IN BRIEF (Page 12)

China Daily | Updated: 2019-09-25 07:41

United Nations

France, Germany, UK blame Iran for attacks

France, Germany and the United Kingdom on Monday jointly blamed Iran for the Sept 14 attack on Saudi oil facilities and called on Teheran to accept negotiations on a long-term framework for its nuclear and missile programs. Joining the United States in accusing Iran for the drone attack on Saudi Arabia's Aramco oil facilities, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson issued a joint statement after their meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. Iran has denied all the allegations and the Houthi rebels in Yemen have claimed responsibility for the attacks.

United Kingdom

135,300 to fly back as Thomas Cook collapses

Emergency flights brought 14,700 people back to the United Kingdom on Monday after the collapse of travel firm Thomas Cook, and around 135,300 more are expected to be returned over the next 13 days, Britain's aviation regulator said. The collapse of Thomas Cook in the early hours of Monday left hundreds of thousands of people stranded at holiday destinations around the world. The 14,700 people returned to the UK on Monday were on 64 flights. Seventy-four flights were scheduled on Tuesday, to bring back 16,500 people. More than 1,000 flights are planned.

Israel

Main parties begin talks on coalition govt

Israel's two largest political parties were meeting on Tuesday to discuss the possibility of forming a unity government following last week's deadlocked national elections. The meeting between party representatives came a day after Blue and White leader Benny Gantz and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the rival Likud party held their first meeting since the elections. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin is responsible for choosing a candidate for prime minister after national elections. That task is usually a formality, but far more complicated this time since neither of the candidates can build a stable majority on his own in the 120-seat parliament.

Xinhua - Agencies

(China Daily 09/25/2019 page12)