CHINA SAYS US BALLOONS BREACHED AIRSPACE AT LEAST 10 TIMES

China's foreign ministry says the US has flown balloons into its airspace more than 10 times in the past year.

It comes after the US on 4 February shot down a suspected spy balloon over its airspace - which China said was one of its weather balloons gone astray.

Relations between the two countries have since deteriorated. In recent days, the US has also shot down a number of other unidentified objects.

Questioned on Monday, Beijing said the US had made many airspace breaches.

"It's not uncommon as well for the US to illegally enter the airspace of other countries," said foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin at a regular press briefing.

"Since last year alone, US balloons have illegally flown above China more than 10 times without any approval from Chinese authorities."

"The first thing the US side should do is start with a clean slate, undergo some self-reflection, instead of smearing and accusing China," he added.

He said Beijing had responded to the incursions in a "responsible and professional" manner.

"If you want to know more about US high-altitude balloons illegally entering China's airspace, I suggest you refer to the US side," he said.

The White House knocked back the allegation. “Any claim that the U.S. government operates surveillance balloons over the PRC is false,” National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said on Twitter. “It is China that has a high-altitude surveillance balloon program for intelligence collection, that it has used to violate the sovereignty of the US and over 40 countries across 5 continents.”

The State Department responded with a similar rejection. It called Beijing’s accusation “the latest example of China scrambling to do damage control,” and said the government “has failed to offer any credible explanations for its intrusion into our airspace.”

BRITAIN TO REVIEW AIRSPACE SECURITY AFTER BALLOON ROW

London : British PM Rishi Sunak said on Monday that the government would do “whatever it takes” to protect the country, as the UK announced a security review after several unidentified objects were shot down in the skies over North America.

Asked about the objects, Sunak said he wouldn’t “comment in detail on security matters, but people should be reassured that we have all the capabilities in place to keep the country safe,” including a quick-reaction force of Typhoon jets. Defence secretary Ben Wallace said “ UK and her allies will review what these airspace intrusions mean for our security”. UK’s transport minister Richard Holden said it was “possible” China had flown spy balloons over UK. He said UK would deal “robustly” with China, which he called “a hostilestate. ”

MOLDOVA PREZ SAYS RUSSIA PLANS TO TOPPLE GOVT, DERAIL JOINING EU

Chisinau (Moldova) : Moldova’s president outlined on Monday what she described as a plot by Moscow to use external saboteurs to overthrow her country’s government, put the nation “at the disposal of Russia” and derail its aspirations to one day join the EuropeanUnion.

President Maia Sandu’s briefing comes a week after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country had intercepted plans by Russian secret services to destroy Moldova, claims that were later confirmed by Moldovan intelligence officials. “The plan for the next period involves actions with the involvement of diversionists with military training, camouflaged in civilian clothes, who will undertake violent actions, attack some state buildings,” Sandu said. “The purpose of these actions is to overthrow the constitutional order, to change the legitimate power from Chisinau to an illegitimate one,” Sandusaid, “which would put our country at the disposal of Russia, in order to stop the European integration process”. She defiantly vowed: “The Kremlin’sattempts to bring violence to our country will notsucceed. ”

IMF AND PAK TO RESUME BAILOUT TALKS: OFFICIAL

Islamabad : Talks between the International Monetary Fund and Pakistan will resume virtually on Monday, a Pakistani official said, as the two sides look to reach a deal to unlock funding critical to keep the cash-strapped south Asian countryafloat. The two could not reach a deal last week and a visiting IMF delegation departed Islamabad after 10 days of talks. Pakistan is in dire need of funds as it battles awrenching economiccrisis. An agreement, if reached, would still need to be cleared by the IMF board.

THOUSANDS MARCH IN ISRAEL AGAINST NETANYAHU GOVT.’S JUDICIAL OVERHAUL

JERUSALEM: Thousands of Israelis protested outside Parliament on Monday ahead of a preliminary vote on a Bill that would give politicians greater power over appointing judges. The committee vote marked the opening salvo by Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies in a plan that has divided the country.

U.S. ASKS CITIZENS IN RUSSIA TO LEAVE; SAYS THEY FACE RISK OF HARASSMENT

MOSCOW: The U.S. told its citizens to leave Russia immediately due to the war in Ukraine and the risk of arbitrary arrest or harassment by law enforcement agencies. “U.S. citizens residing or travelling in Russia should depart immediately,” the embassy in Moscow said. “Exercise increased caution due to the risk of wrongful detentions.”

PHILIPPINES: CHINA SHIP USED LASER TO HINDER COAST GUARD

Manila: The Philippines on Monday accused a Chinese coast guard ship of hitting a Philippine coast guard vessel with a military-grade laser and temporarily blinding some of its crew in the disputed South China Sea, calling it a “blatant” violation of Manila’s sovereign rights.

The Chinese ship also manoeuvred dangerously close, about 137 metres, to block the Philippine patrol vessel BRP Malapascua from approaching Second Thomas Shoal, a submerged reef that has been occupied by Philippine forces, on February 6, the Philippine coast guard said. A video issued by the coast guard in Manila shows a Chinese coast guard ship cutting across the path of a Philippine vessel. A green laser-like light is later emitted by the Chinese ship. Chinese foreign ministry official Wang Wenbin said a Philippine vessel trespassed into Chinese waters on February 6. China’s ships responded “professionally and with restraint,” he said, without mentioning the use of laser.

CYCLONE GABRIELLE: NEW ZEALAND DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY

New Zealand has declared a state of emergency due to Cyclone Gabrielle, the third such alert in its history.

The Minister for Emergency Management, Kieran McAnulty, signed the national declaration into place Tuesday morning.

It will apply to the Northland, Auckland, Tairawhiti, Bay of Plenty, Waikato and Hawkes Bay regions and streamline the government's response to the disaster.

At least 38,000 homes were without power on Tuesday morning.

In New Zealand's largest city, Auckland, authorities earlier evacuated people from 50 homes around a 30m-high tower that was in danger of collapse, local media reported. Dozens of evacuation centres have also been set up in the city.

Mr McAnulty described the storm as "an unprecedented weather event".

He said the state of emergency will allow for federal co-ordination of a clean- up response and would provide additional resources to those who are affected. It also gives the government more power to respond to dangerous situations, including restricting travel.

New Zealand's Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced a NZ$11.5m (£6m; US$7.3m) aid package on Monday.

Cyclone Gabrielle is hitting New Zealand's north, just weeks after Auckland and surrounding areas endured record rainfall and flooding which killed four people.

‘CATHOLIC PRIESTS ABUSED NEARLY 5,000 CHILDREN IN PORTUGAL’

Catholic clergy in Portugal have abused nearly 5,000 children since 1950, an independent commission said on Monday after hearing hundreds of victims’ accounts. The Portuguese inquiry, commissioned by the Church in the staunchly Catholic country, published its findings after hearing from more than 500 victims last year.

“This testimony allows us to establish a much larger network of victims, at least 4,815,” commission head Pedro Strecht said in Lisbon.

Mr. Strecht, a child psychiatrist, said it would be difficult now for Portugal to ignore the existence of child sex abuse or the trauma it caused.

The head of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference (CEP), Bishop Jose Ornelas, will respond to the findings later on Monday.

The country’s bishops will convene in March to draw conclusions from the report and “rid the Church of this scourge as much as possible”, Father Manuel Barbosa, a senior CEP member, said in January.

Faced with a multitude of clergy sex abuse cases that have come to light worldwide and the accusations of cover-ups, Pope Francis promised in 2019 to root out paedophilia within the Catholic Church. Inquiries have been launched in several countries in addition to Portugal, including Australia, France, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands.

SAUDI ARABIA TO SEND ITS FIRST WOMAN INTO SPACE

Saudi Arabia will send its first ever woman astronaut on a space mission later this year, state media has reported, in the latest move to revamp the kingdom’s ultra-conservative image. Rayyana Barnawi will join fellow Saudi male astronaut Ali Al-Qarni on a mission to the International Space Station (ISS) “during the second quarter of 2023”, the official Saudi Press Agency said on Sunday. The astronauts “will join the crew of the AX-2 space mission” and the space flight will “launch from the US”, the agency said. The oil-rich country will be following in the footsteps of the UAE which in 2019 became the first Arab country to send one of its citizens into space. At the time, astronaut Hazzaa al-Mansoori spent eight days on the ISS. Another fellow Emirati, Sultan al-Neyadi, will also make a voyage later this month.

PART OF CROATIA’S HEARTSHAPED ISLAND UP FOR SALE

Part of Croatia’s unique heartshaped Adriatic islet nicknamed by tourists the Island of Love is up for sale. Part of the uninhabited islet of Galesnjak is being offered to prospective buyers for development. “I think its popularity is high,” said Silvestro Kardum, a representative for the owner of the land on sale. There are no hotels, villas, or restaurants on the islet, but many celebrities and their yachts frequent Galesnjak every summer. “Beyonce had her 39th birthday party on the islet, there’s no lack of celebrities,” he said. Proceeds from the sale would be invested elsewhere in the local community, he said. “The island has an area of 142,000 sq metres and about 40,000 sq metres is up for sale for € 13 million. ”