News in Brief (2024-01-18)
Thursday, 18 January 2024
Qatar, France broker deal to get
aid, medication in Gaza
DOHA, Jan 17: Qatar and France have brokered a deal with Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas to deliver urgent medication to some 45 Israeli hostages held by the group in Gaza in return for humanitarian and medical aid for the most vulnerable civilians. The two countries said the aid would leave Qatar for Egypt on Wednesday before being taken across the Rafah border crossing. —Reuters
Turkey's first astronaut set to take off
ISTANBUL, Jan 17: When Turkey's first astronaut blasts off for the International Space Station (ISS) this week, he will embody his country's pride and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's outsized geopolitical ambitions. Alper Gezeravci, a 43-year-old fighter pilot and colonel in Turkey's air force, is due to take off on Wednesday from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida for a two-week mission. —AFP
China population drops for 2nd yr
BEIJING, Jan 17: China's population fell for a second consecutive year in 2023, as a record low birth rate and a wave of COVID-19 deaths when strict lockdowns ended accelerated a downturn that will have profound long-term effects on the economy's growth potential. The National Bureau of Statistics said the total number of people in China dropped by 2.08 million, or 0.15%, to 1.409 billion in 2023. That was well above the population decline of 850,000 in 2022, which had been the first since 1961 during the Great Famine of the Mao Zedong era. — Reuters
Ukraine risks 'irreparable blow' if
conflict continues, says Putin
MOSCOW, Jan 17: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Moscow's forces had the upper hand in their almost two-year conflict with Ukraine, warning the rival state it risks an "irreparable" blow if it continued. The frontlines in eastern and southern Ukraine have barely moved in more than a year as the conflict has ground to a stalemate. Speaking hours after Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the West to ensure Ukraine has the air superiority it needs to make progress on the battlefield, Putin insisted his forces have the upper hand. —AFP