Lille Airport in Northern France Evacuated Due to Bomb Scare

(FILES) Check-in counters at Airport Lille-Lesquin, northern France are closed on April 15, 2010 as a result of the volcano eruption in Iceland. Six airports across France were evacuated on October 18, 2023 after emailed "threats of attack", a police source told AFP. (Photo by PHILIPPE HUGUEN / AFP)
(FILES) Check-in counters at Airport Lille-Lesquin, northern France are closed on April 15, 2010 as a result of the volcano eruption in Iceland. Six airports across France were evacuated on October 18, 2023 after emailed "threats of attack", a police source told AFP. (Photo by PHILIPPE HUGUEN / AFP)
TT

Lille Airport in Northern France Evacuated Due to Bomb Scare

(FILES) Check-in counters at Airport Lille-Lesquin, northern France are closed on April 15, 2010 as a result of the volcano eruption in Iceland. Six airports across France were evacuated on October 18, 2023 after emailed "threats of attack", a police source told AFP. (Photo by PHILIPPE HUGUEN / AFP)
(FILES) Check-in counters at Airport Lille-Lesquin, northern France are closed on April 15, 2010 as a result of the volcano eruption in Iceland. Six airports across France were evacuated on October 18, 2023 after emailed "threats of attack", a police source told AFP. (Photo by PHILIPPE HUGUEN / AFP)

The Lille airport in northern France is being evacuated due to a bomb scare, the airport said on Wednesday on social media platform X.
"State security teams are on site," the airport said.
According to BFM TV, citing police sources, the Toulouse, Nice and Lyon airports were also evacuated on Wednesday due to security alerts, reported Reuters.
France is on its highest state of alert after the Oct. 13 murder of a teacher in a suspected Islamist attack.
On Tuesday, the Palace of Versailles, one of France's main tourist sites, was closed for a few hours, due to its second security scare in four days.



China’s Foreign Minister Warns Philippines over US Missile Deployment

 China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends the 14th EAST Asia Summit Foreign Ministers' Meeting in the 57th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting at the National Convention Center, in Vientiane, Laos July 27, 2024. (Reuters)
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends the 14th EAST Asia Summit Foreign Ministers' Meeting in the 57th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting at the National Convention Center, in Vientiane, Laos July 27, 2024. (Reuters)
TT

China’s Foreign Minister Warns Philippines over US Missile Deployment

 China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends the 14th EAST Asia Summit Foreign Ministers' Meeting in the 57th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting at the National Convention Center, in Vientiane, Laos July 27, 2024. (Reuters)
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends the 14th EAST Asia Summit Foreign Ministers' Meeting in the 57th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting at the National Convention Center, in Vientiane, Laos July 27, 2024. (Reuters)

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has warned the Philippines over the US intermediate-range missile deployment, saying such a move could fuel regional tensions and spark an arms race.

The United States deployed its Typhon missile system to the Philippines as part of joint military drills earlier this year. It was not fired during the exercises, a Philippine military official later said, without giving details on how long it would stay in the country.

China-Philippines relations are now at a crossroads and dialogue and consultation are the right way, Wang told the Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo on Friday during a meeting in Vientiane, the capital of Laos where top diplomats of world powers have gathered ahead of two summits.

Wang said relations between the countries are facing challenges because the Philippines has "repeatedly violated the consensus of both sides and its own commitments", according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement.

"If the Philippines introduces the US intermediate-range missile system, it will create tension and confrontation in the region and trigger an arms race, which is completely not in line with the interests and wishes of the Filipino people," Wang said.

The Philippines' military and its foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wang's remarks.

China and the Philippines are locked in a confrontation in the South China Sea and their encounters have grown more tense as Beijing presses its claims to disputed shoals in waters within Manila's its exclusive economic zone.

Wang said China has recently reached a temporary arrangement with the Philippines on the transportation and replenishment of humanitarian supplies to Ren'ai Jiao in order to maintain the stability of the maritime situation, referring to the Second Thomas Shoal.

Philippine vessels on Saturday successfully completed their latest mission to the shoal unimpeded, its foreign ministry said in a statement.