Chinese scientists design
power generating fabric
BEIJING, Feb 27: Chinese scientists have developed a kind of flexible and washable power-generating fabric that can be used as smart clothing for wearable electronics. The increasing popularity of wearable electronic devices has called for improvement in their energy supply systems, as traditional systems such as batteries are bulky and require frequent charging. — Xinhua
Rebels gun down two policemen
in Thailand's southern region
BANGKOK, Feb 27: Two Thai policemen were executed after being abducted from a tea shop in the kingdom's violent southern borderlands, police said on Wednesday, as bloodshed again spikes in a 15-year insurgency. Clashes between ethnic Malay-Muslim rebels and the forces from the Buddhist-majority Thai state which annexed the region a century ago have killed nearly 7,000 people since 2004, mostly civilians.—AFP
Iran's president rejects Zarif's resignation
TEHRAN, Feb 27: Iran's president rejected the resignation of his foreign minister on Wednesday, throwing his full support behind the diplomat who negotiated the country's nuclear deal with world powers as both men face growing pressure from hard-liners as the accord unravels under American pressure. President Hassan Rouhani earlier gave a speech praising Mohammad Javad Zarif after the foreign minister's sudden resignation shocked the Islamic Republic on Monday. — AFP
Macron, Merkel to discuss
Brexit, other issues
PARIS, Feb 27: German Chancellor Angela Merkel is heading to Paris to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss Brexit, relations with the United States and other European issues. Wednesday's meeting comes one day after British Prime Minister Theresa May said Parliament would get the chance to vote to delay Britain's scheduled March 29 departure from the European Union. Such a delay would require other EU members' approval. — AP
Russia presses case for greater control over its internet
MOSCOW, Feb 27: The Kremlin spokesman says reports that the US military carried out a cyberattack in Russia ahead of the US midterm elections proves that the country needs to create its own, self-controlled segment of the internet. Russia's parliament this month passed the first reading of a bill that proposes all internet traffic be routed through servers in Russia. — AP
Rajoy set to testify in Catalan separatists' trial
MADRID, Feb 27: Spain's former prime minister Mariano Rajoy, in power when Catalonia's executive tried to secede, will testify Wednesday in the trial of separatist leaders in a highly sensitive hearing just two months before elections. — AFP
