While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, April 9
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A man walks with a flag as a ship passes by behind him on Pingtan island, the closest point to Taiwan, in China’s south-east Fujian province. PHOTO: AFP
PHOTO: AFP
US urges ‘restraint’ as China launches Taiwan military drills
The United States on Saturday called on China to show restraint as Beijing launched military drills around Taiwan, stressing that Washington was ready to meet its security commitments in Asia.
“Our channels of communication with the PRC remain open and we have consistently urged restraint and no change to the status quo,” a State Department spokesman said, referring to the People’s Republic of China.
“We are comfortable and confident that we have in place sufficient resources and capabilities in the region to ensure peace and stability and to meet our national security commitments,” the spokesman said, adding that the US was “monitoring Beijing’s actions closely.”
The US has been ambiguous on whether it would militarily defend Taiwan, a self-ruling democracy claimed by Beijing, although for decades it has sold weapons to Taipei to help ensure its self-defence.
Ukraine says Russia is preparing to evacuate civilians
EPA-EFE
Russian occupation authorities are preparing to evacuate civilians from territory that Russia controls in southern Ukraine before a potential counteroffensive by Ukrainian forces, the Ukrainian military said on Saturday.
Ukraine is widely expected to launch a counteroffensive in the coming weeks to recapture territory from Russian forces, aided by an influx of sophisticated weapons from its Western allies.
Although Ukrainian authorities have said the precise location of that push remains a closely guarded secret, military analysts and some Ukrainian officials have said it could focus on the south of the country.
Conflicting US rulings leave fate of abortion pill in doubt
AFP
Conflicting rulings by two federal judges have left the future of abortion pills in the United States deeply uncertain, likely placing the divisive issue squarely in the lap of the Supreme Court.
A ruling on Friday by federal judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Texas banned the widely used drug mifepristone (RU 486) nationwide, boosting conservatives’ efforts to further restrict abortion rights after the Supreme Court last year allowed states to prohibit them.
But adding to the uncertainty and increasing the odds the matter ends up before the Supreme Court was a contradictory ruling from a Washington state judge that came just hours after Kacsmaryk’s.
Ben Ferencz, last surviving Nuremberg prosecutor, dies at 103
Benjamin Ferencz, the last surviving prosecutor from the Nuremberg trials in Germany that brought Nazi war criminals to justice after World War II and a longtime apostle of international criminal law, died on Friday at age 103, NBC News reported, citing his son.
Ferencz, a Harvard-educated lawyer, secured convictions of numerous German officers who led roving death squads during the war.
Circumstances of his death were not immediately disclosed. The New York Times reported that Ferencz died at an assisted living facility in Boynton Beach, Florida.
Guardiola hails Haaland as on same level as Messi, Ronaldo
AFP
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola said Erling Haaland is at the standard of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo when it comes to finding the net after scoring twice on his return from injury in a 4-1 win at Southampton on Saturday.
Victory took City to within five points of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League.
Haaland has now scored 44 times in his debut season with the English champions, including 30 in 27 Premier League appearances.
