INDIA
Tank sinks, killing five
Five soldiers were killed when a military tank they were traveling in sank while crossing a river in Ladakh, which borders China, officials said yesterday. The tank sank early yesterday due to sudden increase in the water levels of Shyok River during a military training activity, an Indian army command center statement said. The accident took place in Saser Brangsa near the Line of Actual Control that divides India and China in the Ladakh region, it said. Minister of Defence Rajnath Singh called it an “unfortunate accident.”
IRAQ
Five bombs found in al-Nuri
The UN has said it discovered five bombs in a wall of Mosul’s iconic Great Mosque of al-Nuri, planted years ago by the Islamic State group, during restoration work. Five “large-scale explosive devices, designed to trigger a massive destruction of the site,” were found in the southern wall of the prayer hall on Tuesday by the UNESCO team working at the site, a representative for the agency said late on Friday. “The Iraqi armed forces immediately secured the area and the situation is now fully under control,” UNESCO said. One bomb was removed, but four others “remain connected to each other” and are expected to be cleared in the coming days, it said.
UNITED STATES
Crew ‘not stranded’: NASA
The first astronauts to fly Boeing’s troubled Starliner are not “stranded” at the International Space Station, NASA said on Friday despite having no clear timeframe for bringing them home. In an unusually defensive press call, officials attempted to put a positive spin on where things currently stood after weeks of negative headlines due to the spaceship’s delayed return. Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams blasted off on June 5 following years of delays and safety scares affecting Starliner. They docked the following day for what was meant to be a week-long stay, but their return has been pushed back multiple times because of thruster malfunctions and helium leaks that came to light during the journey. “Butch and Suni are not stranded in space,” NASA commercial crew program manager Steve Stich said. The pair were “enjoying their time on the space station” and “our plan is to continue to return them on Starliner and return them home at the right time,” he added. Before that can happen, ground teams need to run more testing to better understand the root causes.
UNITED STATES
Comedic actor Mull has died
Martin Mull, whose droll, esoteric comedy and acting made him a hip sensation in the 1970s and later a beloved guest star on sitcoms including Roseanne and Arrested Development, has died, his daughter said on Friday. Mull’s daughter, TV writer and comic artist Maggie Mull, said her father died at home on Thursday after “a valiant fight against a long illness.” Known for his blonde hair and well-trimmed mustache, Mull often played slightly sleazy, somewhat slimy and often smarmy characters as he did as Teri Garr’s boss and Michael Keaton’s foe in 1983’s Mr. Mom. He played Colonel Mustard in the 1985 movie adaptation of the board game Clue, which, like many things he appeared in, has become a cult classic. “He was never not funny. My dad will be deeply missed by his wife and daughter, by his friends and coworkers, by fellow artists and comedians and musicians, and — the sign of a truly exceptional person — by many, many dogs,” Maggie Mull wrote on Instagram.
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
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
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
RELEASE: The move follows Washington’s removal of Havana from its list of terrorism sponsors. Most of the inmates were arrested for taking part in anti-government protests Cuba has freed 127 prisoners, including opposition leader Jose Daniel Ferrer, in a landmark deal with departing US President Joe Biden that has led to emotional reunions across the communist island. Ferrer, 54, is the most high-profile of the prisoners that Cuba began freeing on Wednesday after Biden agreed to remove the country from Washington’s list of terrorism sponsors — part of an eleventh-hour bid to cement his legacy before handing power on Monday to US president-elect Donald Trump. “Thank God we have him home,” Nelva Ortega said of her husband, Ferrer, who has been in and out of prison for the
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