INDIA
Jets scrambled over ‘bomb’
Military jets were scrambled yesterday after a bomb alert on an Iranian airliner that turned out to be false, the Indian Air Force (IAF) said. “IAF fighter aircraft were scrambled, which followed the aircraft at a safe distance. The aircraft was offered the option to land at Jaipur & then, at Chandigarh,” the IAF said in a statement, referring to two airports in the north. The statement said the pilot was unwilling to divert to either airport, and that instructions were later received to disregard the threat. “After a while, intimation was received from Tehran to disregard the bomb scare, following which, the aircraft continued on its journey towards its final destination,” the statement said. The Airbus A340 operated by Mahan Air was headed from Tehran to Guangzhou in China.
IRAN
Classes moved after clashes
Classes were yesterday suspended and moved online at the leading technology university in Tehran after clashes erupted overnight between students and security forces. “Sharif University of Technology announced that due to recent events and the need to protect students ... all classes will be held virtually from Monday,” Mehr news agency reported, amid nationwide protests over the death of young Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in custody. About 200 students had gathered from Sunday afternoon at the university and chanted slogans against clerical authorities, Mehr said. “Woman, life, liberty,” they shouted, as well as “students prefer death to humiliation,” it said. Security forces fired tear gas and paintballs at the students, it said, adding that security forces were carrying weapons that fire non-lethal steel pellets, outside the school’s north gate. The science minister later arrived to speak with the students in a bid to calm the situation, it said.
RUSSIA
Officer fired over draft
An enlistment officer in a far eastern region has been suspended after thousands of people were mistakenly called up to fight in Ukraine, a local official said yesterday. “The military commissar of the Khabarovsk region, Yuri Laiko, has been suspended. This will have no impact on the fulfilment of the tasks that the president has set for us,” Kabarovsk Governor Mikhail Degtyaryov said in a Telegram video. He did not specify the reason for the dismissal, but mentioned a series of mistakes in the recruitment process. “Out of several thousand of our compatriots who had received a summons and arrived at military enlistment offices in the past 10 days, around half were sent back home for failing to meet the selection criteria,” Degtyaryov said. “Partial mobilization should only apply to the categories that have been approved by the ministry of defense and the president. Any abuse must be stopped,” he added.
UNITED KINGDOM
King to meet Ramaphosa
King Charles III is to welcome South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to the kingdom for three days of high-level talks next month, celebrating the first state visit of his reign with the leader of a Commonwealth member. Ramaphosa has accepted Charles’ invitation for a state visit from Nov. 22 to 24, Buckingham Palace said yesterday. He is to be accompanied by his wife, Tshepo Motsepe. Charles has visited South Africa on several occasions since 1997, including at Nelson Mandela’s funeral in 2013, when he said the world would be a “poorer place” without the man who led South Africa’s transition from apartheid to a multiethnic democracy.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of