Reuters, Warsaw
Poland hopes to buy the American Patriot air and missile defense system, Defence Minister Antoni Macierewicz said on Saturday, signaling a $5 billion deal may be struck despite the new conservative government’s initial doubts.
In April 2015, Poland’s centrist government said it would buy Raytheon’s Patriot missiles, a deal which the then opposition conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party said it would review should it come to power.
Following PiS’ election victory in October, the new government questioned whether the “original cost and timeline assumptions, as well as those regarding the scope of (U.S.) cooperation with Polish industry,” could be met, adding it might scrap the deal.
Suicide bomber kills 13 in Afghanistan
Reuters, Afghanistan
A suicide bomber killed 13 people in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad on Sunday at the home of a tribal elder when people had gathered to celebrate his son’s release from Taliban captivity, local officials said.The son was killed and at least 14 people, including his father, were wounded in the attack, according to Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the provincial governor.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
600 militants stopped from going to Syria: UK
AFP, London
Some 600 Britons have been stopped from going to Syria to try to join the militant Islamic State (IS) group and other militant groups, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said in comments reported on Saturday.
Meanwhile some 800 have made it through since 2012, with half of them still thought to be inside the war-torn country, he said, in comments reported in The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph newspapers.
Kobe marks 21 years since killer quake
AFP, Tokyo
Japan today marked the 21st anniversary of a devastating earthquake in the western city of Kobe that killed more than 6,400 people, as bereaved families looked to keep memories of the victims alive.
An estimated 9,000 people gathered for an annual early-morning commemoration at a public park in the port city, where a 7.2 magnitude quake hit at 5:46 am on January 17, 1995.
Australia PM makes surprise visit to Iraq
AFP, Baghdad
Australian Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull made an unannounced visit to Baghdad Saturday and held talks with his Iraqi counterpart on the fight against the Islamic State group, the premier’s office said.
Australia is part of a US-led coalition carrying out air strikes against IS and providing training to Iraqi forces. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s office said he and Turnbull discussed the war against IS, strengthening relations between the two countries as well as economic and agricultural cooperation.
