AUSTRALIA
Canberra to buy US missiles
Canberra has locked in a deal to buy potent long-range weapons from the US, officials said yesterday, as it looks to counter China’s rising military power. The cache of more than 200 Tomahawk cruise missiles costing US$830 million would be some of the “most powerful and technologically advanced” weapons in the nation’s arsenal, the Department of Defence said. The nation is embarking on a major military overhaul, pivoting toward long-range strike capabilities in an effort to keep would-be foes such as China at arms length. The Tomahawk cruise missiles have a strike range of more than 1,000km and are to carried by the Australian navy’s Hobart-class destroyers. They would eventually be used by the roving nuclear-powered submarines acquired by Canberra under the AUKUS pact.
SOMALIA
TikTok, Telegram banned
The government has banned TikTok, messaging app Telegram and online-betting Web site 1XBet to limit the spread of indecent content and propaganda, Minister of Communications and Technology Jama Hassan Khalif said in a statement late on Sunday. “The minister of communications orders Internet companies to stop the aforementioned applications, which terrorists and immoral groups use to spread constant horrific images and misinformation to the public,” he said. Members of insurgent group al-Shabaab often post about their activities on TikTok and Telegram. The decision comes days after President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said a military offensive against al-Shabaab aims to eliminate the al-Qaeda-linked group in the next five months. The order gave Internet service providers until Thursday to comply
SWITZERLAND
‘Zero-degree’ line soars
A hot spell enveloping Europe has pushed the zero-degree line — the altitude at which the temperature dips into the minus — to a record height of nearly 5,300m in the nation. The zero-degree line is determined by meteorologists using weather balloons that take off twice a day from Payerne. MeteoSwiss said the new height was clocked overnight from Sunday to yesterday at 5,298m, “which constitutes a record since monitoring began in 1954.” The previous record of 5,184m was set on July 25 last year. “The area known as the zero-degree isotherm is the threshold between air layers with temperatures above 0 at lower altitudes and those with temperatures below freezing at higher altitudes,” MeteoSwiss said. “Among other things, the zero-degree isotherm affects vegetation, the snow line and the water cycle, and so has a considerable impact on the habitats of humans, animals and plants alike,” it added.
MEXICO
Four die on highest peak
Four Mexicans died in a climbing accident on the Pico de Orizaba, the nation’s highest mountain, authorities said on Sunday. The civil defense office in the central state of Puebla said all four deaths appeared to have been caused by a fall on the 5,675m volanic mountain, which is also known by its indigenous name Citlaltepetl. The office said two of the climbers were from the state of Veracruz and at least one was from Puebla. Photos distributed by the office showed rescue workers trying to recover the bodies down from a loose, rocky apron below an even steeper slope above the snow line. Accidents on the peak are not uncommon, and since 2015 rescuers and climbers have found at least three mummified bodies in the snow there. They apparently were climbers lost in a 1959 avalanche.
Seven people sustained mostly minor injuries in an airplane fire in South Korea, authorities said yesterday, with local media suggesting the blaze might have been caused by a portable battery stored in the overhead bin. The Air Busan plane, an Airbus A321, was set to fly to Hong Kong from Gimhae International Airport in southeastern Busan, but caught fire in the rear section on Tuesday night, the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. A total of 169 passengers and seven flight attendants and staff were evacuated down inflatable slides, it said. Authorities initially reported three injuries, but revised the number
‘BALD-FACED LIE’: The woman is accused of administering non-prescribed drugs to the one-year-old and filmed the toddler’s distress to solicit donations online A social media influencer accused of filming the torture of her baby to gain money allegedly manufactured symptoms causing the toddler to have brain surgery, a magistrate has heard. The 34-year-old Queensland woman is charged with torturing an infant and posting videos of the little girl online to build a social media following and solicit donations. A decision on her bail application in a Brisbane court was yesterday postponed after the magistrate opted to take more time before making a decision in an effort “not to be overwhelmed” by the nature of allegations “so offensive to right-thinking people.” The Sunshine Coast woman —
BORDER SERVICES: With the US-funded International Rescue Committee telling clinics to shut by tomorrow, Burmese refugees face sudden discharge from Thai hospitals Healthcare centers serving tens of thousands of refugees on the Thai-Myanmar border have been ordered shut after US President Donald Trump froze most foreign aid last week, forcing Thai officials to transport the sickest patients to other facilities. The International Rescue Committee (IRC), which funds the clinics with US support, told the facilities to shut by tomorrow, a local official and two camp committee members said. The IRC did not respond to a request for comment. Trump last week paused development assistance from the US Agency for International Development for 90 days to assess compatibility with his “America First” policy. The freeze has thrown
TESTING BAN: Satellite photos show a facility in the Chinese city of Mianyang that could aid nuclear weapons design and power generation, a US researcher said China appears to be building a large laser-ignited fusion research center in the southwestern city of Mianyang, experts at two analytical organizations said, a development that could aid nuclear weapons design and work exploring power generation. Satellite photos show four outlying “arms” that would house laser bays, and a central experiment bay that would hold a target chamber containing hydrogen isotopes the powerful lasers would fuse together, producing energy, said Decker Eveleth, a researcher at US-based independent research organization CNA Corp. It is a similar layout to the US$3.5 billion US National Ignition Facility (NIF) in northern California, which in 2022 generated
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