UKRAINE
Russian warship destroyed
Kyiv yesterday claimed that its forces had destroyed a Russian military patrol boat on the Black Sea near the Crimean Peninsula. The strategic waterway has become an increasingly important battleground as Ukrainian forces claim a string of attacks on Moscow’s fleet. Ukrainian military intelligence spokesman Andriy Yusov said the ship had been hit previously, but was destroyed after the overnight attack by maritime drones. “As for the crew, the details are being clarified. There are dead and wounded, but it is likely that some of the crew managed to evacuate,” he told local media. There was no official response from the Russian defence ministry. The air force said earlier yesterday that it had downed 18 of 22 Iranian-designed attack drones launched by Russia over the Black Sea port city of Odesa.
VIETNAM
Hanoi most polluted city
Hanoi was yesterday blanketed by a thick haze of pollution that obscured high-rise buildings and left the city’s nearly 9 million people breathing toxic air. The city topped air monitoring Web site IQAir’s table of the world’s most polluted cities early yesterday afternoon. Levels of PM2.5 pollutants were classified as “very unhealthy” and hit more than 24 times the WHO’s annual guideline. Hanoi has in the past few years frequently been listed among the world’s most polluted cities, due in part to widespread construction and emissions from the huge number of motorbikes and cars that crisscross the capital every day. Carbon emissions from coal plants to the north and agricultural burning exacerbate the problem. The latest World Bank report on air pollution says 40 percent of people in Hanoi are exposed to concentrations nearly five times greater than WHO guidelines.
NEPAL
Coalition forms government
The nation’s two largest communist parties on Monday joined forces to form a new coalition government that would also include smaller parties as partners. Maoist party leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal is to remain prime minister a year after he was elected to the office. Dahal has ended his partnership with the Nepali Congress party, the largest group in parliament, and is now joining forces with the Communist Party of Nepal, the second-biggest party, led by Khadga Prasad Oli. Dahal appointed three new ministers who were sworn in to office by President Ram Chandra Poudel in Kathmandu. The Cabinet is expected to be expanded through negotiations between the new partners in the coalition government. Dahal’s party is the only third-largest group in the 275-seat House of Representatives.
JAPAN
Mount Fuji charges hikers
Hikers using the most popular route to climb Mount Fuji are to be charged US$13 each from July, with numbers capped to ease congestion and improve safety, a regional official said yesterday. Increasingly large crowds are scaling the nation’s highest mountain, which is covered in snow most of the year, but draws more than 220,000 visitors during the July-September climbing period. From July 1, an entry fee of ￥2,000 (US$13) is to be charged per person to ascend the famous volcano’s Yoshida Trail. Daily entries to the trail are to be capped at 4,000 people, with entry banned between 4pm and 2am, under an ordinance approved on Monday by Yamanashi region.
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
PINEAPPLE DEBATE: While the owners of the pizzeria dislike pineapple on pizza, a survey last year showed that over 50% of Britons either love or like the topping A trendy pizzeria in the English city of Norwich has declared war on pineapples, charging an eye-watering ￡100 (US$124) for a Hawaiian in a bid to put customers off the disputed topping. Lupa Pizza recently added pizza topped with ham and pineapple to its account on a food delivery app, writing in the description: “Yeah, for ￡100 you can have it. Order the champagne too! Go on, you monster!” “[We] vehemently dislike pineapple on pizza,” Lupa co-owner Francis Wolf said. “We feel like it doesn’t suit pizza at all,” he said. The other co-owner, head chef Quin Jianoran, said they kept tinned pineapple
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