JAPAN
Flagship H3 rocket launched
The nation yesterday successfully deployed an upgraded Earth observation satellite for disaster response and security after it was launched on a new flagship H3 rocket. The rocket lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Center and released its payload about 16 minutes later, putting it into a targeted orbit as planned, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said during a livestream. The Advanced Land Observation Satellite, or ALOS-4, is tasked primarily with Earth observation and data collection for disaster response and mapmaking, including for volcanic and seismic activity and other land movements. It is also capable of monitoring military activity, such as missile launches, with an infrared sensor developed by the Ministry of Defense.
SOUTH KOREA
Yoon recall petition surges
An online petition calling for President Yoon Suk-yeol to be impeached experienced delays and disruptions due to the large number of people trying to sign it, National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik said, promising to fix the issue as soon as possible. More than 811,000 people have so far signed the petition, hosted on the National Assembly’s Web site, since it went live on June 20. The petition calls on parliament to introduce a bill to impeach Yoon on the grounds that he is unfit for the job. In a statement late on Sunday, Woo apologized for the disruption, and said parliament would take action to uphold the public’s constitutional right. People trying to access the petition yesterday faced delays that lasted up to four hours. At one point, an error message showed more than 30,000 people were waiting to access the site.
ITALY
Drug ‘precursors’ seized
Customs officials yesterday said they had seized more than 6 tonnes of chemical “precursors” from China that could have been used to make 630 million euros (US$678 million) of narcotics. The seizure was made at Milan’s airport during an inspection of goods, and included enough chemicals to produce more than 63 million MDMA pills, they added. An Italian entrepreneur from Milan was placed under investigation and two Chinese nationals were arrested in the Netherlands as part of investigations carried out with the EU Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation, customs officials said. A lab analysis said that the powder seized that purported to be polyester powder coating turned out to be PMK — a precursor product of ecstasy.
FIJI
Prison officers linked to cult
Fijian prison chiefs yesterday said they had punished 11 officers for receiving free meals and other favors from businesses linked to South Korea’s “Grace Road” cult. Cult founder Shin Ok-ju prophesied that South Korea would be doomed by famine and disaster, persuading hundreds of followers in 2014 to start a new life in Fiji. The movement quickly established political and commercial sway there, but it was also dogged by claims of bizarre rituals, and Shin was imprisoned by a South Korean court in 2019 on a string of criminal charges, including violence, child abuse and fraud in Fiji. The Fiji Corrections Office said it had launched an investigation following reports that some of its prison officers had received “favors” from a Suva Remand Center prisoner, Jung Young Kim. “The investigation revealed that officers and their families were receiving free meals and groceries from Grace Road businesses located in and around the Suva area,” the corrections office said in a statement on social media.
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
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
China has built a land-based prototype nuclear reactor for a large surface warship, in the clearest sign yet Beijing is advancing toward producing the nation’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, according to a new analysis of satellite imagery and Chinese government documents provided to The Associated Press. There have long been rumors that China is planning to build a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, but the research by the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California is the first to confirm it is working on a nuclear-powered propulsion system for a carrier-sized surface warship. Why is China’s pursuit of nuclear-powered carriers significant? China’s navy is already
‘SIGNS OF ESCALATION’: Russian forces have been aiming to capture Ukraine’s eastern Donbas province and have been capturing new villages as they move toward Pokrovsk Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi on Saturday said that Ukraine faced increasing difficulties in its fight against Moscow’s invasion as Russian forces advance and North Korean troops prepare to join the Kremlin’s campaign. Syrskyi, relating comments he made to a top US general, said outnumbered Ukrainian forces faced Russian attacks in key sectors of the more than two-and-a-half-year-old war with Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a nightly address said that Ukraine’s military command was focused on defending around the town of Kurakhove — a target of Russia’s advances along with Pokrovsk, a logistical hub to the north. He decried strikes
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