IN BRIEF (Page 8)

MIDDLE EAST

Iranian tanker headed to Lebanon, not Turkey

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Friday an Iranian oil tanker, now in waters south of Turkey and at the center of a confrontation between Washington and Teheran, was headed for Lebanon. Tracking site Marine Traffic showed earlier on Friday that the Adrian Darya 1, formerly called Grace 1, had changed course again and was headed for the southeastern Turkish port of Iskenderun. Cavusoglu was speaking with reporters in Norway. On Aug 24, the ship had listed its destination as Mersin, Turkey, before removing that from its system. Earlier, it had said it was going to Greece. The tanker's detention and later release by Gibraltar has fueled the growing tensions between Iran and the United States.

NEW ZEALAND

Measles outbreak prompts travel warning

New Zealand is asking travelers to make sure they are immunized for measles before traveling to its biggest city, Auckland, as the country faces its worst outbreak in over 22 years. "If you're thinking of traveling into or out of Auckland, you should make sure you're vaccinated at least two weeks before you go," Associate Minister for Health Julie Anne Genter said in a statement this week. "This includes children from 12 months old," she added. Measles cases are rising globally, including in wealthy nations such as the United States and Germany, where some parents shun the vaccines mostly for philosophical or religious reasons, or concerns, debunked by medical science, that the vaccines against measles, mumps and rubella could cause autism.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Govt confirms Aden strikes on 'terrorists'

The United Arab Emirates has confirmed launching airstrikes on Yemen's interim capital Aden targeting "terrorist militias" after the government there announced the raids hit its troops. A Foreign Ministry statement late on Thursday said "precise and direct airstrikes" on Wednesday and Thursday hit the militias. The statement added that it had planned to target a Saudi-led military coalition, of which the UAE is a key member, backing the Yemen government against the Houthi rebels. The UAE said it acted in "self-defense" after attacks by armed groups affiliated with terrorist organizations".

SPAIN

100 migrants jump fences into enclave

Authorities in Ceuta said that around 100 migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa have successfully crossed into the Spanish enclave after jumping over fences that separate it from Morocco. The Spanish central government's delegation in Ceuta said that several migrants clung to the top of a 6-meter-tall fence after law enforcement officers showed up to stop them in the early hours of Friday. The delegations said they were part of a larger group who attempted the crossing at a breakwater where the 8.2-kilometer double fence meets the sea. This is the first crossing attempt in Ceuta in over a year. In July, more than 200 people tried to cross into Melilla, Spain's other North African enclave.

Agencies

(China Daily 08/31/2019 page8)