U.S., S. Korea start drills in show of force

Compiled from news services

SEOUL,South Korea — TheUnited States and South Koreaon Saturday started joint naval exercises that will involve three U.S. aircraft carriers in what military officials describe as a clear warningto North Korea.

The four-day drills that began in waters off South Korea’s eastern coast come as President Donald Trump continues a visit to Asia that has been dominated by discussions over the North Korean nuclear threat.

The battle groups of the USS Ronald Reagan, the Theodore Roosevelt and the Nimitz will successively enter the exercise area during the drills that run until Tuesday, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

U.S., Somali airstrikes

MOGADISHU,Somalia — Nearly 100 members of alShabab, the Qaida-linked insurgent group in Somalia, were killed in separate strikes this past week.

Morethan a dozen militants were killed in a U.S. airstrike20 miles north of the capitalof Mogadishu, accordingto Samantha Reho, a spokeswomanwith the UnitedStates Africa Command.The Friday strike was carriedout in coordination withthe Somali government.On Thursday, airstrikes killed several militantsin the Bay region, about 100miles west of Mogadishu.

Separately, the Somali National Intelligence and Security Agency killed 81 alShabab fighters earlier this past week in Jilib, in southern Somalia.

Airline cancels flights

NEWDELHI — Citing toxic smog that one official said has turned India’s capital city into a “gas chamber,” United Airlines has canceled flights to New Delhi until the air gets better.

Atleast in United’s eyes, theIndian capital’s smog concernsare on par with environmentaldisasters like hurricanesand volcanoes — a riskto be avoided. The companysaid it was letting passengersswitch flights withoutcharge or helping them findseats on other carriers.

An advisory on United’s website said travel to New Delhi was suspended through at least Tuesday.

Singles Day breaks record

BEIJING— Chinese consumersare spending billions ofdollars shopping online for anythingfrom diapers to diamondson “Singles Day,” a dayof promotions that has growninto the world’s biggest e-commerceevent.

AlibabaGroup said sales bythe thousands of retailers onits platforms had exceeded 130billion yuan ($20 billion) byearly evening Saturday. Lastyear, sales on Alibaba’s platformstotaled over 120.7 billionyuan, a record for the company.