Iran's FM ridicules Trump 'blunder' at UN
MONTREAL, Jan 6 (AFP) - Two jets collided on the ground at a Toronto airport on Friday, setting the tail of one aircraft alight and prompting passengers to evacuate the other via an emergency slide.
Both WestJet and Sunwing confirmed that their planes were involved in the collision at 2319 GMT at Toronto Pearson International, the second such incident at the airport in five months.
Several hours after the collision the airport said all WestJet passengers were safely at the terminal, adding that one of the airport's fire and emergency service personnel was undergoing hospital treatment.
The panicked shouts and cries of those aboard were audible on one Instagram video shot by a passenger inside the WestJet plane. The clip showed flames erupting from the Sunwing aircraft, sending black smoke spewing into the frigid night air.
“Our plane was crashed into by another plane right after the pilot announced they were 'low on staff,'” wrote the user who posted the video, under the handle stephen_ belford.
Rohingya insurgents ambush Myanmar military truck, five wounded
YANGON, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Rohingya Muslim insurgents ambushed a military vehicle in Myanmar's Rakhine State, wounding five members of the security forces,
RIYADH, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's King Salman on Saturday ordered a monthly payment of 1,000 riyals ($267) to state employees over the next year in compensation for rising cost of living after the government hiked domestic gas prices and introduced value-added tax (VAT).
In a royal decree published by state news media, the king also ordered the payment of 5,000 riyals to military personnel serving at the front lines with Yemen where the kingdom is fighting a nearly threeyear-old war.
Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, roughly doubled gasoline prices on Monday as part of a broad reform initiative aimed at diversifying its economy. A 5 percent VAT on a broad range of goods and services came into effect on the same day.
The new payment orders were an acknowledgment of “the increased burdens for some segments of the population following from the necessary measures which the state took to restructure the economy,” according to the decree.
King Salman directed the state to bear the burden of VAT in some situations, including special health and education services as well as the first purchase of a house that is valued at up to 850,000 riyals ($226,660). Allowances for students, retirees and social security recipients were also boosted.
TEHRAN, Jan 6 (AFP) - Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif ridiculed US President Donald Trump on Saturday over what he called the foreign policy “blunder” of trying to raise its recent protests at the UN Security Council.
The Security Council “rebuffed the US' naked attempt to hijack its mandate”, wrote Zarif on Twitter. “Majority emphasised the need to fully implement the JCPOA (nuclear deal) and to refrain from interfering in internal affairs of others. Another FP (foreign policy) blunder for the Trump administration.” The US had pushed for the UN meeting on Friday to discuss the five days of protests that hit Iran last week, leading to the deaths of 21 people and hundreds of arrests. US Ambassador Nikki Haley argued the unrest could escalate into full-blown conflict and drew a comparison with Syria.
But Russia's envoy shot back that if the US view holds, the council should have also discussed the 2014 unrest in the US suburb of Ferguson, Missouri over the police shooting of a black teenager or the US crackdown on the Occupy Wall Street movement.
Britain and France reiterated that Iran must respect the rights of protesters, but French Ambassador said the “events of the past days do not constitute a threat to peace and international security”. China also described the meeting as meddling in Iran's affairs. Iran's Ambassador Gholamali Khoshroo slammed the meeting as a “waste of time” and said the council should focus on addressing the IsraeliPalestinian conflict or the war in Yemen.
Iranian authorities have declared the unrest over, and held three days of large pro-government rallies across the country between Wednesday and Friday.
Iran signed a nuclear deal with the US, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China in 2015, easing sanctions. US President Donald Trump has opposed the deal. Trump must decide every few months whether to continue waiving nuclear sanctions, with the next deadline due on Friday. Analysts say there is a chance he may use the latest unrest as a pretext to reimpose sanctions.