TAIPEI: Taiwan has condemned what it said a “provocative” move by China after two Chinese fighter jets crossed a maritime border separating the two sides amid growing friction between Taipei and Beijing.
Taiwan scrambled aircraft to drive away the two Chinese planes early on Sunday, Taiwan’s defence ministry said, according to media reports.
Issuing a statement, it said that China’s move had “seriously impacted regional safety and stability”.
Beijing, however, has not responded to the statement.
A spokesman for Taiwan’s Presidential Office, Huang Chung-yen, said Beijing “should stop behavior of this sort, which endangers regional peace, and not be an international troublemaker”. (Agencies)
NEW YORK: Robert Cornegy Jr., New York City councilman having a height of 6-foot-10 (208 centimeters) has been named tallest politician in the world.
Cornegy says he went for the title two years ago after a constituent jokingly told him “you have to be the tallest politician ever.” Cornegy says being tall has its challenges, especially shopping for shoes and clothes.
The previous record holder was a Sir Louis Gluckstein, British member of Parliament, who measured 6-foot-7-1/2 inches (202 centimeters). He died in 1979 and was succeeded by another British politician who stood at 6-foot-6 inches (198 centimeters).
ANKARA: Turks voted in local elections on Sunday which President Tayyip Erdogan has described as a matter of survival for Turkey.
President Erdogan, who dominated Turkish politics for more than 16 years, has become the country’s most popular, yet also most divisive, leader in modern history.
However, observers say the President could be dealt an electoral blow with polls indicating his ruling AK Party (AKP) may lose control of the capital Ankara as well as in Istanbul. (Agencies)
NEW DELHI: Indian actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha said he decided to go with the Congress labeling it as a national party in the true sense.
Sinha, who has announced that he is quitting the BJP, said he has also “advised” Lalu Prasad to do so, Indian media said.
According to Sinha, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal, among others, had asked him to join their respective parties.
He, however, said whatever be the situation, the constituency Sinha would be contesting in the Lok Sabha polls would be Patna Sahib.
Sinha, who has been criticizing the Modi government, said it was “painful” for him to leave the BJP. (Agencies)
WASHINGTON: The U.S. government has cut aid to Central American countries including El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras for sending migrants to the US.
A surge of asylum seekers from these countries have sought to enter the US across the southern border in recent times.
Trump, on Friday, accused these nations of having “set up” migrant caravans and sent them to the Unites States.
The President also said there was a good likelihood that he would close the border this week if Mexico failed to stop immigrants from reaching the United States. (Agencies)
BEIJING: A plant explosion in China’s Jiangsu province killed seven people, state media reported. Five other have been injured.
Today’s incident took place 10 days after a blast at a pesticide plant killed 78 people in the province.
The blast involved a container of scrap metal that caught fire in a metal-molding plant in Kunshan city, news agencies said.
The cause of the blast was under investigation. (Agencies)
JODHPUR: An Indian Air Force MiG-27 fighter jet crashed in southern Rajasthan’s Sirohi on Sunday, Indian media said.
The pilot, however, ejected safely.
The MiG 27 UPG aircraft, which took off from Uttarlai Air Force base in Barmer, crashed at Sheoganj, around 120 km south of Jodhpur.
The pilot reported an engine problem. No loss of property or life on ground have been reported. It should be noted that this is the 9th Indian Air Force crash in this quarter. (Agencies)
DUBAI: Saudi Arabia said it plans to issue 118 billion riyals ($31.5 billion) in debt this year.
This has been aimed at helping finance the national budget deficit, the country’s Debt Management Office (DMO) said.
Media reports say the country has borrowed extensively over the past few years to refill state coffers exhausted by a drop in oil prices.
Reports said at the end of 2018, Saudi Arabia had around $150 billion in outstanding government debt of which 54 percent was in local currency and the rest denominated in U.S. dollars.
The country issued $7.5 billion in international bonds in January.
By the end of 2019, Saudi Arabia has planned to have around $181 billion in outstanding debt, media reports said. (Agencies)
SEOUL: North Korea has dubbed a break-in at its embassy in Spain last month as a “grave terrorist attack”, reports said.
Releasing its first official comment, Pyongyang has called for an investigation saying it was closely watching rumors that the FBI had played a role.
A group committed to ousting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the Cheollima Civil Defense, on Wednesday said, it carried out the raid.
The group said it took computers and data and gave its evidence to the FBI.
The North Korea, however, stopped short of blaming Washington directly for the raid. It has asked the Spanish authorities to conduct the investigation in a responsible manner. (Agencies)
TUNIS: Arab heads of state are likely to come together at a summit today to reject a U.S. decision to recognize Israel’s annexation of Arab lands captured in 1967, media reports said.
Arab leaders, who have been grappling with unrest in Algeria and Sudan, war in Yemen, regional splits over Iran’s influence, among others face a new challenge after US President Donald Trump signed a proclamation last week recognizing the Golan Heights as Israeli.
The US recognized Golan Heights as Isreal’s land less than four months after recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
According to Arab officials, the summit would be dominated by the Golan Heights and Palestinian demands for an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. (Agencies)