INDIA
Pakistan F-16 deal criticized
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken late on Monday said that he had discussed with his Pakistani counterpart what he called managing a responsible relationship with neighboring India. Blinken’s comments came after India’s defense and foreign ministers opposed a US decision to provide a support package of about US$450 million for Pakistan’s fleet of F-16 jets. “In our discussions today, we talked about the importance of managing a responsible relationship with India,” Blinken said after meeting Pakistani Minister of Foreign Affairs Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, without elaborating. Asked about the F-16 deal, US Department of State spokesman Ned Price said that the US had independent relations with India and Pakistan. “The relationship we have with India stands on its own; the relationship we have with Pakistan stands on its own,” Price told a news conference. “We also want to do everything we can to see to it that these neighbors have relations with one another that are as constructive as can be possible.” Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan have fought three wars, mainly over the Himalayan region of Kashmir.
BURKINA FASO
Attack kills about a dozen
A suspected jihadist attack in the north of the nation has killed about a dozen people, mostly troops, security sources said on Monday. Violence has raged in the landlocked west African nation after Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba seized power in a January coup, ousting the elected leader and promising to rein in jihadists, but as in neighboring nations, insurgents have stoked unrest. In the latest attack, a convoy carrying supplies to local residents and escorted by a military unit “was the target of a terrorist attack” near Gaskinde in the Sahel region, an army statement said. “The attack unfortunately caused human and material losses,” and a full toll would be established “as soon as possible,” it said. A security source said that a preliminary toll indicated “about a dozen dead among elements of the unit. There were also a number of seriously wounded.” The source added that reinforcements had been sent to the area, both to secure it and to aid the victims.
NEW ZEALAND
Flight disrupted by winds
One of the world’s longest flights is being disrupted by strong winds, forcing operator Air New Zealand to reduce passengers and luggage so it can take on more fuel. Two years of planning went into the non-stop service from New York to Auckland, which, at 17 hours and 35 minutes, is the world’s fourth-longest, but within a week of opening the route this month, the airline found its modeling had not accounted for unusually strong headwinds, Air New Zeland chief operating integrity and safety officer David Morgan said in Wellington yesterday. “We’ve actually found seasonal winds particularly in North America have been significantly higher,” Morgan told Radio New Zealand. “As a consequence the flight is taking longer and in order to be able to provide the fuel load we’ve had to reduce the payload.” To reduce weight, the airline was forced to offload the bags of as many as 65 passengers at John F. Kennedy Airport before the inaugural flight on Sept. 17 and last weekend requested that 15 booked travelers agree to alternative arrangements. A third flight was expected to have to stop for fuel in Fiji, but was able to reach Auckland safely. The government has billed the direct service as a boost for the tourism industry, which has been decimated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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
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
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