A prominent Dutch journalist known for investigating the criminal underworld has been shot and seriously wounded on a street in central Amsterdam. Peter R de Vries, 64, was shot minutes after leaving a TV studio, where he had appeared on a chat show. Mr de Vries is famed for his work on exposing mobsters and drug lords, and has helped police solve a number of high-profile cases. Three men were arrested, but police say one is no longer a suspect. Hours after the attack, two men were arrested in a car on the A4 motorway at Leidschendam – a 35-year-old Polish national living in Maurik and a 21-year-old man living in Rotterdam. They will face court on Friday. An 18-year-old was arrested in Amsterdam, but will be released.(BBC)…[+]

Israel has struck a deal to provide South Korea with vaccines in return for jabs in a future shipment.

The deal involves about 700,000 of Israel’s Pfizer doses that are due to expire soon. It comes just weeks after the Palestinian authority called off a deal to receive a million doses from Israel, claiming the vaccines were too close to their expiry date. South Korea says the deal will allow it to accelerate vaccinations. The vaccine doses are set to arrive in the next few days and authorities in South Korea hope to start using them by 13 July. On Tuesday the country recorded 1,006 cases, the highest daily total in six months. The doses will be used in the capital Seoul, where cases are rising among 20 – 30-year-olds.(BBC)…[+]

Israel’s parliament has failed to pass an extension to a controversial law barring Palestinians from the occupied West Bank or Gaza who marry Israelis from being granted citizenship rights. After a debate that lasted through the night, the vote was tied 59 to 59. It was the first big defeat for Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s government since it took office last month. The legislation, which critics say is discriminatory, is now due to expire at the end of Tuesday. Thousands of Palestinians previously unable to claim citizenship rights may now be able to do so.(BBC)…[+]

The gang behind a “colossal” ransomware attack has demanded $70m (£50.5m) paid in Bitcoin in return for a “universal decryptor” that it says will unlock the files of all victims.  The REvil group claims its malware, which initially targeted US IT firm Kaseya, has hit one million “systems”. This number has not been verified and the exact total of victims is unknown. However, it does include 500 Swedish Coop supermarkets and 11 schools in New Zealand. Two Dutch IT firms have also been hit, according to local media reports.(BBC)…[+]

Bill Cosby’s on-screen wife is at the centre of controversy after tweeting her support for him when his sexual assault conviction was overturned. Phylicia Rashad, who starred in The Cosby Show, tweeted on Wednesday that “a terrible wrong has been righted”. The tweet was then removed. A follow-up post said she “fully supported sexual abuse survivors coming forward”. Cosby has defended Rashad after Howard University, where she is a dean, said her first tweet “lacked sensitivity”. The university, based in Washington DC, issued a statement that read: “Survivors of sexual assault will always be our first priority. “While Dean Rashad has acknowledged in her follow-up tweet that victims must be heard and believed, her initial tweet lacked sensitivity towards survivors of sexual assault.(BBC)…[+]

Egypt will release the container ship that blocked the Suez Canal in March, after it agreed a compensation deal with the vessel’s owners and insurers. The two sides said the Ever Given would be allowed on Wednesday to leave the Great Bitter Lake, the canal’s midway point, where it has been impounded. The deal’s terms were not revealed, but Egypt had demanded $550m (£397m). The 400m-long (1,312ft) Ever Given became wedged across the canal after running aground amid high winds. It was freed six days later following a salvage operation that involved a flotilla of tug boats and dredging vessels, and during which one person was killed.

Global trade was disrupted as hundreds of ships had to wait to pass through the 193km (120-mile) waterway, which connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea and provides the shortest sea link between Asia and Europe.(BBC)…[+]

Search efforts for possible survivors in the rubble of a partially collapsed apartment block near Miami have been suspended ahead of the controlled demolition of the rest of the building. Teams are preparing to bring down the remaining structure using explosives. The demolition of Champlain Towers South was brought forward over safety fears due to an approaching storm. Part of the 12-storey block collapsed on 24 June. Twenty-four people are known to have died and 121 are missing. No survivors have been pulled from the rubble at the site in the Miami suburb of Surfside since the first few hours after the structure’s collapse. The families of the missing were told in advance of the decision to pause the search effort, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Cava Levine said.(BBC)…[+]

Several nations have sent firefighting aircraft to help Cyprus tackle a huge wildfire described by officials as the worst in the country’s history. Greece, Italy and Israel have pledged help, and British troops stationed on the island are already involved. The blaze, fanned by strong winds, is spreading through the southern Limassol district and has forced the evacuation of several villages. On Sunday, four people were confirmed to have died in the fire. The victims are believed to be Egyptian farm workers reported missing after their car was destroyed by the blaze. Local media said their bodies were found about 400m from their burnt-out vehicle near the village of Odos.(BBC)…[+]

Rescue teams battling heavy rain pulled survivors from their ruined homes on Sunday after a landslide struck the Japanese coastal city of Atami. Authorities said an elderly couple were among 19 people rescued so far. Two people have been confirmed killed but several others remain missing after a torrent of mud swept the city, south-west of Tokyo, on Saturday. Japanese media showed footage of rescue workers searching for life in the remains of crushed buildings. The Asahi news website said Yoshie Yuhara and her husband Eiji, both 75, were among those rescued on Sunday after 26 hours. They said that when the landslide hit they heard “a roaring, like heavy machinery” and fled to the top of their three-storey home just before the lower floors were inundated.(BBC)…[+]