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France Faces Tough COVID Month, With Ski Lifts and Restaurants Set to Stay Shut

France Faces Tough COVID Month, With Ski Lifts and Restaurants Set to Stay Shut
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France Faces Tough COVID Month, With Ski Lifts and Restaurants Set to Stay Shut

France Faces Tough COVID Month, With Ski Lifts and Restaurants Set to Stay Shut

A more infectious coronavirus variant is expected to spread rapidly through France in the coming month, hospital chiefs said on Wednesday, raising fears of another lockdown as hopes faded that ski lifts and restaurants could reopen soon.

A government source told Reuters that ski lifts would most likely remain closed until the end of the season. Tourists can visit French resorts but the lifts have not run since the beginning of the season.

The source also said restaurants, closed apart from limited takeaway services since the end of October, will probably not reopen as planned on Feb. 1, with French media saying they would remain shut until early April.

Karine Lacombe, head of infectious diseases at Paris' Saint Antoine hospital, and Martin Hirsch, director general of the Paris hospitals system, both warned of the extra pressures facing the French healthcare system over the next month.

The two previous lockdowns last year were aimed at preventing hospitals from being overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients.

"We know this variant spreads much more quickly and, above all, it is more infectious. So, yes, we think that it will change the dynamic of the pandemic in the weeks to come," Lacombe told BFM TV.

The spread of this variant, first detected in England, has prompted Britain, Germany and Ireland to reimpose lockdowns.

France has stopped short such a measure for now - opting instead for a national 6 p.m. curfew - but members of the government have warned it is not off the table.

COVID-19 figures for Jan. 19 showed the seven-day moving average of new infections, which averages out daily data reporting irregularities, had increased to 18,820, the highest since Nov. 23.

The number of coronavirus patients in intensive care has now gone up for 10 consecutive days, to 2,839, a run not seen since early November, when France had just entered its second lockdown.

"We fear it will be extremely tough, especially in March. On a local level ... when the number of admissions in ICU units will ramp up, we probably will need more restrictive measures than the curfew," Lacombe said.

"We must remain alert and act as soon as we spot a deterioration of the indicators."

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World

India’s Foreign Minister Rejects Biden’s ‘Xenophobia’ Comment

People shop for earthen water vessels, known locally as poor man's refrigerator, from a roadside vendor in Hyderabad, India, Thursday, May 2, 2024. (AP)
People shop for earthen water vessels, known locally as poor man's refrigerator, from a roadside vendor in Hyderabad, India, Thursday, May 2, 2024. (AP)
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India’s Foreign Minister Rejects Biden’s ‘Xenophobia’ Comment

People shop for earthen water vessels, known locally as poor man's refrigerator, from a roadside vendor in Hyderabad, India, Thursday, May 2, 2024. (AP)
People shop for earthen water vessels, known locally as poor man's refrigerator, from a roadside vendor in Hyderabad, India, Thursday, May 2, 2024. (AP)

Indian foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar rejected US President Joe Biden's comment that "xenophobia" was hobbling the South Asian nation's economic growth, The Economic Times reported on Saturday.

Jaishankar said at a round table hosted by the newspaper on Friday that India's economy "is not faltering" and that it has historically been a society that is very open.

"That's why we have the CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act), which is to open up doors for people who are in trouble ... I think we should be open to people who have the need to come to India, who have a claim to come to India," Jaishankar said, referring to a recent law that allows immigrants who have fled persecution from neighboring countries to become citizens.

Earlier this week, Biden had said "xenophobia" in China, Japan and India was holding back growth in the respective economies as he argued migration has been good for the US economy.

"One of the reasons why our economy's growing is because of you and many others. Why? Because we welcome immigrants," Biden said at a fundraising event for his 2024 re-election campaign and marking the start of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast last month that growth in Asia's three largest economies would slow in 2024 from the previous year.

The IMF also forecast that the US economy would grow 2.7%, slightly brisker than its 2.5% rate last year. Many economists attribute the upbeat forecasts partly to migrants expanding the country's labor force.

World

Russian Trainers Move to a Niger Airbase Where Some US Troops Remain

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaks during a press briefing on Friday, April 26, 2024 at the Pentagon in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaks during a press briefing on Friday, April 26, 2024 at the Pentagon in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
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Russian Trainers Move to a Niger Airbase Where Some US Troops Remain

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaks during a press briefing on Friday, April 26, 2024 at the Pentagon in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaks during a press briefing on Friday, April 26, 2024 at the Pentagon in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

Russia has moved some troops onto an airbase in Niger where a small number of US forces remain, but Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he doesn't see it as a significant issue. Most American troops left that base in the nation's capital, Niamey, a US official said.
The arrival of Russian trainers in the West African country about three weeks ago came in the wake of Niger’s decision to order out all US troops. The order dealt a blow to US military operations in the Sahel, a vast region south of the Sahara desert where groups linked to al-Qaeda and the ISIS group operate.
The Pentagon has said the US troops will depart but has not provided a timeline.
When Russian troops arrived last month, it was unclear where they were staying. The Niamey base, Austin said late Thursday, is located at the capital city's Diori Hamani International Airport, and “the Russians are in a separate compound and don’t have access to US forces or access to our equipment.”
He said the US will continue to watch the situation but he doesn't see it as a significant force protection issue.
A US official said the Russian forces are on the other side of the Niamey facility, known as Airbase 101, and that other international forces — such as the Germans and Italians — also reside. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss troop movements. It's unclear how many US troops remain at the Niamey base.
The Russian presence on the base comes as tensions remain high between Washington and Moscow over the ongoing US support for Ukraine's military.
About 1,000 US troops are still in Niger, but the bulk of them moved to what's called Airbase 201 near Agadez, some 920 kilometers (550 miles) away from the capital, not long after mutinous soldiers ousted the country’s democratically elected president last July.
A few months later, the ruling junta asked French forces to leave and turned to the Russian mercenary group Wagner for security assistance.
In October, Washington officially designated the military takeover as a coup, which triggered US laws restricting the military support and aid that it can provide to Niger. Since then, diplomatic efforts to restore ties with Niger have been unsuccessful.
Until recently, Washington considered Niger a key partner and ally in a region swept by coups in recent years, investing millions of dollars in the Agadez base, which has been critical to US counterterrorism operations in the Sahel. The US also has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in training Niger’s military since it began operations there in 2013.
The Pentagon also has said the US will relocate most of the approximately 100 forces it has deployed in neighboring Chad for now. Chad is also considering whether to continue its security agreement with the US.
Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, told reporters that the departure from Chad "is a temporary step as part of the ongoing review of our security cooperation, which will resume after Chad’s May 6th presidential election.”

World

Democratic Lawmakers Tell Biden Evidence Shows Israel Is Restricting Gaza Aid

Palestinians walk a building destroyed by Israeli bombardment in Gaza City on May 3, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Hamas movement. (AFP)
Palestinians walk a building destroyed by Israeli bombardment in Gaza City on May 3, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Hamas movement. (AFP)
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Democratic Lawmakers Tell Biden Evidence Shows Israel Is Restricting Gaza Aid

Palestinians walk a building destroyed by Israeli bombardment in Gaza City on May 3, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Hamas movement. (AFP)
Palestinians walk a building destroyed by Israeli bombardment in Gaza City on May 3, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Hamas movement. (AFP)

Scores of lawmakers from US President Joe Biden's Democratic Party told him on Friday that they believe there is sufficient evidence to show that Israel has violated US law by restricting humanitarian aid flows into war-stricken Gaza.

A letter to Biden signed by 86 House of Representatives Democrats said Israel's aid restrictions "call into question" its assurances that it was complying with a US Foreign Assistance Act provision requiring recipients of US-funded arms to uphold international humanitarian law and allow free flows of US assistance.

Such written assurances were mandated by a national security memorandum that Biden issued in February after Democratic lawmakers began questioning if Israel was upholding international law in its Gaza operations.

The lawmakers said the Israeli government had resisted repeated US requests to open enough sea and land routes for aid to Gaza, and cited reports that it failed to allow in enough food to avert famine, enforced "arbitrary restrictions" on aid and imposed an inspection system that impeded supplies.

"We expect the administration to ensure (Israel's) compliance with existing law and to take all conceivable steps to prevent further humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza," the lawmakers wrote.

Biden's memorandum requires that Secretary of State Antony Blinken report to Congress by Wednesday on whether he finds credible Israel's assurances that its use of US arms adheres to international law.

At least four State Department bureaus advised Blinken last month that they found Israel's assurances "neither credible nor reliable."

If Israel's assurances are questioned, Biden would have the option to "remediate" the situation through actions ranging from seeking fresh assurances to suspending US arms transfers, according to the memorandum.

UN SAYS FAMINE ADVANCING IN GAZA

Israel denies violating international law and limiting aid in its war against Gaza's ruling Hamas gunmen, which was triggered by their Oct. 7 onslaught into Israel in which they killed more than 1,200 people and seized more than 200 hostages.

More than 34,000 Palestinians have died in nearly seven months of fighting, according to Gaza's health ministry, which has devastated the coastal enclave and left most of the population of 2.3 million displaced amid dire food and water shortages.

UN World Food Program Executive Director Cindy McCain told NBC News that there was now "full-blown famine" in northern Gaza.

In excerpts of an interview to be aired on Sunday on Meet the Press, McCain told NBC that she hoped for a ceasefire accord so that more aid could be delivered faster.

"There is famine – full-blown famine – in the north, and it's moving its way south. And so what we're asking for and what we've continually asked for is a ceasefire and the ability to have unfettered access," said McCain, the widow of the late Senator John McCain.

US officials say that while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has taken steps that have boosted aid deliveries, the amounts remain insufficient.

The lawmakers also condemned Hamas' Oct. 7 attack in their letter, endorsed Israel's right to exist and expressed support for US efforts to broker a ceasefire and a second hostage release.

Israel, they noted, recently opened more aid routes and crossing points into Gaza that have allowed in more aid trucks.

But the lawmakers expressed "serious concerns" over Israel's conduct of the war "as it pertains to the deliberate withholding of humanitarian aid."

They urged Biden "to make clear" to Netanyahu "that so long as Israel restricts, directly or indirectly" aid to Gaza "the Israeli government is risking its eligibility for further offensive security assistance from the US."

World

Flood and Landslide Hit Indonesia's Sulawesi Island, Killing 14

File photo: General view shows an area affected by the floods in Lajeado, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, May 2, 2024. Jeff Botega/Agencia RBS via REUTERS
File photo: General view shows an area affected by the floods in Lajeado, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, May 2, 2024. Jeff Botega/Agencia RBS via REUTERS
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Flood and Landslide Hit Indonesia's Sulawesi Island, Killing 14

File photo: General view shows an area affected by the floods in Lajeado, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, May 2, 2024. Jeff Botega/Agencia RBS via REUTERS
File photo: General view shows an area affected by the floods in Lajeado, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, May 2, 2024. Jeff Botega/Agencia RBS via REUTERS

A flood and a landslide hit Indonesia’s Sulawesi island, killing 14 people, officials said Saturday.
Torrential rain pounding the area since Thursday triggered a landslide in Luwu district in South Sulawesi province, said local rescue chief Mexianus Bekabel.
Floods up to 3 meters (10 feet) have affected 13 sub-districts as water and mud covered the area. More than 1,000 houses were affected, with 42 of them swept off their foundations, reported The Associated Press.
A search and rescue team worked to evacuate residents using rubber boats and other vehicles. More than 100 residents have been moved to mosques or relatives' houses outside the affected area, National Disaster Management Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said Saturday.
Seasonal downpours cause frequent landslides and floods in Indonesia, a chain of 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or in fertile floodplains.
Torrential rains in April triggered landslides and killed 20 people in Tana Toraja district of South Sulawesi province.

World

Rains in Southern Brazil Kill at Least 37

General view shows an area affected by the floods in Lajeado, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, May 2, 2024. Jeff Botega/Agencia RBS via REUTERS
General view shows an area affected by the floods in Lajeado, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, May 2, 2024. Jeff Botega/Agencia RBS via REUTERS
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Rains in Southern Brazil Kill at Least 37

General view shows an area affected by the floods in Lajeado, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, May 2, 2024. Jeff Botega/Agencia RBS via REUTERS
General view shows an area affected by the floods in Lajeado, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, May 2, 2024. Jeff Botega/Agencia RBS via REUTERS

Heavy rains in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul killed 37 people, with another 74 still missing, the state civil defense agency said Friday, as record-breaking floods devastated cities and forced thousands to leave their homes.
It was the fourth such environmental disaster in a year, following floods in July, September and November 2023 that killed 75 people in total.
The flooding statewide has surpassed that seen during a historic 1941 deluge, according to the Brazilian Geological Service. In some cities, water levels were at their highest since records began nearly 150 years ago, the agency said.
On Thursday, a dam at a hydroelectric plant between the cities of Bento Goncalves and Cotipora partially collapsed and entire cities in the Taquari River valley, like Lajeado and Estrela, were completely overtaken by water. In the town of Feliz, 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the state capital, Porto Alegre, a massively swollen river swept away a bridge that connected it with the neighboring city of Linha Nova.
Operators reported electricity, communications and water cuts across the state. More than 23,000 people had to leave their homes, according to the civil defense agency.
Without internet, telephone service or electricity, residents struggled to provide updates or information to their relatives living in other states. Helicopters flew continually over the cities while stranded families with children awaited rescue on the rooftops.
The downpour started Monday and is expected to last at least through Saturday, Marcelo Seluchi, chief meteorologist at the National Center for Monitoring and Alerts of Natural Disasters, told Brazil's public television network Friday.
On Thursday night, Gov. Eduardo Leite alerted the state's population — known as gauchos — about the persistence of rains and floods. The situation was expected to worsen in Porto Alegre, he said, according to The Associated Press.
“As a human being, I am devastated inside, just like every gaucho is," he said. "But as governor, I am here steadfast and I guarantee that we will not falter. We are doing everything with focus, attention, discipline, and outrage, to ensure that everything within our reach is done.”

World

Russia Promises 'Devastating Revenge' if Ukraine Attacks Crimean Bridge

A Ukrainian serviceman of the 28th Separate Mechanised Brigade with the call sign 'Sokil' (Falcon) and his brother-in-arms prepare an FPV (first person view) drone for a test flight at a training ground, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk Region, Ukraine May 3, 2024. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
A Ukrainian serviceman of the 28th Separate Mechanised Brigade with the call sign 'Sokil' (Falcon) and his brother-in-arms prepare an FPV (first person view) drone for a test flight at a training ground, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk Region, Ukraine May 3, 2024. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
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Russia Promises 'Devastating Revenge' if Ukraine Attacks Crimean Bridge

A Ukrainian serviceman of the 28th Separate Mechanised Brigade with the call sign 'Sokil' (Falcon) and his brother-in-arms prepare an FPV (first person view) drone for a test flight at a training ground, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk Region, Ukraine May 3, 2024. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
A Ukrainian serviceman of the 28th Separate Mechanised Brigade with the call sign 'Sokil' (Falcon) and his brother-in-arms prepare an FPV (first person view) drone for a test flight at a training ground, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk Region, Ukraine May 3, 2024. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

Russia warned on Friday it would launch a "devastating revenge strike" if Ukraine, backed by the West, strikes Crimea or the Crimean Bridge which links southern Russia to the Black Sea peninsula and has been targeted by Kyiv twice before.
Moscow said it believed that Ukraine, which has recently taken delivery of long-range ATACM guided missile systems from the United States, was plotting to attack the bridge ahead of or on May 9, the day when Russia marks the Soviet Union's World War Two victory over Nazi Germany.
Russia seized and annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. Kyiv has repeatedly said it deems as illegal the construction of the road and rail bridge, which has been used in the past to move troops and weaponry. Ukraine says it wants Crimea back.
Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, listed statements and social media posts by officials from Ukraine and European Union member states that she said suggested the bridge was in Kyiv's sights, Reuters reported.
Ukraine's UN Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya on May 1 posted on X what he called a "2024 list of 6 Main Types of Bridges" with a set of images.
The final image, labelled "Kerch", the name of the Crimean town at one end of the Crimean Bridge, was left blank, perhaps suggesting it would be destroyed.
Some East European diplomats and officials have posted similar content.
"The Crimean Bridge is once again in the crosshairs," Zakharova told a news briefing.
"Preparations for an attack on it, which is hard to believe, are now being carried out openly, with ostentatious bravado and with the absolute direct and shameless support of the collective West.
"I would like to warn Washington and Brussels that any aggressive actions against Crimea are not only doomed to fail, but will also be met with a devastating revenge strike," she said.
Zakharova noted that British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said on Thursday that Ukraine had the right to use weapons supplied by Britain to hit targets inside Russia, something she said was proof the West was waging a hybrid war against Moscow.
Crimea was part of the Russian Empire and later of the Russian Soviet Socialist Republic from 1783 till 1954 when Moscow gifted it to what was then the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, when both were part of the Soviet Union.
Moscow now says that decision was a mistake.

World

Bus Falls into Ravine in Pakistan's Far North, Killing 20

Injured people transferred to an ambulance in Pakistan (AP archive)
Injured people transferred to an ambulance in Pakistan (AP archive)
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Bus Falls into Ravine in Pakistan's Far North, Killing 20

Injured people transferred to an ambulance in Pakistan (AP archive)
Injured people transferred to an ambulance in Pakistan (AP archive)

A bus veered into a ravine in Pakistan's far north early on Friday, a local government spokesman said, killing 20 passengers, while 21 injured were rescued and taken to hospital.
The bus was headed to the mountainous northern area of Gilgit-Baltistan from the garrison city of Rawalpindi in Pakistan's eastern province of Punjab, when the accident happened in the early hours.
"The bus was passing through Diamer district in Gilgit-Baltistan when it fell into a deep ravine," Faizullah Firaq, a spokesman for local government authorities in the area, told Reuters, adding that 21 people were injured.
The government immediately launched a rescue operation to evacuate all the injured, who were taken to hospital, he added.
Fatal road accidents are common in Pakistan, where traffic rules are rarely followed and roads in many rural areas are in poor condition.
For decades Pakistan has done extensive work in carving roads through its dramatic rugged northern terrain, home to some of the world's highest mountain ranges, approached by narrow roads perched on sheer cliffs.
Militant attacks, including one in March nearby in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that killed six people, pose another risk to travelers in the area, targeting Chinese-backed dams and hydropower infrastructure projects.

World

UK's Labor Claim Big Early Win over PM Sunak’s Conservatives

A voter arrives at a polling station located at Saint Savior Church in Chalk Farm, north London, to cast her vote in local elections, on May 2, 2024. (AFP)
A voter arrives at a polling station located at Saint Savior Church in Chalk Farm, north London, to cast her vote in local elections, on May 2, 2024. (AFP)
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UK's Labor Claim Big Early Win over PM Sunak’s Conservatives

A voter arrives at a polling station located at Saint Savior Church in Chalk Farm, north London, to cast her vote in local elections, on May 2, 2024. (AFP)
A voter arrives at a polling station located at Saint Savior Church in Chalk Farm, north London, to cast her vote in local elections, on May 2, 2024. (AFP)

Britain's opposition Labor Party won a parliamentary seat in northern England on Friday and control of several councils, inflicting heavy losses on the governing Conservatives to pile more pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

The thumping victory set the tone for what will be a closely watched two days of local results before a national election this year, which polling shows could put Labor leader Keir Starmer in power and end 14 years of Conservative government.

Voters cast their ballots on Thursday for more than 2,000 seats on local authorities across England and a handful of high-profile mayoral elections, including in the capital, London.

Blackpool South was the only parliamentary seat up for grabs after the Conservative lawmaker quit over a lobbying scandal.

Labor candidate Chris Webb won the Blackpool election with 10,825 votes. The Conservative candidate came in second with 3,218. The swing of 26% to Labor from the 2019 result was the third biggest in post-war by-election history, polling expert John Curtice said.

The defeat in Blackpool and early signs of deep losses at the council level will boost Labor’s hopes for a sweeping victory over Sunak's Conservatives in the national election.

"This seismic win in Blackpool South is the most important result today," Starmer said.

"This is the one contest where voters had the chance to send a message to Rishi Sunak's Conservatives directly, and that message is an overwhelming vote for change."

The chairman of the Conservative Party said it had been "a tough night".

"Obviously not a great set of results," Richard Holden told Times Radio.

POOR SHOWING BY CONSERVATIVES

Sunak's Conservatives are about 20 percentage points behind Labor in most opinion polls for the national election, which Sunak has said he intends to call in the second half of the year.

The British leader had hoped his announcement on increased defense spending and the passing of his divisive plan to send illegal asylum seekers to Rwanda might win over voters, but the losses could again fuel calls for him to step down.

Curtice said that, based on results so far, the Conservatives could be looking at their worst local election results for 40 years and were on course for defeat in the national election.

The first 500 of the more than 2,600 local council results showed Labor making gains at the expense of the Conservatives - in line with finance minister Jeremy Hunt's pre-vote prediction of significant losses for the governing party.

The Conservatives seized on Starmer's failure to win control of one southeastern council that it had targeted.

Labor said anger over the party's stance on Gaza, where Palestinian health authorities say more than 34,500 people have been killed in Israel's military offensive, had tempered some council results but the overall message from the polls was that people wanted change.

"This is on the eve of a general election ... The mood is that it's time for a change," said Labor's national campaign coordinator, Pat McFadden.

Although local elections do not always reflect how people will vote in a national contest, a heavy defeat could trigger renewed anger in the Conservative Party over Sunak's leadership.

The extent of that unrest could hinge on the results of two mayoral elections in which the Conservatives hope to show they can still hold ground in central and northeast England.

The Tees Valley mayoral result is due on Friday, while the West Midlands mayor is to be announced on Saturday. The result in London, where current Labor mayor Sadiq Khan is expected to win another term, is also due on Saturday.

World

Taiwan Says Chinese Planes Crossed Median Line, China Carries Out Landing Drills

Members of Taiwan's Navy and media onboard a special operation boat navigate near a Kuang Hua VI-class missile boat, during a drill part of a demonstration for the media, to show combat readiness ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays, on the waters near a military base in Kaohsiung, Taiwan January 31, 2024. (Reuters)
Members of Taiwan's Navy and media onboard a special operation boat navigate near a Kuang Hua VI-class missile boat, during a drill part of a demonstration for the media, to show combat readiness ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays, on the waters near a military base in Kaohsiung, Taiwan January 31, 2024. (Reuters)
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Taiwan Says Chinese Planes Crossed Median Line, China Carries Out Landing Drills

Members of Taiwan's Navy and media onboard a special operation boat navigate near a Kuang Hua VI-class missile boat, during a drill part of a demonstration for the media, to show combat readiness ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays, on the waters near a military base in Kaohsiung, Taiwan January 31, 2024. (Reuters)
Members of Taiwan's Navy and media onboard a special operation boat navigate near a Kuang Hua VI-class missile boat, during a drill part of a demonstration for the media, to show combat readiness ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays, on the waters near a military base in Kaohsiung, Taiwan January 31, 2024. (Reuters)

Taiwan's defense ministry said on Friday it had detected a renewed incursion by Chinese military aircraft across the sensitive Taiwan Strait, as China reported its navy had carried out combat drills with landing craft.

Over the past four years, China's military has significantly ramped up its activities around democratically-governed Taiwan. Beijing views the island as its own territory, a position the government in Taipei strongly rejects.

The defense ministry, in its daily morning update on Chinese activities in the previous 24 hours, said 14 Chinese military aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait's median line, getting as close as 41 nautical miles (76 km) to the northern Taiwanese port city of Keelung, home to a major navy base.

The median line previously served as an unofficial border between the two sides, but Chinese military aircraft now regularly cross it. China says it does not recognize the line's existence.

Taiwan said on Thursday that China had carried out a "joint combat readiness patrol" near the island for the second time in a week.

China's defense ministry did not answer calls seeking comment on Friday, the country being in the middle of its Labour Day holiday.

On Thursday, the Eastern Theatre Command of China's People's Liberation Army, which is responsible for the area around Taiwan, showed pictures on its WeChat social media account of ships carrying out what it called live combat landing drills.

It did not say when or where exactly the exercises took place, but showed images of ship-mounted guns opening fire and operating in formation.

"The vanguard of the landing team are always ready to fight," it said in text to accompany the pictures.

The island's top security official said on Wednesday that Taiwan is on alert for China to carry out military exercises following the inauguration of President-elect Lai Ching-te later this month.

Taiwan National Security Bureau Director-General Tsai Ming-yen said China had begun using unusual new tactics, including staging nighttime combat patrols and using landing ships and minesweepers in those patrols.

China's coast guard this week has also been carrying out more patrols around the Taiwan-controlled Kinmen islands which sit next to the Chinese coast. The patrols began in February following a dispute about the death of two Chinese nationals who tried fleeing Taiwan's coast guard upon entering prohibited waters.

Chinese state media said Friday's "normal law enforcement inspection" by its coast guard near Kinmen was to help protect fishermen. Taiwan has decried the patrols as an intimidation tactic.

Lai, who is inaugurated on May 20 after winning election in January, is strongly disliked by China which believes him to be a dangerous separatist. China's government has rejected his repeated offers of talks, including one made last week.

Lai, like current President Tsai Ing-wen, rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims; both say only the island's people can decide their future.

Lai has been Taiwan's vice president for the past four years.

World

Russia Says It Downs Six Ukraine-Launched Drones

A view shows an apartment block destroyed in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in the town of Popasna in the Luhansk region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, May 2, 2024. (Reuters)
A view shows an apartment block destroyed in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in the town of Popasna in the Luhansk region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, May 2, 2024. (Reuters)
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Russia Says It Downs Six Ukraine-Launched Drones

A view shows an apartment block destroyed in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in the town of Popasna in the Luhansk region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, May 2, 2024. (Reuters)
A view shows an apartment block destroyed in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in the town of Popasna in the Luhansk region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, May 2, 2024. (Reuters)

The Russian defense ministry said on Friday that its air defense forces destroyed six drones that Ukraine launched overnight.

Five of the drones were downed over the Belgorod region that borders Ukraine and one over the Crimean Peninsula, the defense ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.

The ministry did not provide any details on possible damage due to the attack.

Reuters could not immediately verify the Russian defense ministry's comments.

Russia rarely discloses information about the full impact of Ukraine's attacks on its territory and infrastructure.

Kyiv officials say targeting Russia's military, energy and transport infrastructure undermines Moscow's war effort.