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.
Incumbent Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa on Sunday claimed a runaway victory in the nation’s presidential election, after voters endorsed the young leader’s “iron fist” approach to rampant cartel violence. With more than 90 percent of the votes counted, the National Election Council said Noboa had an unassailable 12-point lead over his leftist rival Luisa Gonzalez. Official results showed Noboa with 56 percent of the vote, against Gonzalez’s 44 percent — a far bigger winning margin than expected after a virtual tie in the first round. Speaking to jubilant supporters in his hometown of Olon, the 37-year-old president claimed a “historic victory.” “A huge hug
Two Belgian teenagers on Tuesday were charged with wildlife piracy after they were found with thousands of ants packed in test tubes in what Kenyan authorities said was part of a trend in trafficking smaller and lesser-known species. Lornoy David and Seppe Lodewijckx, two 19-year-olds who were arrested on April 5 with 5,000 ants at a guest house, appeared distraught during their appearance before a magistrate in Nairobi and were comforted in the courtroom by relatives. They told the magistrate that they were collecting the ants for fun and did not know that it was illegal. In a separate criminal case, Kenyan Dennis
A judge in Bangladesh issued an arrest warrant for the British member of parliament and former British economic secretary to the treasury Tulip Siddiq, who is a niece of former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted in August last year in a mass uprising that ended her 15-year rule. The Bangladeshi Anti-Corruption Commission has been investigating allegations against Siddiq that she and her family members, including Hasina, illegally received land in a state-owned township project near Dhaka, the capital. Senior Special Judge of Dhaka Metropolitan Zakir Hossain passed the order on Sunday, after considering charges in three separate cases filed
APPORTIONING BLAME: The US president said that there were ‘millions of people dead because of three people’ — Vladimir Putin, Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelenskiy US President Donald Trump on Monday resumed his attempts to blame Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for Russia’s invasion, falsely accusing him of responsibility for “millions” of deaths. Trump — who had a blazing public row in the Oval Office with Zelenskiy six weeks ago — said the Ukranian shared the blame with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who ordered the February 2022 invasion, and then-US president Joe Biden. Trump told reporters that there were “millions of people dead because of three people.” “Let’s say Putin No. 1, but let’s say Biden, who had no idea what the hell he was doing, No. 2, and
RSS