PHILIPPINES
China parks ‘monster ship’
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) yesterday said that the China Coast Guard’s largest vessel has anchored in Manila’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the South China Sea. The 165m “monster ship” entered Manila’s 200 nautical mile (370km) EEZ on Tuesday last week, PCG spokesperson Jay Tarriela told a news forum. The PCG warned the Chinese vessel that it was in the EEZ and asked about its intentions, he said. “It’s an intimidation on the part of the China Coast Guard,” Tarriela said. “We’re not going to pull out and we’re not going to be intimidated.” China’s embassy in Manila and the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Chinese ship, which has also deployed a small boat, was anchored 732m away from the PCG’s vessel, Tarriela said.
STANDING HEAD
Moulin Rouge windmill back
Paris’ famed Moulin Rouge cabaret on Friday got its red windmill back during a special ceremony that featured can-can dancing on the plaza outside. The windmill’s huge sails inexplicably collapsed after a show earlier this year at the iconic venue. Part of the cabaret’s illuminated sign also crashed to the ground as a result of what its director called a technical problem. No one was hurt, and the mayor of Paris’ 18th district said the structure was not in danger. The Moulin Rouge scrambled to repair the damage before the Olympic torch relay passes through the area July 15, expected to draw big crowds. The windmill was first illuminated on Oct. 6, 1889 at the opening of the Moulin Rouge. Moulin Rouge management says its performers represent 18 nationalities and it receives 600,000 spectators a year.
UNITED KINGDOM
Starmer axes Rwanda plan
Newly elected Prime Minister Keir Starmer has killed off a deportation plan that would see migrants who arrived illegally sent to Rwanda on his first day on the job, the Telegraph reported on Friday, citing Labour Party sources, calling the plan “effectively dead.” Starmer had earlier promised to scrap the Conservative Party’s policy of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda, but with migration a key electoral issue, he is under pressure himself to find a way to stop tens of thousands of people arriving across the Channel from France on small boats.
UNITED STATES
Trump shuns Project 2025
Former president Donald Trump on Friday tried to distance himself from a conservative group’s sweeping plans for the next Republican presidency, days after its leader said a second American Revolution was under way that would “remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.” The Republican presidential candidate renounced any connection with Project 2025, a plan Democrats have been attacking to highlight what they say is Trump’s extreme policy agenda for a second term should he beat US President Joe Biden in the Nov. 5 election. Many people involved in the project lead by the Heritage Foundation, the country’s top conservative think tank, worked in the Trump White House and would likely help fill out his administration if he wins in November. However, Trump said on his Truth Social platform he had nothing to do with the plan. “I know nothing about Project 2025. I have no idea who is behind it,” he wrote. “I disagree with some of the things they’re saying,” he said, adding that some of their assertions were “absolutely ridiculous and abysmal.”
Tens of thousands of Filipino Catholics yesterday twirled white cloths and chanted “Viva, viva,” as a centuries-old statue of Jesus Christ was paraded through the streets of Manila in the nation’s biggest annual religious event. The day-long procession began before dawn, with barefoot volunteers pulling the heavy carriage through narrow streets where the devout waited in hopes of touching the icon, believed to hold miraculous powers. Thousands of police were deployed to manage crowds that officials believe could number in the millions by the time the statue reaches its home in central Manila’s Quiapo church around midnight. More than 800 people had sought
DENIAL: Pyongyang said a South Korean drone filmed unspecified areas in a North Korean border town, but Seoul said it did not operate drones on the dates it cited North Korea’s military accused South Korea of flying drones across the border between the nations this week, yesterday warning that the South would face consequences for its “unpardonable hysteria.” Seoul quickly denied the accusation, but the development is likely to further dim prospects for its efforts to restore ties with Pyongyang. North Korean forces used special electronic warfare assets on Sunday to bring down a South Korean drone flying over North Korea’s border town. The drone was equipped with two cameras that filmed unspecified areas, the General Staff of the North Korean People’s Army said in a statement. South Korea infiltrated another drone
COMMUNIST ALIGNMENT: To Lam wants to combine party chief and state presidency roles, with the decision resting on the election of 200 new party delegates next week Communist Party of Vietnam General Secretary To Lam is seeking to combine his party role with the state presidency, officials said, in a move that would align Vietnam’s political structure more closely to China’s, where President Xi Jinping (習近平) heads the party and state. Next week about 1,600 delegates are to gather in Hanoi to commence a week-long communist party congress, held every five years to select new leaders and set policy goals for the single-party state. Lam, 68, bade for both top positions at a party meeting last month, seeking initial party approval ahead of the congress, three people briefed by
Indonesia and Malaysia have become the first countries to block Grok, the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot developed by Elon Musk’s xAI, after authorities said it was being misused to generate sexually explicit and nonconsensual images. The moves reflect growing global concern over generative AI tools that can produce realistic images, sound and text, while existing safeguards fail to prevent their abuse. The Grok chatbot, which is accessed through Musk’s social media platform X, has been criticized for generating manipulated images, including depictions of women in bikinis or sexually explicit poses, as well as images involving children. Regulators in the two Southeast Asian
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