China military rehearses ‘encircling’ Taiwan after US Speaker visit
China has started three days of military exercises around Taiwan after the island’s president met the US House Speaker in defiance of repeated threats by Beijing.
The exercises, dubbed “United Sharp Sword,” have been denounced by Taiwan. China sees Taiwan as its own territory and has not ruled out using force to bring it under its control.
The Chinese military’s Eastern Theater Command announced the drills Saturday, describing them as “a serious warning against the Taiwan separatist forces’ collusion with external forces, and a necessary move to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
“The task force simultaneously organized patrols around the island to create an all-round encirclement and deterrent situation,” the Eastern Theater Command said.
Israeli government calls up reservists after car attack in Tel Aviv
Police to deploy extra battalions in city centres as Benjamin Netanyahu also directs army to mobilise additional forces
Israel began calling up police and army reservists on Saturday after separate attacks killed three people, including an Italian tourist and two British-Israeli sisters, in Tel Aviv and the West Bank.
Despite appeals for restraint, violence has surged since Israeli police clashed with Palestinians inside Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque on Wednesday, with Israel bombarding Gaza and Lebanon in response to rocket fire by Palestinian militants.
The Italian was killed and seven other tourists wounded when an Israeli Arab drove a car into pedestrians on the Tel Aviv seafront on Friday evening before being shot dead, police and emergency services said.
South Africa's 'Facebook rapist' recaptured in Tanzania
Thabo Bester reportedly faked his own death to break out of prison last year. A South African team is now due to travel to Tanzania to facilitate his return.
A convicted rapist and murderer, Thabo Bester, who escaped from South African prison, under bizarre circumstances, has been rearrested in Tanzania.
Bester and two of his suspected accomplices were apprehended in Arusha late on Friday.
"They were heading for the border of another country," South Africa's Police Minister Bheki Cele said on Saturday.
They had arrived in Arusha from Dar es Salaam, Cele said. The men were in possession of several passports with fake aliases.
Iran installing cameras in public places to identify, penalise unveiled women
In a further attempt to rein in increasing numbers of women defying the compulsory dress code, Iranian authorities are installing cameras in public places and thoroughfares to identify and penalise unveiled women, the police announced on Saturday.
After they have been identified, violators will receive “warning text messages as to the consequences”, police said in a statement.
The move is aimed at “preventing resistance against the hijab law,” said the statement, carried by the judiciary’s Mizan news agency and other state media, adding that such resistance tarnishes the country’s spiritual image and spreads insecurity.
Hundreds of Russians attend war-blogger Vladlen Tatarsky funeral
Tatarsky was killed on Sunday after a woman handed him a statuette that later exploded in a cafe, wounding more than 40 people.
Hundreds gathered for the funeral of high-profile Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky in Moscow after he was killed in a bomb attack in Saint Petersburg.
Tatarsky, whose real name was Maxim Fomin, was killed on Sunday after a woman handed him a bust that later exploded in a cafe, wounding more than 40 people.
Russian authorities say the attack was orchestrated by Ukraine with help from supporters of jailed critic Alexey Navalny. Kyiv has blamed it on Russia’s domestic infighting.
Ukraine to export electricity again after months of Russian attacks
Ukraine is able to export electricity for the first time in six months as its energy infrastructure recovers from months of repeated Russian attacks.
Russia began its lengthy and deliberate assault on Ukraine's energy infrastructure last October.
It led to power cuts and scheduled blackouts, leaving towns and cities in darkness during winter.
Ukraine was forced to stop electricity exports - but will now be able to sell its excess power again.
Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko signed an executive order authorising the exports, although local customers remain the priority.
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