Norwegian and British fighter jets scrambled to intercept Russian bombers over the north Atlantic, Norway's military command said on Thursday, the latest in a series of such incidents.
Eight Russian Tupolev-95s were detected in international air space over the Barents Sea early on Thursday, said Wing Commander Jon Inge Oegland, a spokesman for Norway's general staff in Stavanger.
"Following the established routines, we sent up two F-16s [fighters] to mark out Norwegian air space. The Russian planes were close to Norwegian air space but they did not enter," he said.
PHOTO: AP/ BRITISH MINISTRY OF DEFENCE CROWN COPYRIGHT
British interceptors were also sent to the zone to shadow the Russian aircraft.
"In the early hours of this morning, four RAF Tornado F3 aircraft from RAF Leeming and Waddington were launched to intercept eight Russian Bear aircraft which had not entered UK airspace," Britain's Ministry of Defence said in a statement.
Oegland said Russia had announced an aerial military exercise in the coming days.
"These latest flights are certainly linked to that," he said.
Russia's airforce announced on Monday that 12 of its strategic bombers would be taking part in exercises in the region, but they were meant to run on Monday and Tuesday.
Russia's TU-95s are long-range strategic bombers. They can be equipped with a nuclear payload.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the resumption of long-range flights in international air space while he attended military exercises on Aug. 17.
Even in the weeks before his statement, Britain and Norway had to scramble jets to intercept Russian planes near their airspace. Russian bombers had also been making frequent flights near the US.
Last week, Russia's head of strategic aviation General Pavel Androsov said the aircraft were not carrying nuclear weapons and that the main aim of the flight was to improve training for pilots. But the flights come against a background of increasing tension between Russia and some western powers.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was