News in Brief -(30-07-2019)

China to conduct military

drills near Taiwan waters

BEIJIN, July 29: China's military is holding exercises this week in waters near Taiwan, China's maritime safety agency said days after Beijing reiterated it was ready to fight if there was any move towards independence for the self-ruled island. The agency did not say when the exercises would be held or what type of forces would be involved. —Reuters

Landmine explosions kill

four soldiers in Syria

DAMASCUS, July 29: At least four Syrian soldiers were killed and nine others wounded on Sunday as a result of the explosion of landmines in the southern province of Sweida, a war monitor reported. The soldiers were killed while combing a former Islamic State-held area in the eastern countryside of Sweida, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. — Xinhua

UK warship arrives in

Gulf to escort tankers

LONDON, July 29: A British warship dispatched to the Gulf to escort UK-flagged ships amid heightened tensions with Iran has arrived in the region, the defence ministry said. HMS Duncan was sent to help accompany vessels through the Strait of Hormuz after Iran seized a British-flagged tanker there earlier this month, in what London called an act of "state piracy". — AFP

South repatriates three

North Korean fishermen

SEOUL, July 29: Seoul sent three North Koreans who crossed the maritime border in a fishing boat back home on Monday after they said they wanted to return, the Unification ministry said. "All of the three crew members, as well as the wooden vessel, will be returned to the North," the ministry told reporters in Seoul. The boat and three crew had set off, a ministry official said. — AFP

Cyprus court hearing for Brit

in false rape case postponed

CYPRUS, July 29: A custody hearing has been postponed for a 19-year-old British woman who faces a public nuisance charge after admitting her report that she was raped by 12 Israeli teens at a popular resort town was untrue. Paralimni court judge Tonia Antoniou on Monday ordered the one-day postponement because the woman's lawyer is abroad. — AP