IN BRIEF (Page 12)

China Daily | Updated: 2019-03-08 07:22

Russia

Fighter jet intercepts US spy plane

A Russian Su-27 fighter jet has intercepted a US reconnaissance aircraft approaching the Russian airspace over the Baltic Sea, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Thursday. The Russian fighter jet approached the target at a safe distance and identified it as an RC-135 reconnaissance plane of the US Air Force, according to the statement. "The Russian fighter jet returned safely to its home base after the foreign aircraft flew away from the Russian border," the ministry said.

Thailand

Top court orders major party dissolved

Thailand's Constitutional Court on Thursday ordered the dissolution of a major political party for nominating the king's sister as its candidate for prime minister in a March 24 election. "The court has ordered that the party be dissolved," Judge Taweekiet Meenakanit said in the ruling, which also banned the executive board members of Thai Raksa Chart party from politics for 10 years. The election commission had asked the court to dissolve the party after it nominated Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya Sirivadhana Barnavadi for prime minister in the election, the first since 2014.

Xinhua - Reuters

(China Daily 03/08/2019 page12)