![logo](https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/img/logo.png)
News in Brief-(2023-09-19)
Tuesday, 19 September 2023
US military asks for help finding
its lost stealth fighter jet
WASHINGTON, Sept 18: A stealth-capable US fighter jet vanished on Sunday-not from prying eyes but rather from the American military, prompting an unusual call to the public to help locate the missing multimillion-dollar plane. After what authorities labeled a "mishap," a pilot flying an F-35 in the southern state of South Carolina on Sunday afternoon ejected from the craft. The pilot survived, but the military was left with an expensive problem: it couldn't find the jet, leading Joint Base Charleston to ask for help from local residents. "If you have any information that may help our recovery teams locate the F-35, please call the Base Defense Operations Center," a post from the base read on X, formerly known as Twitter. — AFP
Armed men seize 2 Mali army campsDAKAR, Sept 18: Armed men on Sunday took over two military camps in northern Mali, two elected officials told AFP, with a spokesman for an alliance of predominantly Tuareg armed groups claiming the attack. The Malian military confirmed on social networks that the town of Lere, in the Timbuktu Region of northern Mali, had been attacked around 3:30 pm (1530 GMT) on Sunday. A Malian military official told AFP it was "in the process of dealing with the situation". — AFP
4.8 earthquake rattles part of Italy
ROME, Sept 18: A 4.8-magnitude earthquake rattled parts of Tuscany early Monday, geologists and firefighters said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The quake's epicenter was near Marradi, northeast of Florence, and it struck at 5:10 a.m., after some smaller temblors, according to Italy's institute of geophysics and vulcanology. — AP
Biden's security advisor meets Chinese FMWASHINGTON, Sept 18: White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met with Chinese Foreign Minister (FM) Wang Yi over the weekend, officials said Sunday, in the latest effort to ease tensions between the superpowers. Sullivan and Wang met in the Mediterranean island nation of Malta on Saturday and Sunday, according to a White House statement. "This meeting was part of ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication and responsibly manage the relationship," the statement said. President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping have not talked or met since a summit in Bali last year but US officials say they are working to renew contact between the two leaders. — AFP
China flies military planes toward Taiwan
TAIPEI, Sept 18: China's military sent 103 warplanes toward Taiwan in a 24-hour period in what the island's defense ministry said Monday was a daily record in recent times. The planes were detected between 6 a.m. on Sunday and 6 a.m. on Monday, the ministry said. As is customary, they turned back before reaching Taiwan. China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory, has conducted increasingly large military drills in the air and waters around Taiwan as tensions have grown between the two and with the United States. — AP
Green group sues Australian minister
SYDNEY, Sept 18: Activists launched court action Monday accusing Australia's environment minister of failing to protect the Great Barrier Reef and other treasures from the climate risks of coal mining. They allege the minister, Tanya Plibersek, has unlawfully refused to act on "a large volume of expert and scientific evidence of climate risk". The case focuses on applications to extend coal mining operations into the 2040s at two sites in New South Wales state owned by MACH Energy and Narrabri Coal Operations. — AFP