62 arrested in Europol-Interpol human trafficking crackdown

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Updated 24 July 2023
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62 arrested in Europol-Interpol human trafficking crackdown

  • It is suspected that the criminal network successfully smuggled around 5,000 Cuban nationals into the EU

AMSTERDAM: Law enforcement from five countries have disrupted an intercontinental criminal network that was smuggling migrants from Cuba to the European Union, with the move leading to the arrest of 62 people, Europol and Interpol, who coordinated the international investigation, said on Monday.
A Europol statement said the criminal network focused on Cubans in vulnerable situations, and that for 9,000 euros ($9,969.30), it would organize their journey to Europe and provide false documentation.
In total, it is suspected that the criminal network successfully smuggled around 5,000 Cuban nationals into the EU.
Besides the arrests, police also seized 18 pieces of real estate, 33 vehicles, and 144 bank accounts, alongside vast sums of cash in various currencies.


Russia says it captures a village in Ukraine’s Donetsk region

Updated 5 sec ago
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Russia says it captures a village in Ukraine’s Donetsk region

Air defenses had shot down 317 Ukrainian drones over the territory of Russia

MOSCOW: Russian forces have captured the settlement of Nova Poltavka in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, the Russian defense ministry said on Thursday.

Russian news agencies, citing the defense ministry, separately reported that air defenses had shot down 317 Ukrainian drones over the territory of Russia in the past 24 hours and 485 drones in total since the evening of May 20.

China and Philippines trade blame over South China Sea confrontation

Updated 1 min 33 sec ago
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China and Philippines trade blame over South China Sea confrontation

  • Chinese Coast Guard fire water cannons and sideswipe a Filipino vessel as it conducted marine research around a disputed South China Sea reef

MANILA/BEIJING: China and the Philippines traded accusations on Thursday following a confrontation between two of their vessels in contested waters of the South China Sea, the latest incident in a long-running maritime standoff in the strategic waterway.
The Philippines’ fisheries bureau said the lives of a civilian crew were put at risk when the Chinese Coast Guard fired water cannons and sideswiped a vessel as it conducted marine research around a disputed South China Sea reef.
The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources condemned what it said was the “aggressive interference” of the Chinese Coast Guard against the Datu Sanday and a second ship in Wednesday’s incident, saying its vessels had not previously been subjected to water cannons in the area.
The Chinese Coast Guard said two Philippine vessels had illegally entered waters near Subi Reef and Sandy Cay and organized personnel to land on Sandy Cay.

 


The Coast Guard responded with what it described as professional and lawful control measures and went ashore to verify and handle the situation, it said in a statement.
A collision occurred after one of the Philippine vessels ignored multiple warnings and approached a Chinese vessel dangerously, the Coast Guard said, placing full responsibility for the incident on the Philippine side. The Chinese statement did not mention any use of water cannons. The US ambassador to Manila, MaryKay Carlson described China’s actions as aggressive and, in a post on X, said they “recklessly endangered lives and threaten regional stability.”
Sandy Cay is close to Thitu Island, the largest and most strategically important of the nine features the Philippines occupies in the Spratly archipelago, where China, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also have a presence.
Last month, China said its Coast Guard had landed on Sandy Cay as part of operations to exercise its sovereignty. The Philippines has denied Beijing has seized control of the disputed reef.
China claims sovereignty over nearly all the South China Sea, including areas claimed by Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
A 2016 ruling by an international arbitral tribunal found Beijing’s sweeping claims had no basis under international law, a decision China rejects.

 


Thai ex-PM Yingluck ordered to pay $305 million in damages over rice scheme

Updated 42 min 3 sec ago
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Thai ex-PM Yingluck ordered to pay $305 million in damages over rice scheme

  • Yingluck is one of four members of the billionaire Shinawatra family to have served as prime minister
  • She has been living overseas to avoid jail for failing to prevent corruption in the rice scheme

BANGKOK: A Thai court on Thursday ordered self-exiled former premier Yingluck Shinawatra to pay 10 billion baht ($305 million) in damages over a botched rice pledging scheme that saw her sentenced in 2017 to five years in prison for negligence. Yingluck, one of four members of the billionaire Shinawatra family to have served as prime minister, has been living overseas to avoid jail for failing to prevent corruption in the rice scheme, which paid farmers up to 50 percent above market prices and caused massive losses to the state.
The program, a flagship policy of her populist Pheu Thai party, cost the state billions of dollars and led to millions of tons of rice going unsold. Thailand is the world’s second-largest rice exporter.
Thursday’s ruling was on Yingluck’s appeal against a previous order to pay 35 billion baht ($1.07 billion) in damages to the finance ministry.
“The accused performed duties with gross negligence that caused damage to the state and therefore must pay compensation,” the Supreme Administrative Court said, adding the previous order exceeded the legal threshold of her responsibility and was unlawful. Yingluck 57, came to power in 2011 after a landslide election victory and resigned just days before her government was ousted in a coup in 2014. She is the aunt of current Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and younger sister of former premier and political heavyweight Thaksin Shinawatra. Thursday’s verdict comes less than two years after her family’s Pheu Thai party returned to power after a decade in the political wilderness, coinciding with influential brother Thaksin coming home after 15 years in self-exile to avoid jail.
The Shinawatras have consistently denied wrongdoing and have long maintained they have been victims of political vendettas by powerful figures in the conservative establishment and royalist military.
Yingluck on Thursday said the order to pay 10 billion baht was excessive.
“Even if I repaid it my entire life, it would never be enough,” she said on social media. “I will continue to demand and fight for justice.”


North Korea’s second naval destroyer damaged in a failed launch attended by Kim Jong Un

Updated 22 May 2025
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North Korea’s second naval destroyer damaged in a failed launch attended by Kim Jong Un

  • Disclosure of the failed ship launch suggests that Kim Jong Un is serious about his naval advancement program
  • The damaged vessel was likely the same class as the country’s first destroyer unveiled last month

SEOUL: North Korea’s second naval destroyer was damaged in a failed launch this week, state media reported Thursday, sparking fury from leader Kim Jong Un, who wants bigger warships to deal with what he calls escalating US-led threats against his country.
It’s not common for North Korea to acknowledge military-related setbacks, but observers say the disclosure of the failed ship launch suggests that Kim is serious about his naval advancement program and confident of ultimately achieving that objective.
During a launching event at the northeastern port of Chongjin on Wednesday, the newly built 5,000-tonne-class destroyer became unbalanced and was punctured in its bottom sections after a transport cradle on the stern section slid off first and became stuck, according to the Korean Central News Agency.
KCNA didn’t provide details on what caused the problem, the severity of the damage or whether anyone was injured.
According to KCNA, Kim, who was present at the ceremony, blamed military officials, scientists and shipyard operators for a “serious accident and criminal act caused by absolute carelessness, irresponsibility and unscientific empiricism.” Kim called for a ruling Workers’ Party meeting slated for late June to address their “irresponsible errors.”
The destroyers are North Korea’s most advanced warships
“It’s a shameful thing. But the reason why North Korea disclosed the incident is it wants to show it’s speeding up the modernization of its navy forces and expresses its confidence that it can eventually build” a greater navy, said Moon Keun-sik, a navy expert who teaches at Seoul’s Hanyang University.
Moon suspected the incident likely happened because North Korean workers aren’t yet familiar with such a large warship and were rushed to put it in the water.
The damaged vessel was likely the same class as the country’s first destroyer unveiled last month, which experts assessed as North Korea’s largest and most advanced warship to date. Kim called the first vessel, named Choe Hyon – a famed Korean guerilla fighter during the Japanese colonial period – a significant asset for advancing his goal of expanding the military’s operational range and nuclear strike capabilities.
State media described that ship as designed to carry weapons systems including nuclear-capable ballistic and cruise missiles. Kim said the ship was expected to enter active duty early next year and later supervised test-firings of missiles from the warship.
Satellite photos show the partially submerged destroyer
Lee Sung Joon, spokesperson for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Thursday that the damaged vessel was likely equipped with similar systems and remains toppled over in the sea. An Associated Press analysis of Planet Labs PBC images taken Thursday showed the ship partially submerged on its side with tarpaulins draped over the wreckage.
Earlier commercial satellite images indicated that the country was building its second destroyer at a shipyard in Chongjin.
Beyond Parallel, a website run by the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, said the satellite imagery of Chongjin’s Hambuk shipyard on May 12 showed that a second vessel in the Choe Hyon-class of guided missile destroyers was under construction.
A report by the North Korea-focused 38 North website assessed last week that the destroyer in Chongjin was being prepared to be launched sideways from the quay, a method that has been rarely used in North Korea. The report said the previous destroyer launched at the western shipyard of Nampo, in contrast, used a floating dry dock.
South Korean officials and experts say the Choe Hyon destroyer was likely built with Russian assistance as the two countries’ military partnerships are booming. While North Korea’s naval forces are considered far inferior to those of its rivals, analysts say the destroyer with nuclear-capable missiles and an advanced radar system would still enhance the North’s offensive and defensive capabilities.
Kim has framed the arms buildup as a response to perceived threats from the United States and South Korea, which have been expanding joint military exercises in response to the North’s advancing nuclear program. He says the acquisition of a nuclear-powered submarine would be his next big step in strengthening the North Korean navy.
Hours after releasing the report on the damaged destroyer, North Korea test-fired multiple cruise missiles from an area about 300 kilometers (185 miles) south of Chongjin, according to South Korea’s military. The launches were a continuation of a streak of weapons-testing activities by North Korea in recent years. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the launches were being analyzed by South Korean and US intelligence authorities.


Vietnam says ‘positive progress’ in trade talks with US

Updated 22 May 2025
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Vietnam says ‘positive progress’ in trade talks with US

  • The Vietnamese team sought help during its time in the United States from US tech and industry giants, including Lockheed Martin, SpaceX and Google
  • Trump visited the Vietnamese capital in 2019 for his abortive second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un

HANOI: Vietnam said on Thursday "positive progress" has been made in trade talks with Washington, as it tries to slash President Donald Trump's threatened 46 percent levy imposed on the country in his global tariff blitz.
The ministry of industry and trade however said both sides have "groups of issues for further discussion" in the coming rounds of talks, with the next scheduled for early June.
The southeast Asian nation has the third-biggest trade surplus with the United States of any country after China and Mexico and is anxious to address the imbalance to head off the tariff threat.
At the end of three days of talks in Washington, both sides had identified matters of common concern "in the spirit of goodwill, frankness... and balance of interests", the ministry said in a statement on its website.
The Vietnamese team sought help during its time in the United States from US tech and industry giants, including Lockheed Martin, SpaceX and Google.
It also signed an agreement with US company Westinghouse Electric on nuclear power development.
President Trump's real estate group on Wednesday broke ground in Vietnam on a $1.5-billion luxury resort and golf course 40 kilometres (25 miles) southeast of the capital Hanoi.
His son, Eric Trump, an executive vice president of The Trump Organization, and his wife Lara attended the event, as well as local partner the Kinhbac City Development Corporation (KBC).
He is also due to scout locations this week for a potential tower project in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam's southern business hub.
Trump visited the Vietnamese capital in 2019 for his abortive second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
He described Hanoi at the time as an "incredible city", praising Vietnam for "the job they've done -- economic development".