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TAIPEI: Taiwan’s defense minister resigned on Saturday as the
government backed down on a controversial plan to invest in a new
company set up to handle its arms imports. Lee Tien-yu quit after
opposition lawmakers accused members of the ruling Democratic
Progressive Party of seeking to profit from the company, Taiwan
Goal, which is headed by DPP heavyweight Wu Nai-jen. “I deeply
regret that the establishment of Taiwan Goal caused concerns and
doubts in various sectors and I hereby tender my resignation,” he
said in a brief statement. The government also said it would cancel
plans to put up 45 percent of Taiwan Goal’s initial capital of
NT$200 million (US$6.33 million).
-- AFP
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin on
Friday described the declaration of independence by Kosovo as a
“terrible precedent” that will come back to hit the West “in
the face.” The comments came as Moscow ratcheted up its
condemnation of Western powers’ support for the province’s
secession from Serbia, with a Russian envoy warning the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union against “brute
force” in Kosovo. Russia has vehemently opposed Kosovo’s
independence declaration, reflecting Moscow’s historical ties with
Orthodox Christian Serbia, which continues to claim Kosovo as a
Serbian province.
-- AFP
WASHINGTON: A United States B-2 stealth
bomber crashed Saturday at an Air Force base in Guam just after
taking off, but both its pilots ejected to safety, the US Air Force
said. The B-2 bomber crashed at Andersen Air Force Base and both
pilots, who have been evaluated by medical authorities, are in good
condition, the Air Force added in a statement. An Air Force
spokesman said it was the first crash of a B-2 bomber, but did not
give any details about the bomber’s mission in Guam.The B-2
bomber, which costs about $1.2 billion, is among the most advanced
warplanes of the US Air Force, each capable of carrying up to 20
2,000-pound (900kg) satellite-guided bombs and having a range of
6,000 nautical miles (11,112km) without refueling.
-- Xinhua
JAKARTA: A 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck off
Indonesia’s Sumatra Island on Saturday, but there was no threat of
a tsunami and no immediate word of damage, a meteorologist said. The
earthquake, which hit at 14:17 a.m. (0717 GMT), occurred at sea
about 137 kilometers (82 miles) northwest of the city of Bengkulu,
according to a statement from Indonesia’s Meteorological and
Geophysics Agency. Bengkulu province was badly damaged in an
8.4-magnitude quake in September that struck off Sumatra’s west
coast, killing 23 people. It was followed by a series of major
aftershocks.
-- AFP
HAVANA: Retired Cuban leader Fidel Castro on
Friday lashed out at US presidential hopefuls’ calls for change in
his country, saying the only change needed is in the United States.
In his first column article since he announced retirement as
Cuba’s top leader, Castro said all the US presidential candidates
cried for change in Cuba in recent debates, but the fact is that
“Cuba changed a long time ago and will continue its dialectic road
without returning to the past.” All these candidates in the US
were forced to proclaim their immediate demands to Cuba “to avoid
risking vote losses,” he added. Castro said US leaders want Cuba
to become part of their “voracious and expansionist empire,” and
that is what they mean by change.
-- Xinhua
TEHRAN: Iran sees no legal basis for a new
United Nations resolution against Tehran over its nuclear activities
as the world body is set to discuss new sanctions, a top security
official said on Saturday. “If the Security Council wants to issue
a resolution it will be legally and technically baseless,” Javad
Vaidi, deputy head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council,
told the ISNA news agency. The UN nuclear watchdog reported on
Friday that it had made “quite good progress” in its
long-running probe of Iran’s disputed nuclear drive, but it
complained Tehran was continuing to defy UN demands to halt uranium
enrichment.
-- AFP
NEW YORK: The worst snowstorm in two years hit
New York on Friday, dumping more than 6 inches (15.24 cm) of snow in
the largest US city, snarling land traffic and causing hundreds of
flight cancellations and delays at area airports. Schoolchildren,
who were on their week-long winter break that ends Friday, had added
joy when the city offered free sleds and hot chocolate in five
parks, one each in five boroughs. Park Rangers would also teach
revelers how to find animal prints in the snow. Friday’s snowfall
broke the daily record of 5.7 inches (14.48cm) set in 1948, local
television station TV1 reported.
-- Xinhua
CARACAS: All the 46 people aboard the Santa
Barbara Airlines airplane died after the plane crashed on Thursday
in Venezuela’s Andean region, Venezuela’s National Civil
Protection Department reported on Friday. The aircraft crashed
against a 12,000-foot high mountain at Los Conejos moorland, some 10
kilometers from Carnevalli airport in Merida state, west of
Venezuela. Department Director Antonio Rivero said 43 passengers and
three crew died in the crash. “The procedures to recover the
bodies and the airplane remains are now being complied to determine
what caused the accident,” said Rivero.
-- Xinhua
OTTAWA: There were no injuries when a Boeing 737
plane made an emergency landing Friday at Ottawa International
Airport shortly after takeoff. The plane, carrying 31 passengers and
five crew members, took off from Ottawa for the northern city of
Iqaluit around 9 a.m. local time (1400 GMT), said a spokesman for
First Air, the airline which the plane belongs to.The crew
discovered some problems with the flap shortly after takeoff. After
contacting the traffic controllers, a decision was made to make a
precautionary landing. The aircraft could not dump fuel and
meet maximum landing weight restrictions, so it had to circle the
airport for about an hour to burn off the fuel. It landed without
incident. First Air services 25 of Canada’s northern communities
with connections to Ottawa, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Montreal.
-- Xinhua
TOKYO: The oldest person in Japan, whose people
are famed for their longevity, died Saturday at age 113 of natural
causes, her nursing home said. Tsuneyo Toyonaga, died in a hospital
in Kochi City in southern Japan, said an official at her nursing
home. She had been transferred there a week ago after feeling sick.
According to media reports, Toyonaga was cheery and had a sense of
humor which was widely appreciated at the facility named “Home of
Dreams,” where she moved when she was aged 101. She is survived by
five children and 10 grandchildren, media reports said.
-- AFP
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