GLOBAL SNAPSHOT
Drone hits plane
OTTAWA: A drone hit a plane landing at a Quebec City airport, the first time an unmanned flying object has collided with a commercial aircraft in Canada, Transport Minister Marc Garneau said. No injuries were reported in the incident, which happened on Thursday at Jean Lesage International Airport. There have been 1596 drone incidents reported to Transport Canada so far this year, with 131 of them deemed to be aviation safety concerns. In November 2016, a Canadian airliner carrying 54 passengers had to swerve to avoid an unmanned flying object near Toronto.
Boyle claims ‘false’
KABUL: A Taliban spokesman has rejected as “false and propaganda” the allegations of rescued Canadian hostage Joshua Boyle that his child was murdered and his wife raped during his captivity in Afghanistan. Zabihuallah Mujahid in a statement said the accusations against the Taliban are “baseless and false”. “No one has either intentionally murdered the child of this couple and neither has anyone violated or defiled them,” said the statement. Mujahid said that during his captivity, Mr Boyle was never separated from his wife, who had a miscarriage.
Flood toll rises
HANOI: Some villages in Vietnam are still isolated by landslides and destroyed bridges after a tropical depression last week that has become one of the country’s worst natural disasters in years. The Vietnam Disaster Management Authority said in a statement yesterday the death toll has risen to 72 with 30 people still missing. The disasters also injured 33 people.
Terrorists dead
MANILA: Philippine security
officials said the two final surviving leaders of a deadly siege in the south, including a top Asian terror suspect, were killed yesterday in one of the final battles by thousands of troops to retake the last area held by pro-Islamic State group militants in southern Marawi city. Officials said that Isnilon Hapilon, who is listed among the FBI’s most-wanted terror suspects, and Omarkhayam Maute were killed in a gunbattle.
Abe on the nose
TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling coalition is on track for a big win in Sunday’s general election — even though almost half the country’s voters don’t want him to keep his job. A newspaper survey showed 47 per cent of voters would prefer not to see Abe stay in his post. Abe took office nearly five years ago promising to bolster defence and boost growth with his “Abenomics” strategy.