IN BRIEF (Page 12)

India

Modi plans 18 new African embassies

India will open 18 new embassies across Africa, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in Uganda on Wednesday during a tour of the continent. Rounding off a two-day visit to Kampala, Modi also announced the donation of a badly-needed cancer therapy machine and loans worth $200 million for infrastructure and environmental projects. India currently has 29 full diplomatic missions in Africa. It hopes to open its new missions within three years, according to an Indian official who did not confirm which countries would receive envoys.

European Union

Four more Galileo satellites launched

Europe launched four more Galileo satellites on Wednesday, taking the number in orbit to 26 and moving a step closer to having its own navigation system. The Galileo system will eventually have a total of 30 satellites, weighing about 700 kilograms each. The EU aims to use Galileo to tap into the global market for satellite navigation services, which it estimates will be worth $293 billion by 2022. But a row over Galileo has erupted amid Brexit talks, with London accusing Brussels of shutting British businesses out of the project before Britain's exit next year.

Canada

No evidence for IS attack claim

Police Chief Mark Saunders said on Wednesday that officials have found no evidence to support the Islamic State group's claim of responsibility for the mass shooting in Toronto that killed two people and wounded 13. The terror group claimed that one of its "soldiers" carried out Sunday night's attack in response to its calls to target citizens of the US-led coalition battling it. Federal Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale also said there was no national security risk following the attack.

France

Police spot jailbreak gangster

A French gangster on the run for weeks after a dramatic helicopter jailbreak has narrowly avoided capture by a police patrol and had to abandon a car containing explosives, officials said on Wednesday. Officers identified Redoine Faid as one of two people who sped away when police tried to carry out a security check on their car north of Paris on Tuesday, a source said. It was the first sighting of 46-year-old Faid since he broke out of prison on July 1, whisked away by accomplices in a hijacked helicopter.

Afp - Reuters - Ap

(China Daily 07/27/2018 page12)