IN BRIEF (Page 11)
Pakistan
Separatist gunmen kill 14 bus passengers
Gunmen killed at least 14 people after forcing them to disembark from buses in Pakistan's Balochistan, officials said on Thursday, in the latest attack claimed by separatists in the restive southwestern province. The attackers, who numbered around two dozen, were wearing uniforms of the paramilitary Frontier Corps, said provincial home secretary Haider Ali. They "stopped buses on the Makran Coastal Highway and gunned down 14 people", he said, adding that the four vehicles were traveling to the port megacity of Karachi from the coastal town of Ormara. Prime Minister Imran Khan condemned the attack and asked for an urgent report.
Iran
Domestically made jets mark Army Day
Iran has showcased domestically made fighter jets by flying the aircraft over Teheran during a military parade marking National Army Day. State TV broadcast footage of the aircraft performing during the parade on Thursday. The planes include the latest all-Iranian fighter jet, dubbed Kowsar which was inaugurated in 2017, when the TV aired images of President Hassan Rouhani briefly sitting in the plane's cockpit inside a hangar before the ceremony. The parade also showcased the Saegheh, or "Thunderbolt", another domestically built fighter plane. According to the state TV, MiG-29, F-4 Phantom and F-14 Tomcat warplanes also took part in the parade.
United Kingdom
London climate protests enter 4th day
London commuters faced further disruption on Thursday as climate change protests continued to bring parts of the British capital to a standstill, leading to more than 300 arrests. Transport for London tweeted that "bus routes which usually serve stops in central London remain diverted - curtailed due to an ongoing protest which is blocking several roads". A total of 340 protesters have been arrested so far during this week's "Extinction Rebellion" event, and three people will appear in court on Thursday charged with obstructing trains at financial hub Canary Wharf. Demonstrators began blocking off a bridge and major central road junctions on Monday at the start of a civil disobedience campaign that also saw action in other parts of Europe.
New Zealand
Rare parrot has record breeding season
The world's fattest parrot, the critically endangered kakapo, has enjoyed a record-breaking breeding season, New Zealand scientists said on Thursday, with climate change possibly aiding the species' unique mating spree. Less than 50 years after the flightless nocturnal bird was thought to have been extinct, at least 75 chicks are expected to survive this year, said Andrew Digby, a science adviser to New Zealand's kakapo recovery operation. Digby oversees a breeding program so precisely monitored that scientists can state the last of 249 eggs laid will hatch on Friday. It will significantly boost the population which has grown to 147 adults since a small number of the plump green, yellow and black birds was discovered in 1970.
Afp - Xinhua - Ap
(China Daily 04/19/2019 page11)