TURKEY
Erdogan says Germany ‘nazi’
President Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday accused Germany of “fascist actions” reminiscent of Nazi times in a growing row over the cancelation of political rallies aimed at drumming up support for him among 1.5 million Turkish citizens in Germany. German politicians reacted with shock and anger. German Minister for Justice Heiko Maas told broadcaster ARD that Erdogan’s comments were “absurd, disgraceful and outlandish” and designed to provoke a reaction from Berlin. However, he cautioned against banning Erdogan from visiting Germany or breaking off diplomatic ties, saying that such moves would push Ankara “straight into the arms of [Russian President Vladmir] Putin, which no one wants.”
TURKEY
Syrian pilot shot down
A Syrian air force pilot who bailed out as his warplane crashed on Saturday told a rescue team his MiG-23 had been shot down, Anadolu news agency reported on Sunday. The 56-year-old pilot was identified as Mehmet Sufhan, and medical staff said he was not in critical condition despite some spinal fractures. He is being treated at a hospital in the Hatay region, a hospital spokeswoman said. In an initial statement to authorities, Sufhan said his aircraft was shot down on its way to strike rural areas near Idlib in northern Syria, Anadolu reported.
CUBA
Castro slams Trump
President Raul Castro on Sunday harshly criticized US President Donald Trump’s immigration, trade and other policies, as Trump reviews a fragile detente with Havana begun by former US president Barack Obama. In his first critical remarks directed at Trump since he took office, Castro termed his trade policies “egotistical” and his plan to build a wall along the Mexican border “irrational.” Castro’s speech was broadcast on Sunday evening. “The new agenda of the US government threatens to unleash an extreme and egotistical trade policy that will impact the competitiveness of our foreign trade; violate environmental agreements ... hunt down and deport migrants,” Castro said. “You can’t contain poverty, catastrophes and migrants with walls, but with cooperation, understanding and peace.”
UNITED KINGDOM
Public thwart terror attacks
Security forces have thwarted 13 terrorist attacks in less than four years, mostly thanks to information provided by the public, the country’s most senior anti-terrorism official said yesterday. London’s Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Mark Rowley said security and intelligence agencies are dealing with more than 500 investigations at any one time. Al-Qaeda and off-shoots of both groups remained a threat, he said, but “extreme right-wing groups” have become a focus of police efforts in recent months. “The majority [of our work] is actually people in this country who are radicalized,” Rowley said.
UNITED KINGDOM
Mobility scooter pulled over
A 92-year-old man was stopped by police on Sunday for driving his mobility scooter on a busy motorway. The man was stopped on the M74 near Motherwell, southwest of Glasgow. The six-lane road is the main highway between Glasgow and England. “Police attended and the 92-year-old man was taken home by officers,” police said. Traffic on motorways typically flows at the 110kph limit and cannot be used by mobility scooters. Mobility scooters typically have a maximum speed of 12kph.
JAPAN
Helicopter crash kills nine
All nine people aboard a helicopter that crashed on Sunday during a mountain rescue drill in Nagano Prefecture were killed, police said yesterday. Six bodies were found in the morning inside the wreckage, a Nagano police spokesman said. Three others, including the pilot, were confirmed dead on Sunday after a police helicopter located the crash site on a snowy mountainside. Bad weather halted rescue operations until yesterday. The nine people were rescuers and local officials involved in a mountain rescue exercise, NHK and other media said.
KAZAKHSTAN
Presidential powers reduced
Parliament yesterday approved a package of amendments to the constitution to reduce presidential powers in favor of lawmakers and the Cabinet, a move that could help lead to an eventual political transition. President Nursultan Nazarbayev, 76, had endorsed the proposed changes, and they will become law once he has signed the amendments. The devolution of some presidential powers could make it easier for the political elite to manage a succession by splitting key roles between different players rather than allowing one successor to concentrate power in their hands. Nazarbayev previously said that the proposed reforms would allow parliament to form a Cabinet, which would have more powers to manage the economy.
YEMEN
Fifth night of airstrikes
The country was hit by a fifth consecutive night of suspected US airstrikes targeting al-Qaeda members, a security source said yesterday. The source said the early dawn raid hit the town of al-Nasl in Abyan Province, which has been the target of air strikes as well as an al-Qaeda attack on the army in recent days. There were no immediate reports of casualties. The Pentagon has confirmed at least 30 strikes against the group al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula since Thursday in coordination with President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government.
WEST BANK
Palestinian gunman shot
A Palestinian gunman yesterday fired at Israeli soldiers and military police during a raid in the occupied West Bank and the Israeli forces shot and killed the attacker in response, the army and police said in a statement. The exchange of fire took place in Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian, which Israeli forces entered during a raid to seize a suspected militant. “During an arrest mission of a suspected Palestinian gunman in Ramallah, a suspect opened fire at security forces,” the army said. “The forces fired towards the perpetrator. In the exchange, the gunman was killed.” Two firearms were found at the scene, the army added. Palestinian health ministry officials confirmed the death and named the man killed as Basel al-Araj, 31. They said his body had been retained by Israeli authorities.
INDIA
Female flight crew hailed
Air India yesterday said it set a new record with the first round-the-world flight staffed entirely by women. It said its Boeing 777 travelled from New Delhi to San Francisco and back again with an all-female crew last week, the first time such a flight has circumnavigated the globe. The airline said it had applied to Guinness World Records to validate the claim. Airline spokesman G P Rao said even the air traffic controllers at the New Delhi end of the flight, which returned on Friday, were women.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
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
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in