Iran warns Europe not to force
'strategic leap' on missile range
TEHRAN, Feb 03: The deputy chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guards has warned Europe against forcing the Islamic Republic into boosting the range of its missiles by trying to halt their development. "If the Europeans, or anyone else, want to conspire to disarm Iran of missiles, we will be forced to make a strategic leap," the guards' deputy commander Brigadier-General Hossein Salami said on state TV on Saturday. "All that hear me today, come to terms with the new reality of Iran's missile might: there are no obstacles or technical limitations to us increasing (their) range," he added. — AFP
Trump names former doctor as medical adviser
WEST PALM BEACH, Feb 03: President Donald Trump has appointed his former doctor to be his assistant and chief medical adviser. Saturday's announcement by the White House follows Trump's decision to re-nominate Rear Admiral Ronny Jackson for a second star due to inaction by the previous Congress. Jackson's original nomination was put on hold last year after Trump nominated him to head the Veterans Affairs Department. — AP
Bashir vows rural development as protests loom
KHARTOUM, Feb 03: Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Sunday pledged to bolster rural development, as he seeks to face down anti-government demonstrations that have rocked cities and villages. The veteran leader has been on a charm offensive with rallies across the country in a bid to head off weeks of protests seen as the biggest threat to his 30-year rule. — AFP
Ukraine enthrones new orthodox church head
KIEV, Feb 03: The leader of the new independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church was enthroned in a ceremony in Kiev on Sunday, formalising a break with the Russian Orthodox Church that has enraged Moscow. During the three-hour event in the gold-decked 11th-century Saint Sophia Cathedral, Metropolitan Yepifaniy became head of the Church, having been elected by bishops last year. — AFP
Bus crash in Russia leaves seven dead
MOSCOW, Feb 03: Russian authorities say at least seven people, four of them children, have died in a bus crash south of Moscow. Police in the Kaluga region said Sunday a bus with 48 people onboard tipped over and crashed on a local road about 190 kilometres (118 miles) south of Moscow. The cause of the crash was not immediately clear. — AP
