News in Brief (2023-06-08)

Four children injured in knife attack in France
PARIS, June 08: A Syrian national wounded four children and an adult in a knife attack in a French park on Thursday, police said, leaving some of the victims critically ill in hospital. The attack, which happened in the French alpine town of Annecy, was carried out by a Syrian national with legal refugee status in France, a police official told Reuters. "Children and one adult are between life and death. The nation is in shock," French President Emmanuel Macron said in a statement on Twitter, calling the attack "an act of absolute cowardice". French Interior minister Gerald Darmanin said on Twitter that attacker had been arrested. — Arab News
Zelensky denies Ukraine behind Nord Stream blasts
BERLIN, June 08: Kyiv knew nothing about a plan to blow up the Nord Stream gas pipelines, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday amid growing speculation that Ukraine was behind the blast. As president he has the power to give orders, Zelensky said in an interview with Germany's Bild daily. "I did nothing like that. I would never do that," he said, according to a German interpreter. "I believe that our army and our intelligence services did nothing like that," he said, adding that he would "like to see proof". — AFP
37 Chinese warplanes cross into Taiwan's defence zone
TAIPEIA, June 08: More than 30 Chinese warplanes entered Taiwan's air defence zone over the course of about six hours, the island's defence ministry said Thursday, a sharp ramp-up in single-day incursions by China's military. China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its territory and has vowed to take it one day - by force if necessary. In recent years, Beijing has intensified aerial incursions into the island's air defence identification zone - nearly doubling the air sorties in 2022 compared to the year before. Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence spokesman Sun Li-fang announced Thursday that from 5 a.m. local time (2100 GMT), "a total of 37 Chinese military aircrafts" entered Taiwan's southwestern ADIZ. — Arab News
US asks access to detained designer in Pakistan
WASHINGTON, June 08: The United States called Tuesday on Pakistan to grant consular access to a prominent fashion designer with dual citizenship who was detained in a wave of protests. The State Department said its diplomats have not had access to Khadija Shah, the founder of the luxury fashion brand Elan, who was produced before an anti-terrorism court following protests over the May 9 arrest of ousted prime minister Imran Khan. "We have asked Pakistani officials for consular access to her," State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters, confirming Shah's dual nationality. He indicated that more US citizens have been arrested. "Whenever a US citizen is arrested overseas, we stand ready to provide all appropriate assistance and we expect Pakistani authorities to respect all fair-trial guarantees owed to these detainees," Patel said. — AFP
Mike Pence bids to topple Trump as Republican 2024 frontrunner
WASHINGTON, June 08: Former US vice president Mike Pence launched his presidential campaign Wednesday by framing the Republican nomination as a choice between "reckless" Donald Trump and the Constitution - arguing that his old boss's bid to overturn the last election should bar him from returning in 2024. Offering a spirited defence of the Trump White House's policies, the deeply religious former radio talk show host and Indiana governor said he was proud to stand with his running mate "every single day" during the 2017-21 administration. — Reuters