While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, June 30, 2025
While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, June 30, 2025
Netanyahu sees Iran outcome opening door to Gaza hostage return
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on June 29 the 12-day war with Iran had created opportunities for Israel, and the first was the return of hostages held in Gaza by Palestinian militants who attacked Israel on Oct 7, 2023.
His remarks, coupled with the Jerusalem District Court's postponement of his testimony this week in his long-running corruption trial, gave rise to speculation that progress may be made to end the Gaza conflict and secure the hostages' release.
The court accepted on June 29 Mr Netanyahu's request for the delay, citing classified diplomatic and security grounds. US President Donald Trump had suggested on June 28 the trial could interfere with the Israeli leader's ability to negotiate.
Israel's military Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir said on June 27 the war in Iran, which ended on June 24, could help advance Israeli objectives against the Iranian-backed Hamas group in the Gaza Strip.
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Ukraine F-16 pilot killed in large-scale Russian attack, Zelensky calls for US help
A Ukrainian F-16 fighter pilot died in a crash while repelling a Russian air attack that involved hundreds of drones, cruise and ballistic missiles, authorities said on June 29, as Moscow intensifies night-time air barrages in the fourth year of war.
President Volodymyr Zelensky praised the pilot, Maksym Ustymenko, and bestowed upon him posthumously the title of Hero of Ukraine, the country's highest decoration.
He also called for more support from Washington and Western allies to bolster Ukraine's air defences after the attack, which damaged homes and infrastructure across the country and injured at least 12 people, according to local authorities.
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Trump says he has group of 'very wealthy people' to buy TikTok
President Donald Trump said on June 29 a group of buyers had been found for TikTok, which faces a looming ban in the United States due to its China ties, adding he could name the purchasers in two weeks.
'We have a buyer for TikTok, by the way,' Mr Trump said in an interview on Fox's Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo.
'Very wealthy people. It's a group of wealthy people,' the president said, without revealing more except to say he would make their identities known 'in about two weeks.'
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Indian official says political 'constraints' led to jet losses
India's political leadership didn't permit strikes on Pakistani military bases at the start of hostilities between the two countries in May, allowing Islamabad to shoot down its fighter jets, according to a military official.
'I do agree we did lose some aircraft. That happened only because of the constraints given by the political leadership to not attack the military establishment or their air defence,' India's military attachė to Indonesia, Shiv Kumar, said at a seminar on the India-Pakistan conflict at the Universitas Dirgantara Marsekal Suryadarma in Jakarta.
The worst clash between the nuclear-armed neighbours in half a century erupted May 7, with both sides trading air, drone and missile strikes, as well as artillery and small-arms fire along their shared border.
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S'pore golfer Shannon Tan claims second Ladies European Tour title with German Masters victory
Moments after sinking the putt that sealed her second Ladies European Tour (LET) title, Singaporean golfer Shannon Tan remained composed, her expression stoic as she showed little emotion, before her fellow players rushed over and doused her in champagne.
The 21-year-old had just held on for a dramatic one-shot victory at the Amundi German Masters on June 29, closing with a three-over 76 for a nine-under 283 total at Green Eagle Golf Courses' North Course in Winsen (Luhe).
German Helen Briem (73) ended a stroke behind at the €300,000 (S$446,780) event, while New Zealand's Amelia Garvey (72) was two shots back in third.
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Straits Times
14 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Brazil government challenges Congress' reversal of tax hike, escalating tensions
Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva walks on stage after giving a speech during the Blue Economy and Finance Forum (BEFF) at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, June 8, 2025. REUTERS/Manon Cruz/Pool/ File Photo BRASILIA - Brazil's government filed a lawsuit with the Supreme Court on Tuesday challenging Congress' decision to overturn a tax hike on financial transactions, heating up tensions between the branches of power as the administration seeks ways to meet fiscal goals. The government believes that lawmakers overstepped their constitutional powers and created legal uncertainty by reversing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's decree raising the so-called IOF tax, Solicitor General Jorge Messias told reporters. Lula hiked the tax levied on certain credit, foreign-exchange and private pension plan operations in May as a way to boost revenue and limit spending freezes needed to comply with the government's fiscal framework. The move, however, sparked immediate backlash from lawmakers, who said they would not approve the tax hikes and last week dealt the government a major blow by ultimately nixing the decree. "If we hadn't made this move, we would be allowing interference from one branch of government into another," Messias said about the lawsuit. "Our approach is strictly legal, not political." The government had estimated that the IOF hike, already scaled back from an initial proposal for even higher rates, would generate an additional 12 billion reais ($2.20 billion) in revenue this year. Deputy Finance Minister Dario Durigan said earlier on Tuesday that the measure, along with some other fiscal proposals put forward by the government, would ensure compliance with the fiscal target this year and next. Latin America's largest economy aims to eliminate its primary deficit in 2025 and deliver a primary surplus of 0.25% of gross domestic product in 2026, though economists have voiced skepticism about its ability to reach those targets. "The reversal of the decree ends up affecting the economic and tax policy under responsibility of the head of the executive branch, and leads to a violation of the principle of separation of powers," Messias said. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
33 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Buoyed by the Supreme Court, Trump to press forward on firings and social agenda
FILE PHOTO: A general view of the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, U.S., June 1, 2024. REUTERS/Will Dunham/File Photo FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media in the Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington D.C., June 27, 2025. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno/File Photo Buoyed by the Supreme Court, Trump to press forward on firings and social agenda WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump's team is moving quickly to challenge injunctions that thwarted implementation of his policies on social issues and firing federal workers after the Supreme Court limited lower courts' powers to block them. Friday's ruling was widely viewed as a victory for the president because it shifted power from the judicial to the executive branch. But Trump opponents said they still have legal options to impede his agenda. One White House official told Reuters the administration was moving immediately to go back to the lower level courts to seek changes, citing layoffs at federal agencies driven by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) as one example of a top priority that an injunction had blocked. DOGE and government efficiency were "extremely important" to the president, the official added. Since coming into office in January, Republican Trump has sought to remake American society by enacting reductions in the federal workforce, harsher immigration rules and funding cuts to programs he does not like in both the public and private sectors. Lower courts have stymied those efforts in a number of areas by issuing nationwide injunctions to block them. The Supreme Court's ruling will largely put a stop to that practice, pleasing Trump. During a press conference at the White House on Friday, the president listed overhauling birthright citizenship, ending funding for sanctuary cities, suspending resettlement of refugees and stopping taxpayer-funded surgeries related to gender transitions as his top goals after the Supreme Court's move. "Thanks to this decision, we can now promptly file to proceed with numerous policies that have been wrongly enjoined on a nationwide basis," he said. Strategists said they expected Trump to press forward with a right-leaning social agenda, including eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs and curbing care for transgender youth. "I expect the White House to take advantage of this by being even more aggressive on the culture issues where they believe the public is strongly behind them: immigration, gender identity and DEI," said Carlos Curbelo, a Republican former U.S. congressman from Florida. OPTIONS STILL ON THE TABLE The Supreme Court on Friday granted the Trump administration's request to narrow the scope of three so-called "universal" injunctions issued by federal judges. But Democratic state attorneys general and groups challenging Trump's efforts to slash spending, ramp up deportations and restrict treatment for transgender youth said that while the decision was a disappointment, it did not bar them from obtaining any nationwide ruling. The ruling still allowed for nationwide injunctions in certain situations, including some class action cases brought on behalf of a group of people. It also allowed lower courts to strike down actions nationwide when they violate administrative law, which governs work by federal agencies. Washington state Attorney General Nick Brown predicted the decision would have minimal impact on the various rulings Democratic-led states have already won in cases challenging Trump's agenda, saying "it's only been a small handful where we've asked and received nationwide injunctions." Just hours after the Supreme Court ruled, lawyers in two different lawsuits challenging Trump's birthright citizenship order seized on that opening by seeking to have their cases treated as class actions covering children who would be denied citizenship if Trump's order took effect. Initial reactions to the Supreme Court decision reflected a widespread misunderstanding of its scope, said Norman Eisen, a lawyer involved in challenges to several Trump policies, including the elimination of birthright citizenship. "The court leaves a place for nationwide orders using other vehicles," Eisen said. Others said the decision will deter "forum shopping," in which plaintiffs file lawsuits in courts where they believe a quick win is more likely, and allow more policies to be implemented even as they are challenged in court. "Usually in these highly politicized lawsuits, someone wants relief instantly. That's no longer available," said Judd Stone, who as the solicitor general of Texas from 2021 to 2023 represented the Republican-led state in challenges to Biden administration policies. "It's a major, major paring back of universal relief." REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
39 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Spain proposes bans on concert ticket scalping, fuel advertising
Spanish Minister for Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and 2030 Agenda Pablo Bustinduy addresses a press conference after the weekly Cabinet meeting held at Moncloa Presidential Palace in Madrid, Spain, July 1, 2025. PHOTO: EPA MADRID - Spain's government on July 1 unveiled a draft bill aimed at promoting sustainable consumption and reducing prices, which would ban practices such as reselling concert tickets for profit and advertising fossil fuels, or cars powered by them. 'This government's objective is to encourage industry's transition towards more accessible and sustainable models, thereby lowering prices for consumers and also making decisive progress in environmental protection,' Consumer Rights Minister Pablo Bustinduy told reporters. The bill would also ban 'advertising based on fear' of crime or natural disasters, and would stop companies from making false or misleading claims about their environmental credentials, a practice known as greenwashing. Ads for most domestic flights will also be prohibited as the government pushes for travellers to use electric-powered trains. The bill will need approval from parliament, where the government of socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is in a minority since winning another term in a vote in late 2023. The government has struggled to get enough parliamentary support in the lower house to pass a series of bills and has not yet presented a budget for this year and next. Bustinduy, who belongs to the far-left junior coalition partner Sumar, has launched campaigns against businesses such as budget airlines and tourism summer rentals, with mixed results. A court last week suspended fines of 179 million euros (S$268.7 million) imposed by his ministry on low-cost carriers for charging for cabin baggage. Some of the rental listings his ministry had ordered to be withdrawn from platforms such as Airbnb in May are still being advertised. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
