Japan-US-Philippines hold coast
guard drills with eye on China
KAGOSHIMA, June 20: Japan's coast guard will simulate a collision between vessels Friday during joint exercises with the United States and the Philippines seen as a show of unity against Chinese activity in disputed regional waters. It is the second time the countries' coast guards have held training drills together, following their first joint maritime exercise in the Philippines in 2023. Friday's simulation of a collision, fire and person overboard, which AFP reporters will observe, cap a week of exercises off Japan's southwest coast that began Monday. — AFP
Philippine Navy seizes $175m
meth haul at sea
MANILA, June 20: The Philippine Navy seized an illegal drug shipment worth 10 billion pesos ($175 million) on Friday in one of the country's biggest narcotics hauls on record, officials said. A pair of naval gunboats intercepted a fishing vessel carrying 1.5 tonnes of methamphetamine hydrochloride off the coast of main island Luzon just before dawn, Commodore Edward de Sagon told a press conference. — Reuters
'extraordinary' tiger recovery
KAMPHAENG PHET, June 20: In the thick, steamy forests of western Thailand, 20 skittish sambar deer dart from an enclosure into the undergrowth-unaware they may find themselves in the jaws of one of the habitat's 200 or so endangered tigers. The release is part of a project run by the government and conservation group WWF to provide tigers with prey to hunt and eat, which has helped the big cat make a remarkable recovery in Thailand. — AFP
Warplane maker HAL wins bid to make India's small satellite launch rockets
BENGALURU, June 20: State-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd has won a bid to commercially make India's small satellite launch rockets, in the government's biggest move yet to open its fast-growing space industry to private players. Fighter jet maker HAL won with a bid of 5.11 billion rupees ($59 million), space regulator the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre said on Friday. Reuters reported in February that three consortiums - Alpha Design Technologies, a unit of Adani Defence Systems and Technologies, state-backed Bharat Dynamics and HAL - were the finalists to acquire India's Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) technology. "One of the big things we have been wanting to do is to make India the global hub for small satellite launches," Pawan Goenka, chairman of IN-SPACe told reporters. — Reuters
Peru gas workers find
thousand-year-old mummy
LIMA, June 20: Peruvian gas workers this week found a thousand-year-old mummy while installing pipes in Lima, their company said, confirming the latest discovery of a pre-Hispanic tomb in the capital. The workers found the trunk of a huarango tree (a species native to coastal Peru), "which served as a tomb marker in the past," at a depth of 50 centimeters (20 inches), archaeologist Jesus Bahamonde, scientific coordinator of Calidda gas company, told reporters. — AP
NEWS IN BRIEF__2025-06-21
FE Team | Published: June 21, 2025 00:44:15
NEWS IN BRIEF__2025-06-21
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