16/06/2025

MONDAY | JUNE 16, 2025

7

Israel, Iran strike at each other in new wave of attacks

Cambodia goes to ICJ to settle dispute PHNOM PENH: Cambodia officially submitted a request to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) yesterday to resolve its border dispute with Thailand. Prime Minister Hun Manet said the decision was to safeguard Cambodia’s territorial integrity and the best interest of the nation and Cambodians. “Cambodia only seeks justice, accuracy and clarity in the demarcation of its borders,” he said in a Facebook post. The dispute related to the Ta Moan Thom, Ta Moan Tauch, Ta Krabei temples and the Mom Bei (Emerald Triangle) will be referred to the ICJ. He said 63 years ago on June 15, 1962, the ICJ had ruled in favour of Cambodia in the Preah Vihear Temple case. “Although these two events happened 63 years apart, the spirit and objective remain the same,” he said. This is the third time Cambodia has sought the intervention of the ICJ, after cases in 1962 and 2013, over the territory surrounding the Preah Vihear Temple. On both occasions, the United Nations court ruled in favour of Cambodia. Cambodia had been firm in referring the border dispute to the ICJ, even if Thailand did not agree. Both countries are locked in a bitter dispute following a clash on May 28 in the northern Preah Vihear province area. The Thai Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Cambodia’s move. Talks on border demarcation over the weekend between officials from both countries were inconclusive with both sides pledging to de-escalate tensions and continue dialogue. Bangkok has previously said it has never recognised the court’s jurisdiction and prefers to settle the disputes through bilateral mechanisms. – Bernama/Reuters UNMANNED CAB SERVICE SEOUL: City authorities here said yesterday they were expanding the late-night operation of unmanned taxis to include all of Seoul’s Gangnam district. The cab service, which was launched as part of a pilot programme in September, will begin providing services near Apgujeong, Sinsa, Nonhyeon and Cheongdam subway stations from today. The initiative operates three cabs from 11pm to 5am on weekdays. Users can summon the cabs like a regular taxi through the Kakao T app, with up to three people allowed to board at a time. The city said it had logged 4,200 rides since its first operation on Sept 26. – Bernama SEVEN KILLED IN HELICOPTER CRASH DEHRADUN: Seven people, including a toddler, were killed yesterday in India when a helicopter ferrying Hindu pilgrims crashed in the Himalayas. The helicopter crash left the pilot and all six passengers dead when their chopper came down during the flight from Kedarnath temple in Uttarakhand state. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said rescue teams had been sent to the scene. Pilgrims flock to Kedarnath temple during the summer when it is possible to access the site, which is at an altitude of 3,584m. A cottage industry of helicopter charter firms has developed to serve wealthy pilgrims who want to visit shrines in the Himalayas but who prefer to avoid arduous trekking. – AFP SEOUL EXPANDS

BR I E F S

world’s biggest gas field, after an Israeli strike caused a fire there on Saturday. The South Pars field, offshore in Iran’s southern Bushehr province, is the source of most of the gas produced in Iran. Fears about potential disruption to the region’s oil exports had already driven up oil prices 9% on Friday although Israel spared Iran’s oil and gas on the first day of its attacks. Gen Esmail Kosari said on Saturday Tehran was reviewing whether to close the Strait of Hormuz, controlling access to the Gulf for tankers. With Israel saying its operation could last weeks, and Netanyahu urging Iran’s people to rise up against their clerical rulers, fears have grown of a regional conflagration dragging in outside powers. B’Tselem, a leading Israeli human rights organisation, said on Saturday that instead of exhausting all possibilities for a diplomatic resolution, Israel’s government had chosen to start a war that puts the entire region in danger. – Reuters

second, including 60 when a missile brought down a 14-storey apartment block in Tehran, where 29 of the dead were children. The Shahran oil depot in Tehran was targeted in an Israeli attack, Iran said, but added the situation was under control. A fire had erupted after an Israeli attack on an oil refinery near the capital while Israeli strikes also targeted Iran’s Defence Ministry building, causing minor damage, Tasnim news agency said. President Donald Trump had warned Iran of worse to come, but said it was not too late to halt the Israeli campaign if Tehran accepted a sharp downgrading of its nuclear programme. A round of US-Iran nuclear talks that was due to be held in Oman yesterday was cancelled, with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi saying the discussions could not take place while Iran was being subjected to Israel’s “barbarous” attacks. In the first apparent attack to hit Iran’s energy infrastructure, Tasnim said Iran partially suspended production at South Pars, the

and Jerusalem as missiles streaked across the skies as interceptor rockets were launched in response. The military lifted its shelter-in place advisory an hour after issuing the warning. The ambulance service said at least seven people were killed, including a 10-year-old boy and a woman in her 20s, and more than 140 injured. Rescue workers combed through the rubble of residential buildings, using flashlights and dogs to look for survivors. Israeli media said at least 35 people were missing after a strike hit Bat Yam, a city south of Tel Aviv. A spokesperson for the emergency services said a missile hit an eight storey building and while many people were rescued, there were fatalities. It was unclear how many buildings were hit. At least nine people in Israel have been killed and over 300 others injured since Iran launched its retaliatory attacks on Friday. Iran has said 78 people were killed there on the first day of Israel’s campaign, and scores more on the

o Nuclear talks in Oman cancelled

DUBAI: Israel and Iran launched fresh attacks on each other, stoking fears of a wider conflict after Israel expanded its campaign against its main rival with a strike on the world’s biggest gas field. Tehran called off nuclear talks that Washington had said were the only way to halt Israel’s bombing, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attacks were nothing compared with what Iran would see in the coming days. The latest wave of Iranian attacks began shortly after 11pm on Saturday (4am Sunday in Kuala Lumpur), when air raid sirens blared in Jerusalem and Haifa, sending around a million people into bomb shelters. Around 2.30am, the Israeli military warned of another incoming missile barrage and urged residents to seek shelter. Explosions echoed through Tel Aviv

Patel lights a candle at the Siddhashram Shakti Centre in London, in memory of those who lost their lives. – REUTERSPIC

Dreamliner air crash orphans sisters

LONDON: Two young British girls were left orphaned by the Air India plane crash, after their father travelled to the south Asian country to scatter his wife’s ashes. Arjun Patoliya was travelling home to his daughters, aged four and eight, after scattering the ashes of his wife Bharti, who had died just weeks earlier, when the plane crashed on Thursday. “The husband went to do the rituals in India and coming back, he was on board. He has left two little girls behind and the girls are now orphans,” said Anjana Patel, the

casket when they receive it. The majority of those injured on the ground have been discharged, said Rajnish Patel, a doctor at Ahmedabad’s civil hospital, with one or two remaining in critical care. Indian authorities have yet to detail the cause of the disaster and have ordered inspections of all Air India Dreamliners. Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said on Saturday he hoped decoding the recovered black box, or flight data recorder, would “give an in-depth insight” into what went wrong. – AFP

“We don’t have any words to describe how the families and friends must be feeling, so what we can do is pray for them.” Briton Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, was the only person to survive the crash. In Ahmedabad, grieving families held funerals for dead relatives. Health officials released the bodies, identified through DNA testing, delivering them in white caskets. One victim’s relative, who did not want to be named, said they had been instructed not to open the

mayor of London’s Harrow borough, at a vigil for those killed in the crash. At least 279 people died – including passengers, crew members and people on the ground – when a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner bound for London crashed in Ahmedabad shortly after take-off. The victims included 52 Britons, 20 of whom are thought to have previously worshipped at Harrow’s Siddhashram Shakti Centre, where the vigil was held. “I really hope that those girls will be looked after by all of us,” Patel said.