ISRAEL
Palestinian teen killed
Israeli security forces yesterday stormed into a town in the northern West Bank, leading to fighting that killed a 17-year-old Palestinian, Palestinian health officials said. The Israeli military conducted an arrest raid before dawn in the town of Zababdeh south of Jenin, local medics said. The Palestinian health ministry reported that 17-year-old Othman Abu Kharj was fatally shot in the head. The raid came as Israeli security forces were still searching for the Palestinian gunman who carried out a shooting on Saturday in the northern Palestinian city of Hawara that killed an Israeli father and son on Saturday. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the raid in Zababdeh.
SOUTH KOREA
Activist arrives by jet ski
The coast guard yesterday said it had arrested a Chinese national who tried to enter the country after traveling by jet ski from China — a journey of more than 300km. Wearing a life vest and helmet, the man crossed the Yellow Sea on a 1,800cc jet ski from Shandong Province, using binoculars and a compass to navigate and towing five barrels of fuel. When his jet ski got stuck in tidal flats near the western port city of Incheon’s cruise terminal, he called for rescue, the coast guard said in a press release. The man, who they did not identify, was arrested after he “attempted to smuggle himself into” Incheon, it said. The jet-ski escapee is Chinese rights activist Kwon Pyong (權平), Lee Dae-seon of the non-governmental organization Dialogue China said yesterday. Kwon, 35, had posted pictures on social media mocking Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and spent time in jail in China for subversion, Lee said, adding that Kwon was considering applying for refugee status in South Korea or a third country.
RUSSIA
Wagner leader in Africa
Wagner mercenary group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a video published on Monday that his group was making Africa “freer” and suggested he was on the continent. Prigozhin, a former Kremlin ally whose group rebelled against Russia’s military leadership in June, has made few public appearances since the mutiny. The group maintains a strong military presence in Africa, where it has partnered with several nations, including Mali and the Central African Republic. “We are working. The temperature is above 50°C. Just how we like it,” Prigozhin said in the video, which Agence France-Presse was unable to immediately verify. “The Wagner Group is conducting reconnaissance and search activities. Making Russia even greater on every continent — and Africa even freer,” Prigozhin said.
SINGAPORE
Three to run for president
The city-state yesterday named the three candidates for the largely ceremonial role of president. The candidates include former deputy prime minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, 66, widely regarded as the pick of the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP), even though the party has no official say in the voting process nor has it named a preferred candidate. Earlier this month, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) said the PAP had “taken a hit” over a spate of scandals. The other two candidates are Ng Kok Song (黃國松), 75, the former chief investment officer at sovereign wealth fund GIC, and Tan Kin Lian (陳欽亮), 75, a former chief executive of insurer NTUC Income. The winner is to take over from the city-state’s first female president, Halimah Yacob.
Airlines in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia and Singapore yesterday canceled flights to and from the Indonesian island of Bali, after a nearby volcano catapulted an ash tower into the sky. Australia’s Jetstar, Qantas and Virgin Australia all grounded flights after Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki on Flores island spewed a 9km tower a day earlier. Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, India’s IndiGo and Singapore’s Scoot also listed flights as canceled. “Volcanic ash poses a significant threat to safe operations of the aircraft in the vicinity of volcanic clouds,” AirAsia said as it announced several cancelations. Multiple eruptions from the 1,703m twin-peaked volcano in
A plane bringing Israeli soccer supporters home from Amsterdam landed at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport on Friday after a night of violence that Israeli and Dutch officials condemned as “anti-Semitic.” Dutch police said 62 arrests were made in connection with the violence, which erupted after a UEFA Europa League soccer tie between Amsterdam club Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Israeli flag carrier El Al said it was sending six planes to the Netherlands to bring the fans home, after the first flight carrying evacuees landed on Friday afternoon, the Israeli Airports Authority said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also ordered
Former US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi said if US President Joe Biden had ended his re-election bid sooner, the Democratic Party could have held a competitive nominating process to choose his replacement. “Had the president gotten out sooner, there may have been other candidates in the race,” Pelosi said in an interview on Thursday published by the New York Times the next day. “The anticipation was that, if the president were to step aside, that there would be an open primary,” she said. Pelosi said she thought the Democratic candidate, US Vice President Kamala Harris, “would have done
Farmer Liu Bingyong used to make a tidy profit selling milk but is now leaking cash — hit by a dairy sector crisis that embodies several of China’s economic woes. Milk is not a traditional mainstay of Chinese diets, but the Chinese government has long pushed people to drink more, citing its health benefits. The country has expanded its dairy production capacity and imported vast numbers of cattle in recent years as Beijing pursues food self-sufficiency. However, chronically low consumption has left the market sloshing with unwanted milk — driving down prices and pushing farmers to the brink — while
RSS