NEW ZEALAND
Space squadron announced
The air force would establish a small space squadron to signal its growing commitment to space-based defense and international security, a senior military official said yesterday. Air Vice Marshal Darryn Webb said that the air force had a team already focused on space, but creating a squadron symbolized its growing significance.
Photo: Reuters
NORTH KOREA
Kim observes test firings
Leader Kim Jong-un observed the first test firings of missiles from a recently launched destroyer — the nation’s first such warship — and called for accelerating efforts to boost the navy’s nuclear attack capabilities, the Korean Central News Agency reported yesterday. Kim watched the tests of the destroyer’s supersonic and strategic cruise missiles, anti-aircraft missiles, automatic guns and electronic jamming guns earlier this week, it said.
Photo: Reuters
SOUTH KOREA
Yoon’s home raided
Prosecutors yesterday raided the home of former president Yoon Suk-yeol as part of a probe into a shaman accused of receiving lavish gifts for the former first lady, Yonhap reported. Yoon’s house was raided “as part of [an] investigation into various suspicions over relations between his family and a controversial shaman,” it reported. The shaman, Jeon Seong-bae, is accused of receiving a diamond necklace, a luxury bag and ginseng from a high-ranking official from the Unification Church and handing them to Yoon’s wife, Kim Keon-hee. Prosecutors were trying to “verify the authenticity of the alleged delivery of gifts” and find out whether the then-first lady ever received them, Yonhap added.
Photo: AFP
INDIA
Kolkata fire kills 14
A fire tore through a hotel in Kolkata, killing at least 14 people, police said yesterday. Senior police officer Manoj Kumar Verma told reporters that the fire broke out on Tuesday evening at the Rituraj Hotel in central Kolkata. The cause of the fire was not immediately clear. Photographs and videos carried in media showed people trying to escape through the windows and narrow ledges of the building. Kolkata’s the Telegraph newspaper reported that at least one person died when he jumped off a terrace trying to escape. Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on X that he was “anguished” by the loss of lives in the fire.
Photo: Reuters
VATICAN CITY
‘No pope’ stamps released
Post offices and selected collectors’ shops this week started selling special stamps marking the period between Pope Francis’ death and the election of his successor. The so-called sede vacante stamps include an image used by the Vatican in official documents in periods between popes: two crossed keys, but no papal headgear. They went on sale on Monday and remain valid until a new Holy Father appears at the window of St Peter’s Basilica. Until then, they can be used to send letters, postcards and packages.
MEXICO
Mayoral candidate killed
Armed men killed Anuar Valencia, a mayoral candidate from the governing Morena party, on Tuesday, the first day of campaigning for municipal elections in Veracruz State. Valencia had just finished an event launching his campaign and was preparing to hit the streets when more than two dozen gunmen opened fire at his campaign headquarters in northern Veracruz. The Veracruz state prosecutors’ office wrote on X that five others were injured, including two minors.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel
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