China launches rocket carrying new satellites

A modified Long March-6 carrier rocket carrying a new satellite group blasts off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China’s Shanxi Province on Tuesday. (AFP)
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Updated 07 August 2024
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China launches rocket carrying new satellites

TAIPEI: China says it launched a rocket Tuesday carrying a constellation of a reported 18 satellites as part of efforts to assert its presence in space.

The satellites were carried aboard a Long March-6 carrier rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China’s Shanxi Province early on Tuesday afternoon.

The official Xinhua News Agency said the rocket had reached its pre-programmed orbit without incident.

China’s space program has launched numerous crewed missions, put a space station into orbit with a revolving crew of three astronauts aboard and sent a rover to the Moon that has brought back rocks and soil.

It has also launched the Beidou System of satellites for national security, communications and scientific purposes, seen as an alternative — or possible competitor — to the GPS system widely used for navigation that is mainly helmed by China’s strategic rival, the United States.


Escapee from Portuguese prison caught in Morocco, four still at large

On Sept. 7, the five convicts escaped from a high-security prison near Lisbon. (AFP file photo)
Updated 8 sec ago
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Escapee from Portuguese prison caught in Morocco, four still at large

  • On Sept. 7, the five convicts escaped from Vale de Judeus prison during visiting hours, when the guards were busy, with the help of a long ladder provided by an accomplice on the outside

LISBON: One of five inmates who staged a spectacular escape from a high-security prison near Lisbon a month ago has been recaptured in Morocco, Portuguese police said on Monday, while the other four, including foreign nationals, remain at large.
Moroccan authorities arrested Fabio Loureiro, 33, late on Sunday in Tangier.
He will appear before a judge in Morocco before his extradition to Portugal to serve the rest of a 25-year prison sentence for armed robbery, drug trafficking, extortion and other crimes, police said.
On Sept. 7, the five convicts escaped from Vale de Judeus prison during visiting hours, when the guards were busy, with the help of a long ladder provided by an accomplice on the outside.
The prison guards’ union has long been flagging what it sees as inadequate staffing and security at the prison with a capacity for 560 inmates, especially since the watchtowers were torn down and replaced with video surveillance.

 


India offers financial support to Maldives after talks to repair ties

Updated 31 min 7 sec ago
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India offers financial support to Maldives after talks to repair ties

NEW DELHI: India stepped up its development assistance to the Maldives after the two leaders held talks in New Delhi on Monday in a bid to repair strained ties that saw the president of the Indian Ocean archipelago forging closer relations with China.

After the talks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India will offer financial support to the cash-strapped Maldives in form of a $100-million treasury bills rollover. The countries also signed a $400-million currency swap agreement.

The two leaders virtually inaugurated a new international airport in the Maldives, and Modi announced that work will be accelerated on the India-assisted Greater Male Connectivity Project, which aims to link key islands of the Maldives through modern transport networks.

“India is Maldives’ nearest neighbor and a close friend,” Modi said during a joint news conference. He said the Maldives held an important position in India’s “neighborhood first policy.”

Tensions between India and the Maldives have grown since President Mohamed Muizzu, who favors closer ties with China, was elected last year after defeating India-friendly incumbent Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. Leading up to the election, Muizzu had promised to expel Indian soldiers deployed in the Maldives to help with humanitarian assistance.


Indian man charged with rape and murder of doctor that sparked widespread protests

Updated 07 October 2024
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Indian man charged with rape and murder of doctor that sparked widespread protests

  • The suspect, named as Sanjoy Roy, was arrested the day after the murder on August 9 and held in custody since
  • Roy, who had been working as a volunteer supporting patients, would potentially face death penalty if convicted

Kolkata: Indian police on Monday charged a man with the rape and murder of a 31-year-old doctor, a crime which appalled the country and triggered wide-scale protests.
The discovery of the doctor’s bloodied body at a government hospital in the eastern city of Kolkata on August 9 sparked nationwide anger at the chronic issue of violence against women.
The suspect, named as Sanjoy Roy, arrested the day after the murder and held in custody since, was formally charged on Monday with a confidential document of evidence submitted to the court.
“Sanjoy Roy has been charged with the rape and murder of the on-duty trainee post-graduate doctor inside the hospital,” a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) official told AFP.
Roy, widely reported by Indian media to be aged 33, and who had been working as a volunteer in the hospital supporting patients, would potentially face the death penalty if convicted.
Doctors in Kolkata went on strike for weeks in response to the brutal attack.
Tens of thousands of ordinary Indians joined in the protests, which focused anger on the lack of measures for women doctors to work without fear.
While most medics have returned to work, a small group began a hunger strike this month.
The doctors say the West Bengal state government had failed to deliver on its promises to upgrade lighting, security cameras and other measures to protect them.
India’s Supreme Court last month ordered a national task force to examine how to bolster security for health care workers, saying the brutality of the killing had “shocked the conscience of the nation.”
The gruesome nature of the attack drew comparisons with the 2012 gang rape and murder of a young woman on a Delhi bus, which also sparked weeks of nationwide protests.
 


UK’s Starmer urges Middle East ‘restraint’ on Oct 7 anniversary

Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer makes a statement on the anniversary of the Hamas terror attacks in Israel.
Updated 07 October 2024
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UK’s Starmer urges Middle East ‘restraint’ on Oct 7 anniversary

  • “All sides must now step back from the brink and find the courage of restraint. There is no military solution to these challenges,” Starmer said

LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday urged “all sides” in the Middle East conflict to “find the courage of restraint,” on the first anniversary of Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel.
Addressing lawmakers in parliament, the UK leader said the region “cannot endure another year of this” and that “civilians on all sides have suffered too much.”
“All sides must now step back from the brink and find the courage of restraint. There is no military solution to these challenges,” Starmer told MPs in a somber House of Commons.
His comments followed a statement earlier Monday in which he paid tribute to the victims of those killed a year ago, saying: “We stand together to remember the lives so cruelly taken.”
Starmer, who took power in early July, added that Britain “must unequivocally stand with the Jewish community and unite as a country,” following a surge in reports of anti-Semitism across the UK.
“On this day of pain and sorrow, we honor those we lost, and continue in our determination to return those still held hostage, help those who are suffering, and secure a better future for the Middle East,” he said.
In his brief speech in parliament, Starmer said 15 British citizens were killed on October 7 in the attacks, and that another died while being held in captivity.
The Hamas onslaught left 1,205 dead on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on the latest official Israeli figures.
Some 251 people were captured and taken as hostages to the Gaza Strip. Of those 97 are still held captive including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
Starmer also noted that more than 41,000 Palestinians had also been killed in Israel’s military response, reiterating his calls for immediate ceasefires in Lebanon and Gaza, and more aid to be allowed into the latter.
Again urging British citizens in Lebanon to leave, the UK leader noted 430 people had already left the country on government chartered flights over the last week.


Putin to meet Iran president in Turkmenistan Friday

Updated 07 October 2024
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Putin to meet Iran president in Turkmenistan Friday

  • Leaders will meet in Ashgabat while attending an event celebrating a Turkmen poet
  • Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin visited Iran last week for talks with Masoud Pezeshkian

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin is to meet Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian for talks Friday at a forum in the Central Asian country of Turkmenistan, a senior aide said Monday.
Yury Ushakov, Putin’s aide on foreign policy, told journalists the leaders will meet in Ashgabat while attending an event celebrating a Turkmen poet.
“This meeting has great significance both for discussing bilateral issues as well as, of course, discussing the sharply escalated situation in the Middle East,” Ushakov said.
Leaders of Central Asian countries are meeting to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the birth of 18th-century poet Magtymguly Pyragy.
Putin’s attendance had not been previously announced.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin visited Iran last week for talks with Pezeshkian and First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref.
The talks come as Israel intensively bombs Lebanon, targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah and Russia has evacuated some citizens.
Russia has close relations with Iran, and Western governments have accused Tehran of supplying Moscow with drones and missiles, which it has repeatedly denied.
Pezeshkian will also hold talks with Putin during a visit to Russia this month to participate in a BRICS summit of emerging economies.