Skip to main content

Rare light aircraft crash in Beijing kills pilot, injures 13 people

A light aircraft crash into Beijing's tallest building on Friday killed ​the pilot and injured 13 people who were not on ‌board, the local government said following the unusual accident for the Chinese capital, where airspace is heavily restricted. Those injured are receiving medical treatment and authorities are ​investigating the incident, Chaoyang district government said in a statement ​on Saturday. "A single-engine, two-seat light sport aircraft collided with ⁠a high-rise building while flying near the East third ring road ​in Chaoyang, at 5:55pm (0955 GMT) on June 26," said the ​statement, which was posted on social media. "There was only one person on board, the pilot, who died," the statement added, without giving any further details of ​the possible cause of the crash. Damage to the facade of the ​skyscraper appeared to be limited to a hole caused by the loss of ‌two ⁠large glass panels. The gap had been temporarily boarded up as ...

China views Taiwan's 'elimination' as national cause, Taiwan president says

China views the annexation and "elimination" of Taiwan as its great national cause, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said on Sunday, telling cadets at the military's premier academy they must know their enemy and not give in to defeatism. Lai has faced sustained personal attacks from China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, since assuming office last month, with Beijing calling him a "separatist". China staged war games around Taiwan shortly after Lai's inauguration. Lai says only Taiwan's people can decide their future and has repeatedly offered talks with Beijing but been rebuffed. Speaking in Kaohsiung in the south of the island on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Whampoa Military Academy, Lai said today's cadets must recognise the challenges of the "new era". "The biggest challenge is to face the powerful rise of China, (which is) destroying the status quo in the Taiwan Strait and regards Taiwan's annexation and the elimination of the Republic of China as the great rejuvenating cause of its people," he said, using Taiwan's formal name. China' Taiwan Affairs Office did not answer calls on Sunday seeking comments about Lai's remarks. Wang Huning, the fourth-ranked leader in China's ruling Communist Party, told a Saturday forum in China about relations with Taiwan that "reunification is a historical necessity for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation", vowing to "smash any separatist plots". Lai, at the event attended by senior military officials and also the top U.S. diplomat in Kaohsiung, Neil Gibson, said the cadets must defend Taiwan against being annexed by China and that the island's future can only be decided by its people. "We really must be able to distinguish between ourselves and our enemies and between friend and foe, and absolutely cannot accept the defeatism of 'the first battle is the last battle'," Lai said, referring to a theory that Taiwan could collapse as soon as China launched any attack. The academy was founded in China's Guangzhou - then known in English as Canton - in 1924, more than a decade after the establishment of the Republic of China, which overthrew the last emperor. Set up with the help of the Soviet Union to give China a professional military loyal to the nascent state, it moved to Nanjing, Chengdu and finally Kaohsiung after the defeated Republican government fled to the island in 1949 at the end of a civil war won by Mao Zedong and his communist forces. China says any move by Taiwan to declare formal independence would be grounds to attack the island. The government in Taipei says Taiwan is already an independent country, the Republic of China, and that it does not plan to change that.

from Latest World News, International News | Breaking World News https://ift.tt/BaMyF8A

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

At least 32 miners dead after bridge fails at cobalt site in southeast DR Congo

A bridge collapsed at a cobalt mine in southeast Democratic Republic of Congo killing at least 32 wildcat miners, a regional government official said Sunday. The bridge came down Saturday onto a flooded zone at the mine in Lualaba province, Roy Kaumba Mayonde, the provincial interior minister, told reporters. He said 32 bodies had been recovered and more were being searched for. The DRC produces more than 70 percent of the world supply of cobalt, which is essential for batteries used in electric cars, many laptop computers and mobile phones. More than 200,000 people are estimated to be working in giant illegal cobalt mines in the giant central African country. Local authorities said the bridge collapsed at the Kalando mine, about 42 kilometres (26 miles) southeast of the Lualaba provincial capital, Kolwezi. "Despite a formal ban on access to the site because of the heavy rain and the risk of a landslide, wildcat miners forced their way into the quarry," said Mayonde. He said ...

Indian devotees splurge on jets, gold idols as Hindu temple opens

The private jet parking lots at airports near the Indian city of Ayodhya are full and the shops have run out of gold-plated idols, as wealthy devotees prepare for the invite-only opening ceremony of one of Hinduism's holiest temples. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani are among the 8,000 or so attendees at Monday's inauguration event for the Ram Temple, which devotees believe is built on the birthplace of Lord Ram, a sacred Hindu deity. The construction of the temple, which began after the Supreme Court awarded the site to Hindus in 2019 more than two decades after a Hindu mob razed a mosque there, triggering deadly riots, fulfils a key campaign promise of Modi and his Hindu nationalist party. Read BJP-promised temple transforms Ayodhya: Muslims, locals feel neglected The opening ceremony, organised by the trust that built the temple, comes months before a national election which the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is widely expected to w...

Vancouver tribunal says 'every dog is entitled to one bite' in injury case

A woman who sought nearly $5,000 in damages after being bitten by a dog on Christmas Eve has had her claim dismissed, after a British Columbia tribunal ruled the incident amounted to an accident — and that “every dog is entitled to one bite.” Ying Shen was bitten on the hand by a mini Australian Shepherd named Juliet as she stepped out of an elevator in her apartment building in Vancouver on 24 December 2022. The dog, which was leashed and accompanied by neighbour Jeffrey Dale Polo, bit Shen as the two passed each other in the corridor. According to the B.C. Civil Resolution Tribunal’s decision, Polo apologised, saying Juliet was “usually well behaved.” Shen sought medical attention that night at St. Paul’s Hospital, where she was treated for a superficial abrasion and given a tetanus shot. She later filed a report with the City of Vancouver. A bylaw officer determined that Juliet was not considered dangerous under city regulations, though the dog was found to be unlicensed. In his 5 M...