05/07/2026

theSun on Sunday JULY 5, 2026

WORLD 7

Iranian mourners flock to week-long funeral rites

Singapore reports data breach SINGAPORE: The personal data of about 70,000 people in Singapore was exposed in a cybersecurity incident involving an IBM-managed cloud environment. The Singapore Land Authority (SLA) said preliminary investigations found “unauthorised access to a data set created for the sole purpose of vendor development and testing” in a cloud environment managed by IBM for the Singapore Titles Automated Registration System (STARS) and eLodgment System. The authority said the dataset, created in 1998 and updated periodically, was intended to contain only mock and anonymised records but instead included the names, National Registration Identity Card numbers and addresses of about 70,000 individuals. “This information should have been anonymised but was not. Investigations are ongoing to determine how this occurred,” it said. The authority said the affected testing environment is separate from its operational systems. “There is no connection or compromise to the live systems used for operations.” It said property ownership and lodgment records remain secure and unaffected, adding that affected individuals have been notified, while investigations are being conducted with IBM, Cyber Security Agency and Government Technology Agency. It said a police report has been filed and the Personal Data Protection Commission notified. – Bernama BEIJING: China said yesterday it had launched a coast guard patrol east of Taiwan to replace a naval task force whose presence off the island’s coast had angered Taipei and caused alarm in some Western capitals. The fleet will conduct “law enforcement patrols” in the area, China’s Coast Guard said, adding it would strengthen patrols in jurisdictional waters. Taiwan’s Coast Guard said it had deployed vessels and would use “all necessary measures to forcefully expel vessels harassing our waters”. This is the second time in a month that China has sent Coast Guard ships into the waters off Taiwan’s east coast. It risks escalating a diplomatic dispute that has drawn in the US, France, Germany and Britain. China patrols east of Taiwan

DUBAI: Mourners thronged a vast prayer complex in Tehran yesterday as the week long funeral ceremonies of slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei began with the national anthem, religious eulogies and readings of the Quran . Iran is staging mass funeral processions for Ali, whose 37-year reign was brought to an end in February by the first airstrike of ߑ the war launched Ayatollah Ali to be laid to rest in Mashhad

everything. Every minute we save is a life protected,” he said. Social Development and Human Security Minister Nikorn Soemklang said Thailand was ready to work with trusted partners, adding that shared commitment could be translated into concrete action through stronger legal frameworks, closer cooperation, effective law enforcement and meaningful protection for victims. – Bernama The casket was unveiled on Thursday to a throng of sobbing supporters, who were swaying and beating their heads in time to a sung lament, as flowers were thrown from the bier into the crowd. On Friday the casket was laid in state in the great prayer hall built to honour his predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Authorities ߑ plan to mobilise millions of people for big processions over the coming days, offering transport, food and lodging to buoy the numbers. The new supreme leader, Ali’s son Mojtaba Khamenei, has not been seen in any new image since being wounded in the strike that killed his father. Some mourners carried portraits of the new supreme leader . Also seen among the crowds was the yellow flag of Hezbollah, which has been battling Israeli forces in southern Lebanon since the regional war broke out. “We came because we promised the supreme leader we would stay with him until the end,” Reza, a 37-year-old university professor, told AFP. “All these people are here for him. “We shouted for a long time that we would sacrifice our lives for the leader, but he was the one who sacrificed himself for us.” The funeral ceremonies followed memorial events for Ali on Friday at the same venue, which were attended by delegations from several countries. – Reuters/AFP

photographs of the leader. “Death to America” chants echoed through Tehran’s Mosalla on the day of the farewell to “Mr Martyr”, state broadcaster Seda va Sima said. Water misted from rooftops to cool mourners in the summer heat. Ali’s casket will remain in the Mosalla until evening today. His body was expected to be taken to Qom, Najaf and Kerbala, the great Shi’ite centres of Iran and Iraq, before being laid to rest on Thursday ߑ in Mashhad, home to the country’s holiest pilgrim shrine.

by the US and Israel, in a show of public devotion to the Islamic Republic’s theocratic state and revolutionary zeal. Television footage showed his casket draped with the Iranian flag and topped with his black turban. It was placed along with four other caskets of his slain family members on a large black platform that resembled the Kaaba , the cube-shaped structure ߑ at the centre of Islam’s holiest site in Mecca. The vast courtyard of the complex, the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla, was filled with mourners, many waving Iranian flags and carrying

Mourners gather at the Grand Mosalla to pay their final respects to Ali. – AFPPIC

Thai ‘Shield’ to combat cyber scams BANGKOK: The International Operational Dialogue on

Trafficking Information Exchange and Linked Database”, or Shield, is the focal point of the collaboration, integrating cross border communications, banking transaction records and mobility data to map and dismantle complex global fraud syndicates. Tatchai emphasised that the strength of partnership lies in real-time, actionable intelligence sharing and timely operations. “In this fight, timely action is

Centre, said delays in information sharing between authorities often slow investigations, arrests and the rescue of victims. “To address these challenges, the Thai government has developed a centralised web app that enables participants to exchange data securely and efficiently,” he told delegates from partner nations and international organisations. He said the “Scam and Human

Countering Cyber Scams and Forced Criminality concluded here on Friday with the rollout of an information-sharing platform designed by Thailand to dismantle cyber scam and human trafficking networks. Tatchai Pitaneelaboot, deputy commissioner-general of the Royal Thai Police and director of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons

China said the first operation in June was in response to an announcement by Japan and the Philippines that they would begin formal talks on maritime boundaries. – Reuters Opening of Gundam official store in London draws fans

wars in space and on Earth. The Japanese series began to take off in Britain as more English-language episodes became available in 2020. – Bernama

title was aired in 1979, spawning a successful franchise that included sequels, movies, comics, video games and plastic toys. The story revolves around Gundam giant robots fighting

here that I didn’t expect to see,” said a 22-year-old man who had waited with his sister for about five hours. The Gundam anime series became a huge hit after its first

About 200 products were on display and customers holding boxes of “Gunpla”, as Gundam plastic model kits are known, formed queues to buy them. “There are so many kits I found

TOKYO: An official store selling plastic model kits from the robot anime “Mobile Suit Gundam” series opened on Friday in London, becoming the second outlet in Europe after Germany.