At least 2 dead and 12 missing after a fishing boat sinks off South Korea’s Jeju island

At least 2 dead and 12 missing after a fishing boat sinks off South Korea’s Jeju island
South Korean Coast Guard boats searching for missing persons after a fishing boat capsized and sank off the coast of Jeju island on Nov. 8, 2024. (Jeju Coast Guard/AFP)
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Updated 08 November 2024
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At least 2 dead and 12 missing after a fishing boat sinks off South Korea’s Jeju island

At least 2 dead and 12 missing after a fishing boat sinks off South Korea’s Jeju island
  • Nearby fishing vessels managed to pull 15 crew members out of the water, but two of them were later pronounced dead
  • 27 crew members were on the 129-tonne boat, which left Jeju’s Seogwipo port late Thursday to catch mackerel

SEOUL: A fishing boat capsized and sank off the coast of South Korea’s Jeju island Friday, leaving at least two people dead and 12 others unaccounted for, coast guard officials said.
Nearby fishing vessels managed to pull 15 crew members out of the water, but two of them were later pronounced dead after being brought to shore. The other 13 did not sustain life-threatening injuries, said Kim Han-na, an official at Jeju’s coast guard.
She said 27 crew members – 16 South Korean nationals and 11 foreigners – were on the 129-tonne boat, which left Jeju’s Seogwipo port late Thursday to catch mackerel. The coast guard received a distress signal at around 4:30 a.m. Friday from a nearby fishing vessel that conducted rescue efforts as the boat sank 24 kilometers northwest of the island.
At least 11 vessels and nine aircraft from South Korea’s coast guard, police, fire service and military were deployed as of Friday morning to search for survivors. They were being assisted by 13 civilian vessels.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol called for officials to mobilize all available resources to find and rescue the missing crew members, his office said.


South Korean ex-defense minister tried to kill himself: prisons official

South Korean ex-defense minister tried to kill himself: prisons official
Updated 2 sec ago
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South Korean ex-defense minister tried to kill himself: prisons official

South Korean ex-defense minister tried to kill himself: prisons official
  • Defense minister Kim Yong-hyun resigned last Thursday and was formally arrested Tuesday on charges including “engaging in critical duties during an insurrection” and “abuse of authority to obstruct th

Seoul: South Korea’s former defense minister tried to kill himself shortly before he was formally arrested over his role in this month’s martial law operation, a senior prisons official said Wednesday.
President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law on December 3 and sent soldiers and helicopters to parliament but was forced to rescind the decree hours later after lawmakers voted it down.
Defense minister Kim Yong-hyun resigned last Thursday and was formally arrested Tuesday on charges including “engaging in critical duties during an insurrection” and “abuse of authority to obstruct the exercise of rights.”
During a parliamentary hearing, the commissioner general of the Korea Correctional Service said the former minister tried to kill himself minutes before his arrest was announced.
Shortly before midnight (1500 GMT Tuesday), “former Minister of Defense Kim Yong-hyun attempted suicide at the Seoul Dongbu Detention Center,” said Shin Yong-hae.
Adding that he received the report Wednesday morning, Shin said Kim had tried to kill himself in the toilet using a string from his clothing.
“A control room staff member intervened, and when they opened the door, he immediately gave up the attempt,” said Shin.
Shin added that Kim was now under protection in a secure cell and in good health.
“The medical examination results indicate that the inmate’s health status is good without any abnormalities, and he is currently living a normal life in the facility,” the justice ministry said in a statement sent to AFP.
Kim had issued an apology on Tuesday, saying through his lawyers that “all responsibility for this situation lies solely with me.”
He “deeply apologized” to the South Korean people and said that his subordinates were “merely following my orders and fulfilling their assigned duties.”


Trump picks Ron Johnson as US ambassador to Mexico

Trump picks Ron Johnson as US ambassador to Mexico
Updated 11 December 2024
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Trump picks Ron Johnson as US ambassador to Mexico

Trump picks Ron Johnson as US ambassador to Mexico

WASHINGTON: President-elect Donald Trump has picked former US ambassador to El Salvador, Ronald Johnson, as the next United States ambassador to Mexico, he said on social media on Tuesday.
Johnson served as the ambassador to El Salvador from 2019 to 2021. Trump also cited Johnson’s more than 20 years of experience with the CIA in his announcement.
Trump made illegal immigration along the US-Mexico border a key issue during his election campaign.
Mexico has played a key role in implementing US immigration policy in recent years, accepting migrants from countries to which the US struggles to deport people, such as Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
US government estimates, though, also suggest nearly half of the immigrants living in the US illegally are Mexican.
“Ron will work closely with our great Secretary of State Nominee, Marco Rubio, to promote our Nation’s security and prosperity through strong America First Foreign Policies,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
US Senator Marco Rubio has been tapped by Trump for secretary of state.
Mexico is bracing for the arrival of large numbers of its citizens deported from the US once Trump takes office in January. It has argued, however, the deportations are unnecessary, pointing to the contribution of Mexicans to the US economy.
Mexico is seeking an agreement with Trump to ensure it does not receive deportees from third countries in case of large-scale deportations of migrants from the United States, President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Thursday.
Trump has threatened tariffs on Canada and Mexico until they clamped down on drugs and migrants crossing the border. 


Russia transported Assad in ‘most secured way,’ Russian Deputy FM tells NBC News

Russia transported Assad in ‘most secured way,’ Russian Deputy FM tells NBC News
Updated 11 December 2024
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Russia transported Assad in ‘most secured way,’ Russian Deputy FM tells NBC News

Russia transported Assad in ‘most secured way,’ Russian Deputy FM tells NBC News
  • Asked whether Russia would hand over Assad for trial, Ryabkov said: “Russia is not a party to the convention that established the International Criminal Court”
  • Moscow has supported Syria since the early days of the Cold War, recognizing its independence in 1944 as Damascus sought to throw off French colonial rule

MOSCOW: Russia transported Bashar Assad, who was ousted as Syria’s president by a lightning rebel offensive, very securely to Russia, the country’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, told NBC News in an interview aired on Tuesday.
The Kremlin said on Monday that President Vladimir Putin had made the decision to grant asylum in Russia to Assad. His fall is a big blow to Iran and Russia, which had intervened in Syria’s 13-year civil war to try to shore up his rule despite Western demands that he leave power.
“He is secured, and it shows that Russia acts as required in such an extraordinary situation,” Ryabkov told NBC, according to a transcript on NBC’s website. He added that he would not elaborate “on what happened and how it was resolved.”
Asked whether Russia would hand over Assad for trial, Ryabkov said: “Russia is not a party to the convention that established the International Criminal Court.”
Moscow has supported Syria since the early days of the Cold War, recognizing its independence in 1944 as Damascus sought to throw off French colonial rule. The West saw Syria as a Soviet satellite.
On Tuesday, Syria’s new interim leader announced that he was taking charge of the country as caretaker prime minister with the backing of the former rebels who toppled Assad.
Separately, Ryabkov said that Russia would “definitely be prepared to consider” another prisoner swap, similar to the
August exchange that involved Wall Street Journal reporter journalist Evan Gershkovich and ex-US Marine Paul Whelan.
A new deal would be “a healthy step forward, especially at the beginning of the next administration,” Ryabkov told NBC, adding he would not want to “pre-empt anything.”

 


Syria must not repeat ‘horrific scenarios’ of Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan: EU’s Kallas

Syria must not repeat ‘horrific scenarios’ of Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan: EU’s Kallas
Updated 11 December 2024
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Syria must not repeat ‘horrific scenarios’ of Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan: EU’s Kallas

Syria must not repeat ‘horrific scenarios’ of Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan: EU’s Kallas
  • Kallas threw her weight behind United Nations efforts to help steward an “orderly, peaceful and inclusive transition”

BRUSSELS, Belgium: EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas warned Tuesday of the risks of sectarian violence and an extremist resurgence in Syria, as she urged international powers to help a peaceful transition after Bashar Assad’s fall.
“We must avoid a repeat of the horrific scenarios in Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan,” Kallas told a hearing of EU lawmakers.
“It is our role as international partners to accompany the Syrian people in piecing together a shattered society.”
Kallas said there were questions over whether Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), which spearheaded the ouster of Syrian president Bashar Assad and once had root in Al-Qaeda, “had changed.”
The EU’s top diplomat said Assad’s ouster was a “huge blow” for his Russian and Iranian allies.
“They are weakened, distracted and overstretched in other theaters in the broader Middle East and in Ukraine,” she said.
Kallas threw her weight behind United Nations efforts to help steward an “orderly, peaceful and inclusive transition.”
She said that Western nations needed to work with regional players including the Gulf states, Turkiye, Lebanon, Iraq and Israel “to address shared challenges.”
Kallas said Syria needed an “inclusive rebuilding process” that involved minorities as well as women and girls.
The EU was monitoring humanitarian conditions to see if more aid was needed and would help efforts to hold Assad’s government responsible for its crimes, she said.
 

 


Australian PM says anti-Israel graffiti in Sydney an ‘outrage’

Australian PM says anti-Israel graffiti in Sydney an ‘outrage’
Updated 11 December 2024
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Australian PM says anti-Israel graffiti in Sydney an ‘outrage’

Australian PM says anti-Israel graffiti in Sydney an ‘outrage’
  • “The incident in Sydney is an outrage and another anti-Semitic attack,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement on social media

SYDNEY: Vandals daubed anti-Israel graffiti in a Sydney suburb on Wednesday, police said, sparking “outrage” from Australia’s government days after a Melbourne synagogue was set ablaze.
Police said they were seeking two people aged 15-20 who wore face coverings in relation to the incident, in which a car was also torched in the early hours.
Graffiti was spread over the burned car, another vehicle, two buildings and a footpath, state police said.
Images on local media showed the misspelled phrase “Kill Israiel” painted in black on a white wall in the eastern suburb of Woollahra, which has a long-established Jewish community.
A contractor painted over the graffiti soon afterwards.
“The incident in Sydney is an outrage and another anti-Semitic attack,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement on social media.
“I stand with the Jewish community and unequivocally condemn this attack. There is no place for hatred or anti-Semitism in our country.”
The Australian leader said he would be briefed by a federal police task force that was set up this week to investigate anti-Semitic attacks.
Albanese had toured the charred remains of the Melbourne synagogue the day before, urging the country to unite in the face of the “evil” arson attack.
Counter-terror police are hunting for three suspects believed responsible for setting fire to the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne in the early hours of Friday.
The synagogue blaze was met with international condemnation, including from Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who accused the Australian government of harboring “anti-Israel sentiment.”
The war in Gaza has sparked protests from supporters of Israel and Palestinians in cities around Australia, as in much of the world.
A body representing Australia’s Jewish community said the Sydney graffiti and car-burning was designed to “terrorize.”
“How long will this continue and with what horrors will it end?” asked Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.
“We ask that you stand with us. March with us. Don’t let this evil tear our country to pieces.”
The New South Wales state premier, Chris Minns, said the Sydney incident was “shocking.”
“This is not the Sydney we want. These racist attempts to divide our city will not work,” the premier said.
The perpetrators “will be found and they will face the full force of the law,” he said.