08/07/2025

TUESDAY | JULY 8, 2025

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Suriname elects its first woman president PARAMARIBO: Lawmakers here elected Jennifer Geerlings-Simons (pic) as Suriname’s first woman president on Sunday, after her party won the most seats in legislative elections in May. The 71-year-old former opposition on South America’s northern coast. Her National Democratic Party (NDP) won 18 of the 51 seats in the National Assembly, more than those of the centrist VHP party of outgoing president Chan Santokhi. The NDP had already entered into an agreement with five other parties with which it jointly holds 34 seats in parliament – obtaining the two-thirds majority needed to claim the presidency. The NDP was founded by former coup leader and autocrat-turned-elected president Desi Bouterse, who died in hiding in December 2024. Santokhi’s party had hoped to form a coalition to remain in power, but said in a statement that it had decided not to oppose Geerlings-Simons’ election. PUTIN SACKS TRANSPORT MINISTER MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin fired his transport minister yesterday, in an unexpected move that comes at a time of significant challenges for the transport sector as the war in Ukraine drags on for a fourth year. Russia’s aviation sector is short of spare parts and Russian Railways, the country’s largest employer, is grappling with soaring interest costs as high rates, needed to curb higher inflation exacerbated by the war, take their toll. Putin’s decree gave no reason for the dismissal of Roman Starovoit. Andrei Nikitin, a former governor of Novgorod, has been appointed acting transport minister. – Reuters METHANE KNOCKS OUT SOLDIERS IN IRAQ CAVE ISTANBUL: Turkiye said yesterday that three more of its soldiers had died after being exposed to methane gas during a search operation in caves in northern Iraq, bringing the total toll to eight. The incident comes at a sensitive time with Turkiye in talks to end the conflict with the Kurds after the PKK group agreed to end its decades-long armed struggle. The deaths occurred as the Turkish troops were searching for the remains of a soldier who was shot dead by Kurdish fighters in May 2022. – AFP Geerlings-Simons said she “accepted the position”, in a speech to lawmakers, ahead of an inauguration due on July 16. “I am acutely aware of the responsibility that now rests on our shoulders. This responsibility is made greater by the fact that I am, in fact, the first woman to hold this office,” she said. “I will use all my knowledge, strength and insight to make our wealth available to all our fellow citizens, with special attention to our young people and those who have so far not had the opportunities to develop.” – AFP leader was left the sole candidate for president after her rivals decided on Thursday not to nominate anyone to lead the small country

An Israeli tank manoeuvring in Gaza on Sunday. – REUTERSPIC

Hamas, Israel resume talks

instructions” to reach an agreement “under the conditions that we have agreed to”. He previously said the Hamas response to a draft US-backed ceasefire proposal, conveyed through Qatari and Egyptian mediators, contained “unacceptable” demands. Two Palestinian sources close to the discussions had earlier said the proposal included a 60-day truce, during which Hamas would release 10 living hostages and several bodies in exchange for Palestinians detained by Israel. However, they said, the group was also demanding certain conditions for Israel’s withdrawal, guarantees against a resumption of fighting during negotiations, and the return of the UN-led aid distribution system. Of the 251 hostages taken by been intercepted or fallen short. Israel has carried out retaliatory strikes. Israel said its attacks yesterday also targeted a ship, the Galaxy Leader , which was seized by the Houthis in late 2023 and held in Ras Isa port. “The Houthis installed a radar system on the ship and are using it to track vessels,” the military said. The Houthi military spokesperson said the group’s air defences had responded to the Israeli attack with “a large number of

gunmen during the 2023 attack, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 who are dead. Since the October 2023 attack sparked the massive Israeli offensive in Gaza, mediators have brokered two temporary halts in the fighting. They have seen hostages freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody. Recent efforts to broker a new truce have repeatedly failed, with the primary point of contention being Israel’s rejection of the demand for a lasting ceasefire. In Gaza, the territory’s civil defence agency reported 12 people killed in gunfire or strikes yesterday. “We are losing young people, families and children every day, and this must stop now,” said Gaza resident Osama al-Hanawi. “Enough blood has been shed.” – AFP domestically produced surface-to air missiles”. Israel’s military told residents to evacuate the three ports before it launched its attacks. Residents of Hodeidah said the strikes on the power station had knocked out electricity. There was no immediate information on casualties. The Israeli assault comes hours after a ship was attacked off of Hodeidah and the ship’s crew abandoned it as it took on water. No one claimed responsibility for the attack. – Reuters

o Netanyahu set to meet Trump

DOHA: Hamas and Israel resumed talks in Qatar yesterday, a Palestinian official said, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu travelled to Washington to meet President Donald Trump, who has pushed for a “deal this week”. The latest round of negotiations on the war in Gaza began on Sunday in Doha, aiming to broker a ceasefire and reach an agreement on the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. “Indirect negotiations are scheduled to take place before noon today in Doha between the Hamas and Israeli delegations to continue discussions” on the proposal, said a Palestinian official familiar with the negotiations. ADEN: Israel struck three Yemeni ports and a power plant, the military said early yesterday, in its first attack on Yemen in nearly a month. The strikes hit the ports of Hodeidah, Ras Isa and Salif, as well as the Ras Qantib power plant on the coast, in response to repeated Houthi attacks on Israel, the military said. Hours later, Israel said two missiles were launched from Yemen. Attempts were made to intercept them. The Houthi forces said they had fired missiles and drones at

Ahead of Netanyahu’s third visit since Trump’s return to office this year, the US president said there was a “good chance” of reaching an agreement. “We’ve gotten a lot of the hostages out, but pertaining to the remaining hostages, quite a few of them will be coming out,” he told journalists. Netanyahu, speaking before heading to Washington, said his meeting with Trump could “definitely help advance this” deal. The US president is pushing for a truce in the Gaza Strip, plunged into a humanitarian crisis after nearly two years of war. targets in Israel in retaliation for the strikes on Yemen. The Israeli ambulance service said it had not received any calls regarding missile impacts or casualties following the launches from Yemen. Since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, the Houthis have fired at Israel and at shipping in the Red Sea, disrupting global trade, in what the group says are acts of solidarity with the Palestinians. Most of the dozens of missiles and drones fired toward Israel have

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Netanyahu said he dispatched the team to Doha with “clear Three Yemeni ports, power plant hit