Sun, Nov 29, 2015 page7

• World News Quick Take

  • Agencies
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  MEXICO

  Hurricane Sandra weakens

  Hurricane Sandra weakened to a tropical storm on Friday and was expected to continue losing strength as it approached Mexico’s Pacific coast, the US National Hurricane Center said. The storm — about 346km southwest of the Pacific port of Mazatlan on Friday evening — was producing maximum sustained winds of 70kph, the center said. “Sandra is expected to be near tropical storm strength when it moves near the coast of Mexico in the warning area on Saturday. After the center moves inland, Sandra should quickly dissipate,” the Miami-based center said. Sandra had been the strongest hurricane recorded in the eastern Pacific Ocean this late in the year. The nation called off a tropical storm watch for the southernmost portion of Baja California. However, it issued a tropical storm warning for part of the mainland and for Las Islas Marias, an archipelago off the Pacific coast. Last month, Hurricane Patricia, which at one point registered as one of the strongest hurricanes ever recorded, landed on the nation’s Pacific coast, but did not inflict major damage.

  AUSTRALIA

  Police powers to rise: report

  Police are to be granted powers to tackle gun crime, including the ability to search suspects without a court warrant, the Australian newspaper reported yesterday, without saying where it got the information. States and territories are considering drafting laws comparable with those introduced by New South Wales state that allow police officers to search anyone subject to an existing firearms prohibition order without a court order, the newspaper said. More than 1,000 people, houses and cars have been searched for guns or gun parts since the New South Wales state law came into effect in November 2013 as police try to crack down on organized crime and prevent terror attacks.

  FRANCE

  Solvents, fuels banned

  The government has banned the sale of some domestic fuels and solvents as well as fireworks in the Paris region as part of security measures surrounding a UN climate meeting that gets under way tomorrow, France Info reported. Stores in the capital and surrounding suburbs have been asked to pull products such as burning alcohol, acetone and fire starters as well as firecrackers, the radio station reported, without saying where it got the information. The measure is to be in effect from Saturday through Dec. 13.

  AUSTRALIA

  Voters pan policies: poll

  Voters have marked down the federal government’s performance on key policy issues since prime minister Malcolm Turnbull ousted former prime minister Tony Abbott, the Australian Financial Review reported. The government’s performance rating fell across all 11 policies, including the cost of living and border security, the newspaper reported yesterday, citing a survey by JWS Research. The survey of 1,100 voters was conducted from Nov. 5 to Nov. 10 and the previous poll was taken in June, the report said. It asked respondents about issues ranging from healthcare to the economy, education and immigration. While Turnbull has turned around the government’s standing with voters, he has yet to improve scores on key issues, the newspaper said. Turnbull deposed Abbott in September after the government trailed in opinion polls for more than 12 months. His coalition led the Labor opposition by 53 percent to 47 percent on a two-party preferred basis, according to a survey published in the Australian newspaper on Tuesday.

  CHINA

  Pollution smothers Beijing

  Air pollution in Beijing has reached hazardous levels as smog engulfed large parts of the country despite efforts to clean up the foul air. The US embassy in Beijing reported the level of PM2.5 — airborne particles measuring 2.5 micrometers or less that are capable of penetrating the deepest part of lungs — at 391 micrograms per cubic meter at noon yesterday. The WHO considers the safe level at 25 micrograms per cubic meter of the particulates. The Ministry of Environmental Protection has forecast severe pollution for the greater Beijing region, as well as the western part of Shandong Province and the northern part of Henan Province until Tuesday, when strong winds from the north are expected to blow away air pollutants. The ministry has advised the public to stay indoors.

  PHILIPPINES

  Military receives fighter jets

  The government has taken delivery of its first two South Korean-made fighter jets, the country’s first supersonic combat aircraft in a decade, as it strengthens its military amid a territorial conflict with China. The Philippine Air Force said the Korea Aerospace Industries FA-50 jets yesterday touched down at Clark Freeport Zone, a former US Air Force base north of Manila, to applause from security officials led by Secretary of National Defense Voltaire Gazmin. It bought a total of 12 aircraft. “We’re glad we’re finally back to supersonic age,” Gazmin said. The military, one of Asia’s least equipped, has been building up its air force and navy at a time of an escalating territorial feud with Beijing in the South China Sea. Its last fleet of a supersonic combat aircraft, the Northrop F-5, was decommissioned in 2005.
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