23/05/2025

FRIDAY | MAY 23, 2025

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LARGE QUAKE HITS NEAR GREEK ISLAND OF CRETE ATHENS: A 6.1-magnitude quake hit off the Greek islands of Crete and Santorini yesterday, the US Geological Survey said. The quake struck 82km northeast of Crete’s capital Heraklion, at a depth of 68km, it said. The region has been rattled by multiple tremors in recent months, prompting schools in Santorini and neighbouring islands to close temporarily. Thousands of earthquakes, mainly of low magnitude, were recorded from late January between islands in the Cyclades group southeast of the Greek mainland. The seismic swarm caused no casualties or significant damage. Located where the African and Anatolian tectonic plates converge, the Aegean Sea is often hit by quakes. But the region has not experienced a phenomenon of such magnitude since records began in 1964, experts said. – AFP Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth met billionaire Elon Musk at the Pentagon on Wednesday, officials said, the second known time Musk has visited the Pentagon. “Hegseth met Musk and other members of the X artificial intelligence (AI) team this morning,“ Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement. “The Defence Department is committed to engaging with AI industry CEOs to ensure our warfighters are equipped to face 21st century threats.“ – Reuters PENTAGON CHIEF MEETS MUSK FOR SECOND TIME WASHINGTON: US Torrential rain ravages rural Australian towns SYDNEY: Flash flooding on Australia’s southeast coast has killed two people and cut off towns, isolating tens of thousands of residents, as officials yesterday warned that more downpours were expected over the next 24 hours. Major flooding hit several rural towns in the Hunter and Mid North Coast regions of New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, with most of the Mid North Coast region facing further heavy rainfall yesterday. Police said the body of a 63-year-old man was found in a flooded home near Taree, more than 300km north of Sydney while another body believed to be that of a missing man aged in his 30s was discovered in flood waters on the Mid North Coast. “We are bracing for more bad news. This natural disaster has been terrible for this community,“ said New South Wales Premier Chris Minns. “There are 140 flood warnings, 50,000 people are in the range where they have been asked to prepare to evacuate and could be isolated, and there are 9,500 properties in the direct vicinity. So, we are far from out of the woods here.” Two men and one woman have been reported missing in separate incidents, authorities said earlier. More than 100 schools were closed yesterday while thousands of properties remained without power. Cundletown in the Mid North Coast has been entirely cut off by floods, said Nicole Sammut, a nurse caring for 67 elderly residents at an aged care home, which is also being used as a shelter by emergency teams. “I came to work on Tuesday and have not left,“ Sammut told Reuters. – Reuters

Trump grills S. Africa leader with genocide false claims

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WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump confronted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday with false claims of white genocide and land seizures during a tense White House meeting that was reminiscent of his February meeting with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky. Ramaphosa had hoped to use the meeting to reset his country’s relationship with the United States after Trump cancelled much-needed aid to South Africa, offered refuge to white minority Afrikaners, expelled the country’s ambassador and criticised its genocide court case against Israel. However, Trump moved quickly to a list of concerns about the treatment of white South Africans, which he punctuated by playing a video and leafing through a stack of

interviewed by police and the FBI. “Early indicators are that this was an act of targeted violence. Our FBI team is fully engaged and we will get you answers as soon as we can, without compromising additional leads.” The event at the museum was held by the American Jewish Committee, an advocacy group that supports Israel and confronts antisemitism, according to its website. An online invitation to the event called it the Young Diplomats Reception, describing it as a bringing together of Jewish professionals between the ages of 22 and 45 and the Washington diplomatic community. – Reuters multi-party democracy in 1994 under Nelson Mandela, rejected Trump’s allegations. A new land reform law, aimed at redressing the injustices of apartheid, allows for expropriations without compensation when in the public interest. For example, if land is lying fallow. No such expropriation has taken place and any order can be challenged in court. South African police recorded 26,232 murders nationwide in 2024, with 44 linked to farming communities. Eight of those victims were farmers. Trump also displayed printed copies of articles that he said showed white South Africans who had been killed. Ramaphosa said there was crime in South Africa and the majority of victims were Black. Trump cut him off and said: “The farmers are not Black.” Ramaphosa responded: “These are concerns we are willing to talk to you about.” He cited Mandela’s example as a peacemaker but that did not move Trump, whose political base includes white nationalists. The myth of white genocide in South Africa has become a rallying point for the far right in the United States and elsewhere. “I will say: Apartheid, terrible. This is sort of the opposite of apartheid,” Trump said. Ramaphosa kept his calm, praising Trump’s decor and saying he looked forward to handing over the G20 presidency next year. Trump declined to say whether he would attend the G20 meeting in South Africa in November. Following the meeting, Ramaphosa sought to focus on trade, telling reporters that the two countries had agreed to discuss critical minerals in South Africa. He also flatly denied Trump’s allegations about a wave of racial violence against white farmers. – Reuters

o Visiting president had hoped to use meeting to reset relationship with US

represented farmers who had been killed over the years. “We have many people who feel they are being persecuted and they are coming to the United States. We take from many locations if we feel there is persecution or genocide going on,” said Trump, referring specifically to white farmers. “People are fleeing South Africa for their own safety. Their land is being confiscated and in many cases they are being killed.” South Africa, which endured centuries of discrimination against Black people during colonialism and apartheid before becoming a

printed news articles that he said proved his allegations. The video showed white crosses, which Trump asserted were the graves of white people, and Opposition leaders making incendiary speeches. Trump suggested that one of them, Julius Malema, should be arrested. The video was made in September 2020 during a protest after two people were killed on their farm a week earlier. The crosses do not mark actual graves. A protest organiser told South Africa’s public broadcaster at the time that they

BESTOWING GRACE ... Pope Leo XIV blessing a child presented to him at the end of his first weekly general audience at St Peter’s Square in The Vatican on Wednesday. – AFPPIC

Israeli embassy staffers killed in Washington shooting WASHINGTON: Two Israeli embassy staffers, a young couple about to be engaged, were killed by a lone gunman as they left an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in he said on Truth Social. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was shocked by the killings.

“After the shooting, he entered the museum and was detained by security guards. He showed where he discarded the weapon, which has been recovered, and implied that he committed the offence.” The suspect had no previous contact with police, she added. Israeli ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter told reporters that the young man killed had “purchased a ring this week with the intention of proposing to his girlfriend next week in Jerusalem”. US President Donald Trump condemned the shooting. “These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end now!” Hatred and radicalism have no place in the US,”

“My heart aches for the families of the beloved young man and woman, whose lives were cut short by a heinous antisemitic murderer. “I have instructed to strengthen security arrangements at Israeli missions around the world and security for state representatives.” Israeli President Isaac Herzog and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the incident while Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on X: “We will bring this depraved perpetrator to justice.” FBI Deputy Director Don Bongino said the suspect is being

Washington D.C. on Wednesday and a suspect is in custody, officials said. The two were shot and killed about 2km from the White House. Washington Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith said a man shot at a group of four people with a handgun, hitting both victims. He was seen pacing outside the museum prior to the shooting. The suspect, tentatively identified as Elias Rodriguez, 30, from Chicago, chanted “Free Palestine“ after being taken into custody, she said.