JAPAN APPROVES US MARINE FLIGHTS OF OSPREYS AFTER CRASH
TOKYO: Japan on Friday said it would allow Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft to continue to operate in the country, accepting US assurances that the flights are safe following a fatal crash off Australia. The US Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey aircraft, which was based at an airbase in Japan, crashed on Saturday while on exercises off the Australian coast, leaving three service members missing and presumed dead. Itsunori Onodera, Japan’s new defense minister, had asked the US to temporarily stop flying the aircraft in his country following the accident, the latest deadly incident involving Ospreys. But on Friday, Japan’s defense ministry issued a statement saying that the US military “is taking reasonable measures” and “the US force’s explanation that it can conduct safe flights of MV-22 Ospreys is understandable.” The comment came a day after the US Marine Corps said in a statement it concluded “the Osprey is safe to fly” and “resumed operations” after initial investigation into Saturday’s incident.
EU CALLS EGG CRISIS TALKS TO END ‘ BLAMING AND SHAMING’
BRUSSELS: The EU said on Friday it would call an emergency meeting of ministers over insecticide-tainted eggs in a bid to stop “blaming and shaming” over the scandal spreading across Europe. Vytenis Andriukaitis, the European Commissioner for health and food safety, told Agence France-Presse he wanted the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany to stop trading accusations about who is responsible for the scare, which involves fipronil, a chemical that can be harmful to humans. France meanwhile said contaminated eggs were first sold there in April, nearly four months before the threat became public, as the crisis that has hit at least 11 European countries widened further. “Blaming and shaming will bring us nowhere and I want to stop this,” Andriukaitis said. “We need to work together to draw the necessary
BEIJING PROBES SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS FOR ‘OBSCENITY’
BEIJING: China has launched probes into three of its largest social networking platforms over the suspected dissemination of violence and obscenity—the latest move aimed at sanitizing the country’s increasingly closed-off internet. The world’s most popular messaging service WeChat, the Twitter-like Weibo as well as the Tieba discussion forum are being investigated, according to an announcement from the Cyberspace Administration of China on Friday. Citing reports from internet users, the administration said other users on WeChat, Weibo and Tieba’s platforms “have disseminated content showing violence, terrorism, fake rumors, obscene pornography and more.” Such materials “endanger national security, public security and the social order” and are illegal under a cybersecurity law that came into force in June, the agency said.
US INVESTIGATING AFTER DIPLOMATS FALL SICK IN HAVANA
WASHINGTON, D.C.: US and Canadian officials were investigating Thursday ( Friday in Manila) after diplomats posted to Havana fell ill, amid reports that they may have been targeted by a mysterious sonic weapon. US officials refused to directly blame Cuba itself for the “incidents,” which appear to have begun last year, and Havana insisted it is working to protect the US mission. A State Department spokeswoman would not detail the nature or number of the injuries, but she confirmed that a number of US diplomats had returned home for treatment. Meanwhile, Canada confirmed that one of its envoys had suffered a similar incident. “We are aware of unusual symptoms affecting Canadian and US diplomatic personnel and their families in Havana,” Canadian foreign ministry spokeswoman Brianne Maxwell said. Some countries have developed sonic and ultrasonic weapons that can be used for crowd control or, for example, to deter seaborne pirates without resource to lethal force.