Pakistan urges no militarization of space after India downs satellite

Pakistan's foreign ministry said flaunting such powers is similar to Don Quixote tilting against windmills. (AFP/File)
Updated 27 March 2019
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Pakistan urges no militarization of space after India downs satellite

  • India successfully targeted a live satellite on a low earth orbit with an anti-satellite weapon
  • Pakistan denounces the move by calling space a ‘common heritage of mankind’

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan issued a call against military threats in outer space on Wednesday, hours after India said it had shot down one of its own satellites in a demonstration of its growing power in space.
“Space is the common heritage of mankind and every nation has the responsibility to avoid actions which can lead to the militarization of this arena,” Pakistan’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
“We hope that countries which have in the past strongly condemned demonstration of similar capabilities by others will be prepared to work toward developing international instruments to prevent military threats relating to outer space,” it said, without mentioning India by name.
“Boasting of such capabilities is reminiscent of Don Quixote’s tilting against windmills,” it said, in a reference to the delusional hero of the 17th-century Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes.


Two high-speed trains derail in Spain, broadcaster reports five people killed

Updated 7 sec ago
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Two high-speed trains derail in Spain, broadcaster reports five people killed

  • The accident happened near Adamuz, which is near Cordoba

MADRID: Two high-speed trains derailed on Sunday in southern ​Spain, the rail network operator said, and state-run television channel RTVE said five people had died, citing police sources.
The accident happened near Adamuz, which is near Cordoba. An unknown number of passengers have been injured, RTVE said, citing ‌Civil Guard ‌sources.
“The Iryo 6189 ‌Málaga — (to ⁠Madrid) ​train ‌has derailed from the track at Adamuz, crashing onto the adjacent track. The (Madrid) to Huelva train which was traveling on the adjacent track has also derailed,” Adif, which runs the rail network, said in ⁠a social media post.
Adif said the accident happened ‌about ten minutes after ‍the Iryo train left ‍Malaga heading toward Madrid at ‍6:40 p.m. (1740 GMT).
Iryo is an Italian-run private rail operator. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Adif has suspended ​all rail services between Madrid and Andalusia.
Andalusia emergency services said on social ⁠media that all rail traffic had been halted and emergency services were on their way, including at least nine ambulances and emergency support vehicles.
Salvador Jimenez, a journalist for RTVE who was on board the train from Cordoba to Madrid, shared images showing the rear carriage of the train lying on its side, with ‌evacuated passengers sitting on the side of the carriage.