Israel allows
shipment of rescue vehicles into Gaza
AP, Gaza City
Israel allowed the import of around 20 rescue and firefighting vehicles into the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, Palestinian officials said.
The equipment, which was donated by Qatar, includes several SUVs fitted with water pumps. Gaza’s Civil Defense previously had just 33 vehicles to serve the territory’s 2 million people, including a single fire truck with a hydraulic platform.
Saudi student in alleged ‘kill list’ plot ordered held
AP, Albuquerque
A Saudi Arabian student who prosecutors say illegally obtained a gun in the U.S. and told someone he wanted to kill a professor and others was ordered Tuesday held until his trial on a federal gun charge.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Laura Fashing ruled Tuesday that Hassan Alqahtani posed a danger and should be kept in federal custody after she heard allegations of domestic violence and threats reportedly made to others.
China commissions first home-built
aircraft carrier
AP, Beijing
President Xi Jinping attended the commissioning of China’s first entirely home-built aircraft carrier, underscoring the country’s rise as a regional naval power at a time of tensions with the U.S. and others over trade, Taiwan and the South China Sea.
The Shandong is the second Chinese aircraft carrier to enter service after the Liaoning, which was originally purchased as a hulk from Ukraine and entirely refurbished .
London street bans petrol, diesel cars
AFP, London
Petrol and diesel vehicles will be banned from a street in central London in an innovative attempt to reduce pollution, local authorities said.
Officials said Beech Street, which runs underneath the Brutalist designed Barbican Estate, would become Britain’s first “24-7 zero emission street”.
During an 18-month trial starting next year, the area will be restricted to electric or hybrid vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists, the City of London Corporation announced on Monday.
