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Diver dies in Thai cave rescue effort, and Afghanistan has ended virginity testing

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Justin Trudeau says he does not think he acted ‘inappropriately’ at 2000 musical fest, and bombing resumes in Syria as ceasefire deal falls through.

Former Thai navy diver dies while trying to exit flooded cave

“A former Thai navy diver who joined the operation to rescue 12 boys and their coach from a cave in northern Thailand has died,” reports CNN.

He died at 2 am Friday due to lack of air while trying to return to a command centre located two kilometres inside the cave, where the boys have been trapped for almost two weeks.

His death is a big blow to the perilous rescue operation. The navy and several international experts are trying to find a way to get the boys out before the caves flood further, and have begun pumping the water out of the caves as well as trying to teach the boys how to dive.

Afghan women will stop being put through the ‘virginity test’

Afghanistan has introduced a policy to stop clinics and hospitals from performing virginity examinations, reports The Guardian.

Women in Afghanistan who failed a ‘virginity test’ performed by a health professional used to face imprisonment. These invasive examinations to check whether the hymen is intact served as a test of whether a woman or girl had committed a “moral crime” like pre-marital sex. According to a 2016 Human Rights Watch report, almost half of all women imprisoned in Afghanistan are there for so-called “moral crimes”.

“After a long and bitter fight, Marie Stopes Afghanistan, along with a coalition of civil society and religious leaders, believes a major breakthrough has been secured in the form of an official public health policy that will stop the practice from being performed in every clinic and hospital in Afghanistan,” the report states.

The practice was officially banned in 2016, but still continued. In Afghanistan’s patriarchal society, women face severe social judgement and ostracism if they are suspected of sexual activity, even if they aren’t imprisoned for it, and are often punished by husbands or fathers.

Trudeau says he didn’t act inappropriately at music festival 18 years ago
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he “does not believe he acted inappropriately at a music festival 18 years ago, but that he understands the woman he’s alleged to have groped might have seen things differently”, reports The Globe and Mail
Last weekend, Trudeau acknowledged the scandal for the first time after it resurfaced, saying that while he remembered the festival he did not remember anything “negative” happening that day. The allegations were first made in an unsigned editorial in 2000, and came to social media attention last month.
“I’m responsible for my side of the interaction, which certainly, as I said, I don’t feel was in any way untoward,” Trudeau said to the press Thursday.
Bombing resumes in Syria
“The Syrian government and its closest military ally, Russia, have intensified their bombing campaign in the southern province of Deraa after a ceasefire deal between rebels and Russians broke down Wednesday,” reports Al Jazeera.
Air raids began Thursday as government troops tried to reclaim territory by targeting several rebel-held towns.
Ceasefire negotiations broke down after Russia allegedly refused to let  “Syrian regime forces and Iran-backed fighters withdraw from captured areas in order to let displaced people evacuate to rebel-held territory in other parts of Syria”.
There were also disagreements over the issue of rebels surrendering heavy weapons, as Russia wanted them to give up their weapons in one go while the rebels wanted to do it over several phases.
The trade war is now becoming a reality

The trade war between the United States and China will “officially begin” Friday morning, reports The New York Times, with the US imposing tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese products. The tariffs will affect global supply chains too.

“The penalties, which will go into effect Friday, are expected to prompt immediate retaliation by Beijing, which has said it will tax an equal amount of American exports, including pork, soybeans and automobiles.”

Outgoing Australian defence chief says China has breached neighbours’ trust

In his last interview as the Australian defence chief, Mark Binskin said “China’s broken promise” not to militarise the South China Sea had ruined the trust of its neighbours, reports The Sydney Morning Herald

He urged China not to “destabilise the region”, and said that its movements in the South China Sea had undermined its aspirations to become a regional leader.

“Asked about China’s trajectory since he took over in 2014, Air Chief Marshal Binskin agreed ‘it has changed’ and cited the ‘very, very concerning’ militarisation of features as well as ‘the influence of some nations starting to come down into the south west Pacific’,” the report states.

Two more people in Britain have been affected by Russian nerve agent

After the poisoning of a former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in March, a British couple have also been affected by the same nerve agent.

PM Theresa May has said it is “deeply disturbing” to see more people exposed to Novichok in the UK, and police will leave “no stone unturned in their investigation”.

It is unclear why Dawn Sturgess and her partner Charlie Rowley would be harmed, but The Economist suggests they somehow came in contact with residue from the attempt on the Skripals. “Police have not yet confirmed whether the Novichok was from the same batch as that used in March. But it would not be the first time Russians have been accused of carelessness with lethal substances,” the report adds.

The BBC reports that the British home secretary, Sajid Javid, has accused “Russia of using Britain as a ‘dumping ground for poison’ after the second incident…”

A Russian embassy spokesperson said Russia’s involvement is “merely speculative”, and that the British government is subjecting them “to hell”.

Neymar promised Russian land if he can score a hat-trick in the World Cup

The mayor of Kazan, Ilsur Metshin, in Russia has promised a piece of land to Brazil’s Neymar Jr. if he can score a hat-trick in the match against Belgium during the ongoing FIFA World Cup.

“Could you imagine what a buzz it would be to live next door to Neymar?” he said, reports The Russian Times

Neymar, the Brazilian striker, is an immensely popular footballer who has recently been criticised for his “apparent play-acting throughout the World Cup, which was seen him roll around on the pitch on numerous occasions”. Neymar has spent 14 minutes of the World Cup so far lying on the ground.

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