Reuters, Beijing
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday called for greater efforts to make the country’s navy a world class one, strong in operations on, below and above the surface, as it steps up its ability to project power far from its shores.
China’s navy has taken an increasingly prominent role in recent months, with a rising star admiral taking command, its first aircraft carrier sailing around self-ruled Taiwan and a new aircraft carrier launched last month.
Editor shot dead in Siberia
AP, Moscow
Russian investigators say the editor of a local newspaper in Siberia has been shot dead. The Investigative Committee in the Krasnoyarsk region said in a statement on Thursday that 42-year-old Dmitry Popkov, editor of the Ton-M newspaper, was found dead with gunshot wounds outside his home in the city of Minusinsk late on Wednesday.
UK police make 7th arrest in Manchester terror probe
AFP, Manchester
British police arrested a seventh person Wednesday in connection with the massacre at a Manchester pop concert that left 22 people dead. The arrest was made following searches at an address in the town of Nuneaton in central England, and is the first outside the Manchester area.
“This evening we have been carrying out searches at an address in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, and arrested a man,” the Greater Manchester Police force said in a statement.
Montenegro to join NATO in June
AFP, Brussels
Montenegro will formally become NATO’s 29th member in early June, alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday, amid bitter Russian opposition to the move.
“It shows that NATO’s door is open,” Stoltenberg said ahead of a leaders summit attended by US President Donald Trump and the Montenegro premier Dusko Markovic.
“I welcome the prime minister here today but I will be also be present when the documents of… joining the alliance will be deposited in Washington,” he told reporters when asked about his trip.
