Mortal remains of Indian killed in Israel to leave for India
Tel Aviv, March 7: The mortal remains of an Indian worker, Patnibin Maxwell, killed by an anti-tank missile fired from Lebanon will leave Thursday evening for India, official sources said. Maxwell, 30, was from Kollam in Kerala. Israel’s Minister of Interior, Moshe Arbel, Director General of Population and Immigration Authority (PIBA), officials from the Israeli foreign ministry and senior diplomats from the Indian embassy on Thursday evening attended a memorial send-off ceremony. The remains will be sent aboard Air India flight AI 140 scheduled to leave for Delhi at 21:10 Israel time and from there will be sent to Trivandrum on Air India flight AI 801 scheduled for 15:00 hours India time on Friday. Maxwell was killed when an anti-tank missile hit a plantation in Margaliot, a Moshav (collective agricultural community), in the Galilee region in the north of Israel at around 11 AM on Monday. His mortal remains were identified in Ziv Hospital. Seven other workers were injured in the attack, including two Indians who are also from Kerala. (PTI)
South Korean Air Force stages live-fire drills
Seoul, March 7: South Korean fighter jets staged a live-fire exercise on Thursday to bolster readiness against North Korean cruise missile and artillery threats, the Air Force said, in the wake of Pyongyang’s continued saber-rattling. The training took place over waters off the west coast, involving more than 10 fighter jets, in connection with the annual South Korea-US Freedom Shield exercise that began earlier this week, according to the Air Force. During the air drills, KF-16 and FA-50 jets fired air-to-air missiles to shoot down two targets simulating enemy cruise missiles detected by air defence radar systems, Yonhap news agency reported. The Air Force also mobilised FA-50 and F-5 aircraft to drop guided bombs to destroy simulated enemy long-range artillery, it said. The exercise took place as North Korea has ratcheted up tensions with a series of military demonstrations, including artillery firing and a series of launches of new missiles. (IANS)
US diplomat flays China for using coercion in SCS region
Bangkok, March 7: The top American diplomat for East Asia and the Pacific criticized China on Thursday for using intimidation tactics against other countries in the region to press its sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea. Speaking to reporters after returning to the US from meetings with officials in Singapore, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Brunei, Daniel Kritenbrink said he had used the trip to stress Washington’s commitment to ensuring all nations respect “freedom of navigation and freedom of overflight in the peaceful resolution of disputes.” He said China “has taken a number of steps in the South China Sea that both run counter to international law, but that also utilize coercion to intimidate partners in ways that we find deeply unacceptable and destabilizing,” said Kritenbrink, who is the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. China claims almost the entire South China Sea as its own territory and has active disputes with the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei. Kritenbrink’s comments came the same week that a Chinese coast guard ship sideswiped a Philippine patrol vessel.The US regularly sails warships through the Taiwan Strait. (AP)