SOUTH KOREA
Fighter jets scrambled
Seoul yesterday scrambled fighter jets when two Chinese and four Russian military planes entered its air defense identification zone, the military said. The aircraft entered the Korea Air Defense Identification Zone off its east coast between 11:53am and 12:10pm and then left the area, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. The planes did not violate South Korea’s territorial airspace, the military said.
JAPAN
New jet pact announced
The defense ministers of Japan, Britain and Italy yesterday signed an agreement to establish a joint organization to develop a new advanced jet fighter. The three countries last year agreed to merge earlier individual plans — for Japan’s Mitsubishi F-X to succeed the retiring F-2s developed with the US and Britain’s Tempest — to produce the new combat aircraft for deployment in 2035. Minister of Defense Minoru Kihara at a joint news conference with his British and Italian counterparts, Grant Shapps and Guido Crosett, said that codeveloping a high-performance fighter aircraft is “indispensable to securing air superiority and enabling effective deterrence.”
CHINA
Auto-driving tests approved
BMW Group has received a test license for level 3 (L3) autonomous driving on high-speed roads in Shanghai, the German automaker said yesterday, a move closer to allowing driverless vehiclesin the world’s largest auto market. BMW will launch products equipped with L3 self-driving functionality when they can do so in accordance with Chinese laws and regulations, it said in a statement. The new license would expand areas for BMW to carry out tests of advanced autonomous driving technologies in Shanghai.
VENEZUELA
Crash kills at least 16
At least 16 people died and six more were seriously injured after a fiery 17-vehicle pile-up on a highway, the country’s fire chief, Juan Gonzalez, told reporters on Wednesday. “So far there are 16,” Gonzalez said when asked about the death toll in the crash earlier in the day on the Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho highway, which connects the capital, Caracas, with the east of the country. Carlos Perez Ampueda, deputy minister for risk management and civil protection, had earlier reported eight fatalities in the incident, but warned that the number would “increase significantly.” Perez Ampueda said that 17 vehicles were in the pile-up, which occurred when a speeding truck crashed into several cars. Images of huge flames at the scene of the crash were shared widely on social media on Wednesday morning. “We have control of all the vehicles that were on fire,” including a bus that was completely burnt, Perez Ampueda said.
AUSTRALIA
Doughnut truck stolen
A woman yesterday was charged with stealing a parked truck stuffed with 10,000 Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Police said the unmarked delivery truck had stopped for fuel on the outskirts of Sydney when a 28-year-old woman allegedly hopped inside and made off with the freshly baked booty. Detectives followed a trail of crumbs to a suburban carpark, where they found the abandoned vehicle more than a week later. The woman was arrested yesterday and police said that her just desserts was to be charged with taking a truck without its owner’s consent. Police said the doughnuts were “destroyed.”
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
Hundreds of people in rainbow colors gathered on Saturday in South Africa’s tourist magnet Cape Town to honor the world’s first openly gay imam, who was killed last month. Muhsin Hendricks, who ran a mosque for marginalized Muslims, was shot dead last month near the southern city of Gqeberha. “I was heartbroken. I think it’s sad especially how far we’ve come, considering how progressive South Africa has been,” attendee Keisha Jensen said. Led by motorcycle riders, the mostly young crowd walked through the streets of the coastal city, some waving placards emblazoned with Hendricks’s image and reading: “#JUSTICEFORMUHSIN.” No arrest
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