CHINA EXPRESSES 'STRONG DISSATISFACTION' OVER US SHOOTING DOWN BALLOON

China's foreign ministry has expressed "strong dissatisfaction and protest" against the United States' shooting down of its balloon. China’s Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng lodged a “solemn representation” to the US Embassy in Beijing on Sunday over the downing of the Chinese balloon, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday.

“What the US has done has seriously impacted and damaged both sides’ efforts and progress in stabilizing bilateral relations since the Bali meeting [between leaders of both countries in November],” the statement said.

According to the statement, the US “turned a deaf ear” against the fact the balloon had “strayed into the US” because of “force majeure,” and “insisted on indiscriminate use of force” against the aircraft “that was about to leave US airspace.”

“China urges the US not to take further actions that harm China’s interests, and not to escalate or expand the tension… [China] will resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies, resolutely defend the interests and dignity of China, and reserves the right to make further necessary reactions,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, Republican US lawmakers on Sunday criticized President Joe Biden for waiting days to shoot down the balloon.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Saturday the US military was able to collect "valuable" intelligence by studying the balloon, and that three other Chinese surveillance balloons had transited the United States during Donald Trump's administration - a disclosure the Republican former president denied.

Republican Senator Tom Cotton, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee told the "Fox News Sunday" program that he believed Biden had waited to disclose the penetration of US airspace because he wanted to salvage Secretary of State Antony Blinken's planned diplomatic trip to Beijing, which ultimately was postponed.

EUROPE BANS RUSSIA DIESEL, OIL PRODUCTS OVER UKRAINE INVASION

Frankfurt : Europe imposed a ban Sunday on Russian diesel fuel and other refined oil products, slashing energy dependency on Moscow and seeking to further crimp the Kremlin's fossil fuel earnings as punishment for invading Ukraine. The ban comes along with a price cap agreed by the G7 allied democracies. The goal is allowing Russian diesel to keep flowing to countries like China and India and avoiding a sudden price rise that would hurt consumers worldwide, while reducing the profits funding Moscow’s budget andwar.

The new sanctions create uncertainty about prices as the 27-nation EU finds new supplies of diesel from the US, West Asia and India to replace those from Russia, which at one point delivered 10% of Europe’s total diesel needs. Those are longer journeys than from Russia’s ports, stretching available tankers. Prices also could bedriven up by reviving demand from China as the economy rebounds after the end of Covid-19 restrictions.

The price cap of $100 per barrel for diesel, jet fuel and gasoline is to be enforced by barring insurance and shipping services from handling diesel priced over the limit. Most of those companies are located in Western countries. It follows a $60-per-barrel cap on Russian crude that took effect in December and is supposed to work the same way. Both the diesel and oil caps could be tightened later.

The diesel price cap will not bite immediately as it was set at about what Russian diesel trades for. Russia’s chief problem now will be finding new customers. However, the cap aims to prevent Russian gains from any sudden price spikes in refined oil products. Analysts say there might be a price bump initially as markets sort out the changes. But they say the embargo should not cause a price spike if the cap works as int ended.

PUTIN PROMISED NOT TO KILL ZELENSKY, SAYS FORMER ISRAELI PM

A former Israeli Prime Minister who served briefly as a mediator at the start of Russia’s war with Ukraine says he drew a promise from the Russian President not to kill his Ukrainian counterpart.

Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett emerged as an unlikely intermediary in the war’s first weeks, becoming one of the few Western leaders to meet President Vladimir Putin during the war in a snap trip to Moscow last March.

In the five-hour interview posted online late on Saturday, Mr. Bennett says he asked Mr. Putin about whether he intended to kill Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“I asked ‘what’s with this? Are you planning to kill Zelensky?’ He said ‘I won’t kill Zelensky.’ I then said to him ‘I have to understand that you’re giving me your word.’ He said ‘I’m not going to kill Zelensky.’” Mr. Bennett said he then called Mr. Zelensky to inform him of Mr. Putin’s pledge.

Mr. Bennett said that during his mediation, Mr. Putin dropped his vow to seek Ukraine’s disarmament and Mr. Zelensky promised not to join NATO.

DEADLY EARTHQUAKE HITS SOUTH-EASTERN TURKEY NEAR SYRIA BORDER

A powerful earthquake has hit Gaziantep in south-eastern Turkey, near the border with Syria, killing at least five people.

The US Geological Survey said the 7.8 magnitude tremor struck at 04:17 local time (01:17 GMT) at a depth of 17.9km (11 miles) near the city of Gaziantep.

The quake was felt in the capital Ankara and other Turkish cities, and also across the wider region.

Many buildings have collapsed, and there are reports of people trapped.

Turkish Interior Minister Suleymon Soylu said 10 cities were affected: Gaziantep, Kahramanmaras, Hatay, Osmaniye, Adiyaman, Malatya, Sanliurfa, Adana, Diyarbakir and Kilis.

A BBC Turkish correspondent in Diyarbakir, north-east of Gaziantep, reported that a shopping mall in the city collapsed.

The tremor was also felt in Syria, Lebanon and Cyprus.

NEPAL PM’S COALITION ALLY WITHDRAWS FROM GOVT AFTER LEADER’S CITIZENSHIP ROW

Kathmandu : The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) on Sunday decided to withdraw from Nepal’s ruling coalition after PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda” refused to reinstate the party’s flamboyant chairman Rabi Lamichhane as the home minister after he recently re-acquired hiscitizenship.

The decision was taken after a joint meeting of RSP’s central members and lawmakers. Lamichhane, 48, was elected from Chitwan-2 constituency during the elections held in November lastyear.

He subsequently lost the status of a lawmaker following a verdict by Nepal’s Supreme Court on January 27, which stated that the citizenship certificate he produced to contest the parliamentary election was invalid, according to the Kathmandu Postnewspaper.

Subsequently, he also lost his ministerial portfolio and the presidency of the party because one needs to be a Nepali citizen to hold those positions, it said. On January 29, he reacquired his citizenship, following which he met Prachanda and demanded that he be restored to his former cabinet position, the report said.

But the Nepal PM was in no mood to relent, it added. Lamichhane was appointed deputy PM and home minister on December 26 last year. The RSP, floated by Lamichhane, won 20 seats in the federal polls, making its fourth largest force in parliament.

During a press conference organised after the joint meeting of RSP’s central committee, Lamichhane said that in the past, efforts were made to entangle him in several controversies, but he has always managed to steer out of it. RSP’s decision to withdraw from the coalition government does not alter PM Prachanda’s political fortunes. That’s because even though the RSP has decided to recall their ministers, they will continue to support this government, the Post report added.

OIL INDUSTRY IN PAK ON VERGE OF ‘COLLAPSE’ AMID LIQUIDITY CRISIS

Islamabad : Oil companies in cash-strapped Pakistan have warned that the industry is on the “brink of collapse” as the dollar liquidity crisis persists and their cost of doing business balloons due to the rupee’s devaluation.

The government removed the dollar cap to meet the International Monetary Fund’s demand which resulted in the Pakistani rupee falling to a historic low of Rs 276. 58 in the interbank market, according to a Geo Newsreport. The IMF has set several conditions for resuming the bailout, including a market-determined exchange rate for local currency and an easing of fuel subsidies, both conditions which the government has implemented.

In a letter to the oil and gas regulatory authority (OGRA) and energy ministry, the oil companies advisory council (OCAC) said that the “sudden depreciation” of the rupee has caused losses worth billions ofrupees to the industry as their letters of credit (LCs) are expected to be settled on the new rates, “whereas the related product has already been sold”, itsaid. The government has also restricted LCs due to dwindling foreign exchange reserves, which fell to $3,086. 2 million as of January 27, just enough to cover only 18 days’ worth of imports, report said.

Pakistan is facing a balance of payments crisis and the plummeting value of the local currency is pushing up the price of imported goods.

Energy comprises a large chunk of Pakistan’s import bill. The country typically meets more than a third of itsannual power demand, using imported natural gas, prices for which shot up following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

According to the OCAC, these losses not only have an impact on the profitability of the sector but also on its viability since these setbacks in some cases might exceed the “entire year’s profit for the sector”. The letter mentioned that OGRA has adopted the practice of not fully passing on the impact of the rupee depreciation and instead putting an immense burden on the sector.

POPE SEEKS AN END TO ETHNIC HATRED AT OPEN-AIR MASS IN SOUTH SUDAN

Pope Francis appealed on Sunday to the people of South Sudan to lay down their “weapons of hatred” at an open-air mass on the final day of his pilgrimage to a country blighted by violence and poverty. The 86-year-old pontiff had made peace and reconciliation the theme of his three-day trip to the world’s newest nation.

MACRON GIVES GROUND TO ALLIES IN UNPOPULAR PENSION REFORM BID

President Emmanuel Macron's government offered a concession on contested French pension reforms, seeking to shore up support from prospective right-wing allies. People who began work between the ages of 20 and 21 will be able to retire at 63 rather than the headline age of 64, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said.

FIVE INJURED IN BLAST PLANNED BY TTP IN PAKISTAN

At least five persons, mostly policemen, were injured in an explosion in Quetta on Sunday in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province, in yet another instance of systematic attacks targeting security officials in the country orchestrated by the outlawed Pakistani Taliban.

The explosion took place at Quetta Police Lines Area, and the injured are mostly policemen.

The outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed responsibility for the attack.