ISRAEL
Netanyahu recovering
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was still undergoing tests in a hospital yesterday after a dizzy spell, but was expected to be released later in the day, his office said. The 73-year-old leader was rushed to a hospital on Saturday after feeling mild dizziness. His office said test results yesterday were normal and that he was feeling “very good.” He had spent the previous day at the Sea of Galilee, a popular vacation spot where temperatures climbed to about 40°C, his office said. After a series of tests, the initial assessment was that he was dehydrated. After being hospitalized, Netanyahu released a video on social media last night. Smiling, he said that he had been out in the sun on Friday without wearing a hat and without water. “Not a good idea,” he said.
UNITED KINGDOM
Wallace plans to exit
Secretary of Defence Ben Wallace said in an interview published on Saturday that he would step down at the next Cabinet reshuffle and not contest the next general election. Wallace, 53, has been a leading figure in Western allies’ support for Ukraine against Russia and was the UK’s pick to succeed Jens Stoltenberg as NATO secretary general. He failed to get crucial US backing to succeed him, and Stoltenberg has extended his term at the head of the alliance. The decision was because his constituency in northwest England was being scrapped under boundary changes, he told the Sunday Times. Wallace, a straight-talking former British army officer, has been in the UK parliament for 18 years, and is the longest-serving Conservative defense secretary since Winston Churchill.
FRANCE
War photographer dies at 75
Marie-Laure de Decker, the model who stepped behind the camera to become an internationally recognized war photographer, has died at the age of 75, her family said on Saturday. She died in a hospital on Saturday following a long illness, her family said. Born in Algeria — when it was still a French colony — she started her career as a model before deciding to branch out into photography. She covered the Vietnam War early in her career and met with success despite her relative lack of experience. She is also known for her photos of celebrities, the money from which helped finance her missions in conflict zones, she had said. “When you take photos of the poor, no one’s interested. You have to take photos of the rich to sell [them].” In 2013, her work in conflict zones was recognized by the Albert Kahn International Planet Prize.
UNITED STATES
Prisoner flees on bed sheets
Looking dirty, wet and “worn out” from living in the wilderness to evade arrest, a homicide suspect who used bed sheets to escape a northern Pennsylvania jail has been captured, authorities said. Michael Burham, 34, fled the Warren County jail in the late evening hours of July 6 by climbing on exercise equipment, going through a window and scaling down a rope fashioned from jail bedding, authorities said. He was found on Saturday after authorities received a tip about a suspicious-looking person, they said. Burham had taught himself survival skills and had military reserve training, authorities said. Before his capture, law enforcement personnel had found “small stockpiles or campsites” believed to be associated with him.
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
RISING TENSIONS: The nations’ three leaders discussed China’s ‘dangerous and unlawful behavior in the South China Sea,’ and agreed on the importance of continued coordination Japan, the Philippines and the US vowed to further deepen cooperation under a trilateral arrangement in the face of rising tensions in Asia’s waters, the three nations said following a call among their leaders. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and outgoing US President Joe Biden met via videoconference on Monday morning. Marcos’ communications office said the leaders “agreed to enhance and deepen economic, maritime and technology cooperation.” The call followed a first-of-its-kind summit meeting of Marcos, Biden and then-Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida in Washington in April last year that led to a vow to uphold international
US president-elect Donald Trump is not typically known for his calm or reserve, but in a craftsman’s workshop in rural China he sits in divine contemplation. Cross-legged with his eyes half-closed in a pose evoking the Buddha, this porcelain version of the divisive US leader-in-waiting is the work of designer and sculptor Hong Jinshi (洪金世). The Zen-like figures — which Hong sells for between 999 and 20,000 yuan (US$136 to US$2,728) depending on their size — first went viral in 2021 on the e-commerce platform Taobao, attracting national headlines. Ahead of the real-estate magnate’s inauguration for a second term on Monday next week,
CYBERSCAM: Anne, an interior decorator with mental health problems, spent a year and a half believing she was communicating with Brad Pitt and lost US$855,259 A French woman who revealed on TV how she had lost her life savings to scammers posing as Brad Pitt has faced a wave of online harassment and mockery, leading the interview to be withdrawn on Tuesday. The woman, named as Anne, told the Seven to Eight program on the TF1 channel how she had believed she was in a romantic relationship with the Hollywood star, leading her to divorce her husband and transfer 830,000 euros (US$855,259). The scammers used fake social media and WhatsApp accounts, as well as artificial intelligence image-creating technology to send Anne selfies and other messages
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