IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Middle East

Clashes leave 20 Palestinians injured

At least 20 Palestinians were shot and wounded on Tuesday evening during clashes between hundreds of Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli soldiers in northern Gaza Strip, close to the border with Israel, medics said. Ashraf al-Qedra, Health Ministry spokesman in Gaza, told reporters that dozens suffered suffocation after inhaling tear gas fired by the soldiers at the crowds of demonstrators. Eyewitnesses said that demonstrators waved Palestinian flags and threw stones at the soldiers. On Tuesday afternoon, hundreds of Palestinian demonstrators gathered in northern Gaza Strip, close to the border with Israel, as part of an anti-Israel protest which calls for ending the ongoing Israeli blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip since mid-2007.

India

Lockheed offers new F-21 fighter jet

Lockheed Martin offered India a new combat jet, F-21, on Wednesday to be made locally, in a bid to win a large military order worth more than $15 billion. The US defense firm had earlier offered its F-16 fighter used by countries around the world for the Indian air force's ongoing competition for 114 planes to be made in India. But Lockheed, unveiling the plan at an airshow in the southern city of Bengaluru, said it was offering India a new plane configured for its needs. The company will build the plane in collaboration with Tata Advanced Systems, the firm said. Lockheed is competing with Boeing's F/A-18, Saab's Gripen, Dassault Aviation's Rafale, the Eurofighter Typhoon and a Russian aircraft for the air force order.

United Kingdom

Expanded no-drone zone near airports

The no-fly zone for drones around British airports is being extended to 5 kilometers in an attempt to avert disruptions like the December groundings of flights at Gatwick Airport, officials said on Wednesday. The Department for Transport said the zone will widen on March 13 from the current 1 km. Officials are also working on new legislation to give police more powers to stop and search people suspected of using drones maliciously. More than 100,000 travelers were stranded or delayed before Christmas after drone sightings near Gatwick, which is Britain's second-busiest airport.

Indonesia

Hundreds of students flee violence in Papua

Hundreds of students have fled fighting in Indonesia's restive Papua province, a local NGO said, amid unconfirmed reports of violent military reprisals after a massacre of civilian workers by separatist rebels. Subsequent clashes prompted the Nduga district government to evacuate more than 400 students to the neighboring Jayawijaya district, according to Humanitarian Volunteers for Nduga and a local education agency official. "Some of the students are suffering from trauma," said Ence Geong, a coordinator at the NGO.

United States

Dog back with family 101 days after wildfire

A dog named Kingston reunited with his family 101 days after he jumped out of their truck as they fled a devastating Northern California wildfire. The 12-year-old Akita was reunited on Monday with the Ballejos family, who fled the town of Paradise late last year, Sacramento television station KXTV reported. Family members believe Kingston survived by eating skunks, because he hunted them before the fire and smelled of skunk when they picked him up. The town of Paradise was leveled by a Nov 8 blaze that killed 85 people and destroyed nearly 15,000 homes in the area.

Xinhua - Reuters - AP

(China Daily 02/21/2019 page12)