While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, July 4
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No one was killed or injured in the early hour blasts, but all three places were damaged.
PHOTO: AJKOSKI16/TWITTER
Police hunt for suspects after blasts at Washington, DC, retail outlets
Police in Washington are offering a reward of up to US$20,000 (S$27,017.90) for information that could lead to the arrest of those involved in three explosions within a 15-minute span at retail outlets in the US capital on Sunday.
No one was killed or injured in the early hour blasts in Washington’s Northeast neighbourhood, but all three places were damaged, police said in a statement. In one of the blasts, someone threw “a Molotov cocktail style object” at a Safeway store before fleeing in a vehicle, police said.
The other two explosions took place outside an ATM and in front of a Nike store. All of the establishments were closed at the time.
Road tunnel portion of North-South Corridor delayed by two years to 2029
The road tunnel segment of a $7.47 billion integrated transport corridor will be completed only in 2029, two years later than previously announced.
Disclosing the new date in a written parliamentary reply on Monday, Transport Minister S. Iswaran said the 21.5km North-South Corridor (NSC) from Woodlands to the city will be completed in phases from 2027.
The viaduct portion of the NSC from Admiralty Road West to Lentor Avenue is targeted to open in 2027; and the remaining road tunnels from Lentor Avenue to East Coast Parkway in 2029, he added in response to Mr Saktiandi Supaat (Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC).
Sweden will not get Turkey’s nod for Nato bid unless it stops sheltering ‘terrorists’: Erdogan
Turkey will not lift its opposition to Sweden joining Nato unless it stops harbouring groups Ankara considers to be terrorists, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday.
Sweden and Finland applied for Nato membership last year, ditching long-held policies of military non-alignment after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Applications for membership must be approved by all Nato members, but Turkey and Hungary have yet to clear Sweden’s bid.
Turkey has repeatedly said that Sweden needs to take additional steps against supporters of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and members of a network Ankara holds responsible for a 2016 coup attempt. Turkey treats both groups as terrorist organisations.
Rome’s Pantheon charges for tourist entry
Rome’s 2,000-year-old Pantheon started charging for entrance Monday, with tourists paying five euros (S$7.37) to see Italy’s most visited cultural site.
The building, one of the city’s oldest and best loved, is currently a consecrated church and part of the proceeds from ticket sales will go towards the diocese of Rome, while the rest will go to the culture ministry.
Minors and Rome residents are exempt from paying.
Svitolina beats injured Williams in Wimbledon first round
Elina Svitolina recovered from a shaky start to beat injured five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams 6-4, 6-3 in the first round on Monday.
The Ukrainian, who reached the semi-finals in 2019, lost her first service game to the veteran American but broke back immediately.
Williams, 43, slipped on the Centre Court grass and fell to the ground in agony, clutching her strapped right knee as Svitolina pulled the score back to 2-1.