PHILIPPINES
China targets ship: bureau
The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources yesterday accused the China Coast Guard of firing water cannons and sideswiping a government vessel on a research project. Wednesday’s encounter happened near a group of small sandbanks in the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島), which Taiwan also claims, where two Philippine ships were collecting sand samples “as part of a marine scientific research initiative,” the bureau said in a statement. At about 9:13am, a China Coast Guard ship water cannoned and sideswiped the BRP Datu Sanday twice, “putting at risk lives of its civilian personnel,” it said. It was the first time water cannons were used against Philippine vessels near the disputed Tiexian Reef (鐵線礁), also known as Sandy Cay Reef, the bureau added.
JAPAN
Driver suspected of raping 50
Police yesterday said they had arrested a former taxi driver on suspicion of drugging and raping a female passenger, with media reports saying there could be dozens more victims. The Yomiuri Shimbun and Jiji Press reported that police found about 3,000 videos and images of him sexually assaulting about 50 women in his taxi or his home. Last year, the man “got a woman, then in her 20s, to take sleeping pills which caused her to lose consciousness, took her to his home and committed an indecent act, which he filmed,” a Tokyo police spokesman said. Police arrested the 54-year-old on Wednesday on “suspicion of nonconsensual sexual intercourse and violation of the law on punishment of filming of sexual parts,” he added without elaborating further.
JAPAN
Floods strand more than 50,000
Rising floodwaters yesterday stranded more than 50,000 people in the east, as torrential rain pummeled water-logged towns for a second day and engorged rivers swallowed roads, leaving two dead. Police have pulled two bodies from floodwaters on the Mid North Coast, a river-braided region of rugged hills and fertile valleys about 400km north of Sydney. Authorities launched a major search-and-rescue mission as people clambered atop cars, houses and highway bridges to escape the tide of muddy water. The storms have in some areas dumped more than half a year’s worth of rain over just three days, the Bureau of Meteorology said.
UNITED STATES
White House accepts jet gift
The White House has accepted a luxury Boeing 747 jetliner as a gift from Qatar and the Air Force has been asked to find a way to rapidly upgrade it for use as a new Air Force One to transport President Donald Trump, the Pentagon said on Wednesday. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth accepted the jet for use as President Donald Trump’s official plane, it said. Legal experts have questioned the scope of laws relating to gifts from foreign governments that aim to thwart corruption and improper influence. Democrats have also sought to block the handover. “Today marks a dark day in history: the president of the United States of America officially accepted the largest bribe from a foreign government in American history,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said. The “unprecedented action is a stain on the office of the presidency and cannot go unanswered,” he added. Democratic Senators Mazie Hirono and Tammy Duckworth on Tuesday said it could cost more than US$1 billion to retrofit the plane and it raised dramatic security risks.
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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