While bilateral tension has risen over the balloon incident, China and the US have been seeking to improve ties.Regional analysts and diplomats are closely watching China’s response after a US fighter jet shot down a suspected “spy” balloon – which Beijing says was an errant weather-monitoring craft – in the Atlantic Ocean off the United States. China on Sunday decried the move as an “overreaction”, saying it reserved the right to use the necessary means to deal with “similar situations”, without elaborating. Some analysts said they will be scrutinising the seas and skies of East Asia for signs of tension,…
Author: National Tone
Gentleman De Mee reversed the form with Blue Lord to land the Ladbrokes Dublin Chase at Leopardstown.The JP McManus-owned seven-year-old was a 15-2 shot in the Grade One for Willie Mullins and Danny Mullins, who was deputising for the injured Mark Walsh after he was stood down following a fall in the opening race. Blue Lord was the 1-4 favourite after trouncing stablemate Gentleman De Mee by 41 lengths when the pair last met in the Paddy’s Rewards Club Chase after Christmas – but this time it was the latter who triumphed by an easy seven lengths. Mullins said: “I…
Catholic church head joined other Christian leaders in calling for a recommitment to the 2018 peace deal during the Africa trip.Pope Francis has ended a trip to South Sudan with an impassioned plea for peace and forgiveness in the war-torn country. Francis made the appeal on Sunday as he presided over an open-air Mass attended by 100,000 people on the grounds of a mausoleum for South Sudan’s liberation hero John Garang in the capital Juba. He urged worshippers – including the country’s president and his opponents – to reject the “blind fury of violence”. Francis also called for an end…
MILAN (AP) — Victor Osimhen appears to be firing Napoli to the Serie A title. Osimhen scored another two goals on Sunday to help Napoli win 3-0 at Spezia and move 16 points clear of second-placed Inter Milan, which hosts out-of-form AC Milan in the derby later. It was the fifth straight league match that Osimhen has scored in. The Nigeria forward has netted seven in that span to take his tally to 16 in the league. Spezia had defended well against Napoli’s stellar attack but gifted the visitors a penalty less than 10 seconds after the break when defender…
Abraham Ancer wins Asian Tour’s PIF Saudi International by two shots as he and runner-up Cameron Young shoot two-under 68s in final round; Lucas Herbert takes fourth place with England’s Paul Casey finishing fifth after five-under finale Last Updated: 05/02/23 2:13pm Abraham Ancer held off the challenge of Cameron Young to win the PIF Saudi International Abraham Ancer held off the challenge of Cameron Young to win the Asian Tour’s PIF Saudi International by two strokes and claim a wire-to-wire victory. Ancer was two shots clear of Young after the third round but the pair were all square at 19…
With 14 candidates in the running, opinion polls point to a race between three frontrunners.People in the Republic of Cyprus have begun voting for their eighth president in the ethnically divided island’s 63-year history as an independent state, with three frontrunners. Heralding the end of two terms for incumbent conservative President Nicos Anastasiades, some 561,000 Greek Cypriots are eligible to vote in the election on Sunday after a campaign dominated by issues such as corruption, labour disputes related to accelerating inflation, irregular migration, and a deadlocked peace process with estranged Turkish Cypriots who live in the self-declared Turkish Republic of…
The Nigel Twiston-Davies team will be disappointed if they don’t leave Hereford with a Sunday winner in the shape of the unexposed handicap hurdler Jasmiwa, live on Sky Sports Racing. 4.03 Hereford – Twiston-Davies team could strike with JasmiwaNot many come into this race with much form, so last time out winner Jasmiwa will surely be a popular choice in the Cazoo Handicap Hurdle (4:03) for the Nigel Twiston-Davies team. The five-year-old was very impressive at Ffos Las on handicap debut and remains in the same grade under Sam Twiston-Davies, albeit off a 7lb higher mark.Sure Listen was a shock…
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that the situation on the eastern front line was getting tougher, with Russia throwing more and more troops into battle to break down Ukrainian defences. Zelenskyy’s comments on Saturday came as shelling continued in the eastern Donetsk region while an accident at a power plant in the southern region of Odesa left nearly 500,000 homes without electricity. “I’ve often had to say the situation at the front is tough, and is getting tougher, and it’s that time again. … The invader is putting more and more of his forces into breaking down our defences,”…
Tens of thousands brave heavy rain in Tel Aviv to protest against government plans to weaken Israel’s Supreme Court.Tens of thousands of Israelis have gathered for a fifth week of protests against controversial judicial changes proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. Protesters in the central city of Tel Aviv braved heavy rain for Saturday’s protest, carrying blue and white Israeli flags and chanting slogans against Netanyahu’s justice minister. “I’m here tonight protesting against the transition of Israel from a democracy to an autocracy,” Dov Levenglick, a 48-year-old software engineer, told the Reuters news agency in Tel Aviv. “It’s a…
Regulator says the website had until late Friday to heed its warning, without elaborating on the content in question.Pakistan has banned Wikipedia after threatening the crowd-sourced online encyclopedia over what it has labelled “sacrilegious content”, the Wikimedia Foundation announced on Saturday. Social media giants Facebook and YouTube have also been blocked in the past by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority over content deemed blasphemous, a highly sensitive issue in Muslim-majority Pakistan. Their ban was lifted. According to local media outlet Dawn, a PTA spokesperson said the website was blocked on Saturday due to non-compliance with the institution’s order. The PTA on…