US unveils new drone policy for civilian use
The US today unveiled a set of ground rules for the use of small commercial drones which will enable the safe expansion of a new generation of aviation technologies that will create jobs, enhance public safety and advance scientific inquiry.
The new rules provides the first national, uniform guidelines for non-recreational operation of unmanned aircraft systems under 55 pounds, the White House said.
25 killed in Syria’s Raqa raids
AFP, Beirut
Air strikes on the Islamic State group’s de facto Syrian capital Raqa killed 25 civilians, six of them children, a monitoring group said on Wednesday.
“Dozens more were wounded, some of them critically,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, adding it was not immediately able to determine who carried out the Tuesday raids.
The Syrian government, its ally Russia and a US-led coalition have all carried out air strikes against IS in Raqa.
6 killed as rains batter Japan
Reuters, Tokyo
At least six people died and a university student was missing on Wednesday as record-breaking rains battered parts of southwestern Japan still reeling from earthquakes two months ago, setting off flooding and landslides.
Hundreds of thousands people were advised to evacuate a wide swathe of Kyushu, Japan’s southernmost main island, where 49 people died in earthquakes in April that weakened the ground and left it prone to landslides, NHK national news channel reported.
China giant panda gives birth to twins
AFP, Beijing
A giant panda in China has given birth to two cubs, conservation authorities said, the first twins of the critically endangered species this year even though multiple births are common.
Six-year-old Ya Li had the twin sisters last month at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in the southwestern province of Sichuan, it said in a statement.
50 Saudis detained over necklaces, haircuts
AFP, Riyadh
Fifty young men have been arrested in Saudi Arabia for haircuts, necklaces and other adornments considered un-Islamic.
The suspects were detained during a Ramadan crackdown in the western Saudi city of Mecca, Islam’s holiest site, according to Saudi news website Sabq.
India always tried to maintain ‘hegemony’
PTI, Islamabad
India always tried to maintain its “hegemony” in the South Asia region and Pakistan has rejected this while “effectively” protecting its interests, Prime Minister’s Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz has claimed.
Answering a question about Indo-Pak ties in an interview to Samaa TV, Mr Aziz said India has always tried to maintain its hegemony in the South Asia region.
