While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, June 19, 2025
US President Donald Trump speaking to members of the media at the White House in Washington, on June 18. PHOTO: REUTERS
While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, June 19, 2025
Trump on Iran strikes: 'I may do it, I may not do it'
President Donald Trump said he was considering on June 18 whether the United States will join Israeli strikes on Iran and he said that Tehran had reached out to seek negotiations on ending the conflict.
Speaking as he watched installation of a new flagpole at the White House, Mr Trump added that his patience 'had already run out' with Iran and repeated his call for the Islamic republic's 'unconditional surrender.'
'I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do,' Mr Trump told reporters on the South Lawn when asked if he had decided whether to launch US air strikes. 'I can tell you this, that Iran's got a lot of trouble, and they want to negotiate.'
Mr Trump said Iran had even suggested sending officials to the White House to negotiate on Tehran's nuclear programme to end Israel's air assault, but added that it was 'very late.'
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Iran crypto exchange hit by hackers, over $100m destroyed
A June 18 hacking attack targeted Nobitex, one of Iran's largest cryptocurrency exchanges.
PHOTO: REUTERS
An anti-Iranian hacking group with possible ties to Israel announced an attack on one of Iran's largest cryptocurrency exchanges on June 18, destroying nearly US$90 million (S$115 million) and threatening to expose the platform's source code.
A group known as Gonjeshke Darande, or 'Predatory Sparrow,' claimed the attack, making it the group's second operation in two days.
On June 17, the group claimed to have destroyed data at Iran's state-owned Bank Sepah, amid the increasing hostilities and missile attacks between Israel and Iran.
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Big blow for Thailand's PM as major party exits coalition
Thailand's Bhumjaithai Party on June 18 withdrew from Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra's government in a major blow to the embattled premier, leaving her ruling coalition with only a slim majority.
The party, the second largest in the alliance and holder of 69 House seats, said its departure was due to the impact on the nation of a leak on June 18 of a phone call between Ms Paetongtarn and Mr Hun Sen, the influential former premier of Cambodia, with which Thailand is involved in an escalating border dispute.
'Bhumjaithai will work with all Thai people to support the army and officials who safeguard the sovereignty, territorial integrity and interests of Thailand in all ways,' Bhumjaithai said in a statement.
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Kyiv mourns as death toll from Russia strike climbs to 28
Flags across Kyiv were lowered to half-mast on June 18, as Ukrainians mourned more than two dozen people killed a day earlier in Russia's deadliest strike on the capital this year.
Russia sent 440 drones and fired 32 missiles during the overnight attack, said President Volodymyr Zelensky, partly flattening a residential building, in the latest blow to a war-weary population as diplomatic efforts to end the grinding conflict bear little fruit.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on June 18 the death toll had reached 28, but that a search operation was continuing.
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Manchester City ease into Club World Cup campaign
Phil Foden scored inside two minutes to set Manchester City on the way to a comfortable 2-0 win against Wydad Casablanca in their opening match at the Club World Cup on June 18.
Jeremy Doku was also on target before half-time at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, where the majority of the 37,446 crowd were supporting City but most of the noise was made by the fans of the Moroccan side.
The afternoon was slightly marred for City as Rico Lewis was sent off for a dangerous tackle late on, but Pep Guardiola was satisfied with the winning start.
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Straits Times
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2 Singaporeans among 3 arrested in Thailand in joint anti-vice sweep
Investigations began in 2023 into the vice syndicate, which allegedly recruited foreign women and sent them to Singapore to work as vice workers. PHOTO: SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE SINGAPORE - Two Singaporean men were among three arrested in Thailand for their alleged involvement in operating a transnational vice syndicate, said the Singapore Police Force (SPF) on June 19. The Singaporean suspects, aged 36 and 38, as well as a 50-year-old Thai man , were arrested on June 17 in a cross-border operation with the Royal Thai Police (RTP). Assets worth more than 20 million Thai baht (S$790,600), comprising cash in bank accounts and two condominium units, together with laptops, mobile phones, hard drives, bank cards and SIM cards, were also seized by the RTP when the trio was arrested on June 17 . The SPF also froze more than $1.26 million of suspected criminal proceeds from the Singapore bank accounts of the 38-year-old man. According to a June 18 report from Thai news website Khaosod English, one of the Singaporean men was arrested at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport, having arrived on a flight from Singapore. The Thai police had acted on information of the man's arrival, and the man had multiple arrest warrants, according to the news outlet. The Straits Times has learned that the 38-year-old Singaporean was arrested at the airport, while the 36-year-old man was arrested at his Thai residence. The cross-border anti-vice operation was executed in Thailand by the Royal Thai Police. PHOTOS: SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE Investigations began in 2023 into the vice syndicate, which allegedly recruited foreign women and sent them to Singapore to work as vice workers, SPF said . At least 76 vice workers, who were allegedly managed by the syndicate, were arrested f rom April 2023 to May 2025 , and the resulting investigations 'established useful information' against the syndicate, SPF added. The identities of the three suspects were established after police o fficers from Thailand and Singapore shared their findings on the syndicate. The 38-year-old man allegedly used a complex network of bank accounts to remit the prostitution earnings of the vice workers from Singapore to Thailand, while the 36-year-old man allegedly supported the syndicate in the transnational vice operations, said the Singapore police. Investigations are ongoing. Photos from past anti-vice ops related to the syndicate. PHOTOS: SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE In the statement, Singapore's Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police (SAC) Yeo Yee Chuan stressed the importance of cooperation in areas such as information sharing, operations and investigations, in combating transnational syndicated crime. 'The SPF is committed to working closely with our regional partners, and we thank the RTP for their invaluable collaboration in dismantling this criminal network to prevent the exploitation of women, stem the scourge of transnational crimes and take affirmative actions against the laundering of criminal proceeds,' said SAC Yeo, who is the deputy director of the Criminal Investigation Department. Thailand's Police Lieutenant General Jirabhop Bhuridej added: 'The dedication and professionalism of the SPF and RTP officers were instrumental in the successful cross-border operational collaboration which led to the apprehension of the transnational criminal syndicate.' Additional reporting by Lok Jian Wen Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
Straits Times
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Israeli military says it targeted nuclear sites in Iran's Natanz and Arak overnight
Israeli military says it targeted nuclear sites in Iran's Natanz and Arak overnight DUBAI - The Israeli military said on Thursday it had targeted the nuclear reactor in the area of Arak in Iran overnight and struck what it called a nuclear weapons development site in the area of Natanz. Among its nuclear sites, Iran had a partially built heavy-water research reactor originally called Arak and now Khondab. At Natanz, which has been previously struck during Israel's six-day-old aerial war with Iran, Iran built a complex at the heart of its nuclear programme that included two enrichment plants. Heavy-water reactors pose a nuclear proliferation risk because they can easily produce plutonium which, like enriched uranium, can be used to make the core of an atom bomb. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
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- Straits Times
Thai PM apologises for leaked Cambodia call causing political crisis
Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra (centre) speaks at a press conference, surrounded by senior Thai army commanders and government minsters, at the Government House in Bangkok on June 19. PHOTO: AFP BANGKOK - Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra on June 19 apologised for her leaked phone call with former Cambodian leader Hun Sen that has provoked widespread anger and put her government on the brink of collapse. Her main coalition partner has quit and calls are mounting for her to resign or announce an election, throwing the kingdom into a fresh round of political instability as it seeks to boost its spluttering economy and avoid US President Donald Trump's swingeing trade tariffs. The conservative Bhumjaithai party pulled out on June 18 saying Ms Paetongtarn's conduct in the leaked call had wounded the country and the army's dignity. As pressure grew on June 19 , Ms Paetongtarn, the daughter of Mr Thaksin Shinawatra – Thailand's most influential but controversial modern politician – apologised at a press conference alongside military chiefs and senior figures from her Pheu Thai party. 'I would like to apologise for the leaked audio of my conversation with a Cambodian leader which has caused public resentment,' Ms Paetongtarn told reporters. In the call, Ms Paetongtarn is heard discussing an ongoing border dispute with Mr Hun Sen – who stepped down as Cambodian prime minister in 2023 after four decades but still wields considerable influence. She addresses the veteran leader as 'uncle' and refers to the Thai army commander in the country's northeast as her opponent, a remark that sparked fierce criticism on social media. The loss of Bhumjaithai's 69 MPs left Ms Paetongtarn with barely enough votes to scrape a majority in parliament, and a snap election looks a clear possibility – barely two years after the last one in May 2023. Two other coalition parties, the United Thai Nation and Democrat Party, will hold meetings to discuss the situation later on June 19 . Ms Paetongtarn will be hoping her apology and show of unity with the military are enough to persuade them to stay on board. Losing either would likely mean the end of Ms Paetongtarn's government, and either an election or a bid by other parties to stitch together a new coalition. Thailand's Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra gestures during a press conference on June 19. PHOTO: AFP Resignation calls Thailand's military said in a statement that army chief General Pana Claewplodtook 'affirms commitment to democratic principles and national sovereignty protection'. 'The Chief of Army emphasised that the paramount imperative is for 'Thai people to stand united' in collectively defending national sovereignty,' it added. Thailand's armed forces have long played a powerful role in the kingdom's politics, and politicians are usually careful not to antagonise them. The kingdom has had a dozen coups since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932, and the current crisis has inevitably triggered rumours that another may be in the offing. If Ms Paetongtarn is ousted in a coup she would be the third member of her family, after her aunt Yingluck and father Thaksin Shinawatra, to be kicked out of office by the military. The main opposition People's Party, which won most seats in 2023 but was blocked by conservative senators from forming a government, urged Ms Paetongtarn to call an election. 'What happened yesterday was a leadership crisis that destroyed people's trust,' People's Party leader Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut said in a statement. The Palang Pracharath party, which led the government up to 2023 and is headed by General Prawit Wongsuwan – who supported a 2014 coup against Ms Paetongtarn's aunt Yingluck – said the leaked recording showed she was weak and inexperienced, incapable of managing the country's security. Hundreds of anti-government protesters, some of them veterans of the royalist, anti-Thaksin 'Yellow Shirt' movement of the late 2000s, demonstrated outside Government House on June 19 demanding Ms Paetongtarn quit. Awkward coalition Ms Paetongtarn, 38, came to power in August 2024 at the head of an uneasy coalition between Pheu Thai and a group of conservative, pro-military parties whose members have spent much of the last 20 years battling against her father. Growing tensions within the coalition erupted into open warfare in the past week as Pheu Thai tried to take the interior minister job away from Bhumjaithai leader Anutin Charnvirakul. The loss of Bhumjaithai leaves Pheu Thai's coalition with just a handful more votes than the 248 needed for a majority. The battle between the conservative pro-royal establishment and Mr Thaksin's political movement has dominated Thai politics for more than 20 years. Former Manchester City owner Thaksin, 75, still enjoys huge support from the rural base whose lives he transformed with populist policies in the early 2000s. But he is despised by Thailand's powerful elites, who saw his rule as corrupt, authoritarian and socially destabilising. The current Pheu Thai-led government has already lost one prime minister, former businessman Srettha Thavisin, who was kicked out by a court order last year that brought Ms Paetongtarn to office. AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
