018 presidency of Enrique Pena Nieto. Speaking on condition of anonymity, one official said the suspects were wanted for creating a criminal network of more than three people, defined as organized crime.
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
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
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