AP, Gauhati
Indian authorities have issued an alert about flooding from a rain-swollen river that flows from China and have rescued some from an island in the river in the remote northeast. Tamiyo Tatak, a district magistrate, said Friday that hundreds of people from about a dozen villages have moved to higher ground in Arunachal Pradesh state on the Indian side.
Tatak said China warned India this week that torrential rains have increased the water in the Siang River that flows into India’s northeast.
Boeing to develop refueling drones for Pentagon
AFP, Washington
The Pentagon announced Thursday it had awarded US aerospace giant Boeing an $805 million contract to develop the first unmanned refueling drones for the United States Navy.
Boeing is charged with everything from designing and producing to delivering and servicing four “MQ-25A Stingray” drones, which will enter service in 2024, the Navy said in a statement. The drones – named after their stingray silhouette – will be launched from aircraft carriers, greatly expanding US aircrafts’ range and mission capability.
Iran moves missiles to Iraq
Reuters, Paris
Iran has given ballistic missiles to Shi’ite proxies in Iraq and is developing the capacity to build more there to deter attacks on its interests in the Middle East and to give it the means to hit regional foes, Iranian, Iraqi and Western sources said. Any sign that Iran is preparing a more aggressive missile policy in Iraq will exacerbate tensions between Tehran and Washington, already heightened by U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
Moon to send special envoy to N Korea next week
AFP, Seoul
South Korean President Moon Jae-in will send a special envoy to Pyongyang next Wednesday to discuss plans to hold a summit with the North’s Kim Jong Un and nuclear disarmament, local media said Friday.
The unnamed envoy will visit the North’s capital city on September 5, Yonhap news agency said, citing a presidential spokesman.
Myanmar releases 75 child soldiers from service
Reuters, Yangon
Myanmar’s armed forces released 75 children and young people from military service on Friday, the United Nations said, amid international outrage over alleged abuses committed by troops in the country’s numerous ongoing conflicts. Myanmar has now discharged 924 underage recruits since signing up to a joint action plan on child soldiers with U.N. agencies in June 2012, said Knut Ostby, the United Nations resident humanitarian coordinator for Myanmar, and June Kunugi, representative of the U.N.’s children’s fund, Unicef, in a joint statement.
