While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, June 5, 2025
Fans standing next to abandoned shoes and a fallen barrier, following a stampede outside a stadium in Bengaluru, India, on June 4. PHOTO: AFP
While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, June 5, 2025
Stampede at India cricket celebrations leaves 11 dead
Packed crowds in India celebrating their cricket team's victory ended in a deadly stampede on June 4 with 11 mainly young fans crushed to death, the local state's chief minister said.
Joyous cricket fans had come out to celebrate and welcome home their heroes, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, after they beat Punjab Kings in a roller-coaster Indian Premier League cricket final on the night of June 3.
But the euphoria of the vast crowds in the southern tech city of Bengaluru ended in disaster, with Prime Minister Narendra calling it 'absolutely heartrending'.
Karnataka state Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said most of the deceased are young, with 11 dead and 47 injured in the crush.
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Trump says Putin plans to retaliate over Ukraine drone attack
Donald Trump says Vladimir Putin warned him 'very strongly' in a call on June 4 that he would respond to Ukraine's stunning attack on Russian airfields, adding that any immediate prospect of peace remained far off.
Kyiv's daring mass drone strikes on June 1 destroyed several nuclear-capable bombers worth billions of dollars, and dominated the third call between the Russian and US presidents since Mr Trump returned to power.
Earlier, Mr Putin had appeared to rule out a ceasefire or any direct talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
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Israel's opposition moves to dissolve Parliament
A member of Israel's right-wing coalition threatened to quit the Cabinet on June 4 and support an opposition motion to dissolve Parliament tabled for next week, piling pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Latest opinion polls suggest that Mr Netanyahu's coalition would lose power if an election was held today, with many voters unhappy over the continued war in Gaza prompted by the attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel in October 2023.
United Torah Judaism, one of two ultra-Orthodox parties in the coalition, said it would withdraw from the government unless it secured last-minute concessions formalising an exemption for ultra-Orthodox men from military service.
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Djokovic downs Zverev to set up Sinner semi-final
Three-time champion Novak Djokovic kept up his quest for a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title, battling past third seed Alexander Zverev 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-4 on June 4, to set up a French Open semi-final against top seed Jannik Sinner.
The 38-year-old Serbian notched his 101st victory at Roland Garros - site of his Olympic gold medal victory in 2024 at the Paris Games - after three hours and 17 minutes.
Former world number one Djokovic is just two matches away from becoming the first player, male or female, to win 25 Grand Slam singles trophies.
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A-ha's Morten Harket diagnosed with Parkinson's disease
Morten Harket, the lead singer of Norwegian band A-ha, whose Take On Me track remains one of the most popular songs from the 1980s, said on June 4 that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.
In a statement on the band's website, and confirmed by record label Sony Music, Harket, 65, said he had undergone several rounds of brain surgery and that he was managing the symptoms of the disease.
Parkinson's causes deterioration in the brain's nervous system, leading to tremors and other symptoms that can become progressively worse over time. The disease can be treated with surgery and medication, but there is no cure.
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Straits Times
26 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Russia faces struggle to replace bombers lost in Ukrainian drone strikes
Russian Tu-160 and Tu-22M3 aircraft fly over Red Square during a military parade in Moscow in 2020. PHOTO: REUTERS LONDON – It will take years for Russia to replace the nuclear-capable bomber planes hit by Ukraine's drones, according to Western military aviation experts, straining a modernisation programme that is already delayed. Satellite photos of airfields in Siberia and Russia's far north show extensive damage from the attacks, with several aircraft completely burnt out, although there are conflicting versions of the total number destroyed or damaged. The United States assesses that up to 20 warplanes were hit – around half the number estimated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky – and around 10 were destroyed. The Russian government on June 5 denied that any planes were destroyed and said the damage would be repaired. But Russian military bloggers have spoken of loss or serious damage to about a dozen planes, accusing commanders of negligence. The strikes – prepared over 18 months in a Ukrainian intelligence operation dubbed 'Spider's Web', and conducted by drones that were smuggled close to the bases in trucks – dealt a powerful symbolic blow to a country that, throughout the Ukraine war, has frequently reminded the world of its nuclear might. In practice, experts said, they will not seriously affect Russia's nuclear strike capability, which largely comprises ground- and submarine-based missiles. However, the Tu-95MS Bear-H and Tu-22M3 Backfire bombers that were hit were part of a long-range aviation fleet that Russia has used throughout the war to fire conventional missiles at Ukrainian cities, defence plants, military bases, power infrastructure and other targets, said Mr Justin Bronk, an aviation expert at the Rusi think tank in London. The same fleet has also been carrying out periodic patrol flights into the Arctic, North Atlantic and northern Pacific as a show of strength to deter Russia's Western adversaries. Mr Bronk said at the outset of its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Russia has been operating a fleet of 50-60 Bear-Hs and around 60 Backfires, alongside around 20 Tu-160M nuclear-capable Blackjack heavy bombers. He estimated that Russia has now lost more than 10 per cent of the combined Bear-H and Backfire fleet, taking into account last weekend's attacks and the loss of several planes earlier in the war – one shot down and the others struck while on the ground. These losses 'will put major pressure on a key Russian force that was already operating at maximum capacity', Mr Bronk told Reuters. Project delays Replacing the planes will be challenging. Both the Bear H and the Backfire are aircraft that were designed in the Soviet era and have been out of production for decades, said Mr Douglas Barrie, an aerospace expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, although existing planes have been upgraded over the years. Mr Barrie said building new ones like-for-like was, therefore, very unlikely, and it was unclear whether Russia has any usable spare airframes of either type. Western sanctions against Russia have aimed to restrict the import of components such as microprocessors that are vital to avionics systems, although Moscow has so far been comparatively successful at finding alternative sources, Mr Barrie added. Russia has been modernising its Blackjack bomber fleet, and Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a pointed signal to the West in 2024 by taking a 30-minute flight in one such aircraft and pronouncing it ready for service. But production of new Blackjacks is slow – one Russian military blogger this week put it at four per year – and Western experts say progress in developing Russia's next-generation PAK DA bomber has also been moving at a crawl. The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) said in a report in May that Russia signed a contract with manufacturer Tupolev in 2013 to build the PAK DA, but cited Russian media reports as saying state test flights are not scheduled until 2026, with initial production to begin in 2027. While it would be logical for Russia to try to speed up its PAK DA plans, it may not have the capacity, said Mr Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the FAS. He said in a telephone interview that Russia is facing delays with a range of other big defence projects, including its new Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile. Rusi's Mr Bronk was also sceptical of Moscow's chances of accelerating the timeline for the next-generation bomber. 'Russia will struggle to deliver the PAK DA programme at all in the coming five years, let alone accelerate it, due to budgetary shortfalls and materials and technology constraints on industry due to sanctions,' he said. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
31 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Three men to go on trial next year over fires linked to UK PM Starmer
Three men to go on trial next year over fires linked to UK PM Starmer LONDON - Three men all linked to Ukraine will go on trial next April accused of involvement in a series of arson attacks on houses and a vehicle in London connected to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, a London court heard on Friday. Over five days last month, police were called to fires at a house in north London owned by Starmer, another at a property nearby where he used to live, and to a blaze involving a car that also used to belong to the British leader. Ukrainian Roman Lavrynovych, 21, is charged with three counts of arson with intent to endanger life. Fellow Ukrainian Petro Pochynok, 34, and Romanian national Stanislav Carpiuc, 26, who was born in Ukraine, are accused of conspiracy to commit arson. Lavrynovych and Carpiuc appeared by video-link at London's Old Bailey court on Friday where Judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb set the trial for April 27 next year. Pochynok was not present for the hearing. In earlier hearings, prosecutors said the motive for the arsons was unclear. The men will enter formal pleas at a hearing in October, but the lawyers for Carpiuc and Pochynok said their clients denied involvement. Counter-terrorism police have led the investigation but none of the men have been charged with offences under terrorism laws or the new National Security Act, which was brought in to target hostile state activity. Police said the first fire involved a Toyota RAV4 car that Starmer used to own and sold to a neighbour. Days later, there was a blaze at a property where Starmer previously resided and the following day there was an attack on a house in north London that he still owns. Starmer, who has lived at his official 10 Downing Street residence in central London since becoming prime minister last July, has called the incidents "an attack on all of us, on our democracy and the values we stand for". Earlier this week a fourth man, aged 48, who had been arrested at London Stansted Airport in connection with the arson, was released on police bail. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Business Times
37 minutes ago
- Business Times
Singapore stocks rise post Trump-Xi talks; STI up 0.4%
[SINGAPORE] The local bourse ended Friday (Jun 6) in a positive territory after a call between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping boosted investors' confidence. The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) rose 0.4 per cent or 16.60 points to end at 3,934.29. Across the broader market, gainers beat losers 266 to 205 as 849.5 million securities worth S$1.1 billion changed hands. Xi and Trump agreed to further dialogue on trade after their call on Thursday evening. Trump said that disputes over rare-earth exports were resolved, and he had accepted China's invitation to visit. Beijing said it had complied with the terms of last month's trade truce. Trump also reversed his stance on Chinese students, welcoming them to study in the US. Maybank's research team noted in a report on Friday: 'While this may be a positive development for risk, we are also wary that Trump may simply shift his attention to another country instead of China.' The team expects Trump's trade and tax policy to continue swinging the markets, and highlighted that Trump and Musk's feud on social media offset some equity gains from positive US-China trade developments. 'We hold on to selling US dollar on rally alongside fading US exceptionalism, and a weaker NFP (non-farm payrolls) print would reinforce the narrative that US exceptionalism is indeed fading,' wrote the team. On the STI, Sembcorp Industries led the gains, up 3 per cent or S$0.20 at S$6.85. SIA was at the bottom of the list, down 1.3 per cent or S$0.09 at S$7.09 on a cum-dividend basis. The trio of local banks ended the day mixed. OCBC was up 0.3 per cent or S$0.05 at S$16.28. DBS rose 0.2 per cent or S$0.10 at S$45.12. UOB was down 0.1 per cent or S$0.04 at S$35.25 on a cum-dividend basis. Regional markets closed mixed on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.5 per cent, while the Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index dropped 0.1 per cent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 0.5 per cent.
