AUSTRALIA
Synagogue vandalized
Authorities yesterday denounced “hate-filled” vandals who daubed swastikas and other graffiti on a Sydney synagogue in the early morning. The vandalism on the Southern Sydney Synagogue was “a hate-filled attack by individuals that have got hate in their hearts,” New South Wales Premier Chris Minns told journalists. “I think the painting of a swastika on a Jewish building shows you everything you need to know about how appalling these particular individuals are and what their ultimate aim is.”
Photo: EPA-EFE
AUSTRALIA
Bumbling arsonists sought
Police on Thursday released CCTV video of an apparent arsonist who set their own pants alight and had to run from the scene without them. Footage of the incident on a fast-food outlet in Melbourne showed two people in dark hoodies and trousers with a container of what police described as “flammable liquid.” One of them tried to set the fluid alight at the front of the outlet, just out of the view of a camera. In an instant, the person is seen again engulfed in flames and then hurriedly removing the burning trousers before running off bare-cheeked with an apparently unharmed accomplice. Victoria state police, who distributed the footage, asked for witnesses to the attack, which happened in the early hours of Dec. 25. “Investigators have released CCTV and images of two people they believe may be able to assist with their inquires,” they said in a statement.
Photo: AFP / Victoria Police
JAPAN
Russian sanctions approved
Tokyo yesterday approved additional sanctions against Russia over its war on Ukraine, including freezing the assets of dozens of individuals and groups and banning exports to dozens of organizations in Russia and several other countries that have allegedly helped it evade sanctions. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said that the additional sanctions shows its commitment to the G7’s effort to bolster action against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. “It is Japan’s contribution as part of the international effort toward achieving global peace and resolving the problems surrounding Ukraine because of Russian invasion,” Hayashi said.
Photo: AP
VENEZUELA
Maduro to take oath
President Nicolas Maduro was due to take the oath of office for a third term yesterday despite a global outcry that brought thousands out in protest on the ceremony’s eve. Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who came out of hiding to lead a demonstration in Caracas on Thursday, was briefly detained after the rally, according to her team, reigniting international condemnation of Maduro’s alleged vote steal and cowing of critics. The government denied arresting her.
Photo: Reuters
YEMEN
Tanker salvage completed
An oil tanker that burned for weeks in the Red Sea after being attacked by Houthi rebels and threatening a massive oil spill has been salvaged, a security firm said yesterday. The Sounion had 1 million barrels of crude oil aboard when it was struck and later sabotaged with explosives by the Houthis. It took months to tow the vessel away, extinguish the fires and offload the remaining crude oil. “Over three challenging weeks, the fires were extinguished, cargo tanks patched and pressurized with inert gas and the vessel declared safe,” said private security firm Ambrey, which helped lead the response alongside a European naval force and salvagers.
BLOODSHED: North Koreans take extreme measures to avoid being taken prisoner and sometimes execute their own forces, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Saturday said that Russian and North Korean forces sustained heavy losses in fighting in Russia’s southern Kursk region. Ukrainian and Western assessments say that about 11,000 North Korean troops are deployed in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces occupy swathes of territory after staging a mass cross-border incursion in August last year. In his nightly video address, Zelenskiy quoted a report from Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi as saying that the battles had taken place near the village of Makhnovka, not far from the Ukrainian border. “In battles yesterday and today near just one village, Makhnovka,
HOLLYWOOD IN TURMOIL: Mandy Moore, Paris Hilton and Cary Elwes lost properties to the flames, while awards events planned for this week have been delayed Fires burning in and around Los Angeles have claimed the homes of numerous celebrities, including Billy Crystal, Mandy Moore and Paris Hilton, and led to sweeping disruptions of entertainment events, while at least five people have died. Three awards ceremonies planned for this weekend have been postponed. Next week’s Oscar nominations have been delayed, while tens of thousands of city residents had been displaced and were awaiting word on whether their homes survived the flames — some of them the city’s most famous denizens. More than 1,900 structures had been destroyed and the number was expected to increase. More than 130,000 people
Some things might go without saying, but just in case... Belgium’s food agency issued a public health warning as the festive season wrapped up on Tuesday: Do not eat your Christmas tree. The unusual message came after the city of Ghent, an environmentalist stronghold in the country’s East Flanders region, raised eyebrows by posting tips for recycling the conifers on the dinner table. Pointing with enthusiasm to examples from Scandinavia, the town Web site suggested needles could be stripped, blanched and dried — for use in making flavored butter, for instance. Asked what they thought of the idea, the reply
US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen on Monday met virtually with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) and raised concerns about “malicious cyber activity” carried out by Chinese state-sponsored actors, the US Department of the Treasury said in a statement. The department last month reported that an unspecified number of its computers had been compromised by Chinese hackers in what it called a “major incident” following a breach at contractor BeyondTrust, which provides cybersecurity services. US Congressional aides said no date had been set yet for a requested briefing on the breach, the latest in a serious of cyberattacks
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