News In Brief
AFP, Washington
The United States and European allies sharpened their tone Friday on Iran, demanding Tehran immediately cease its ballistic missile tests, a day after it tested a rocket carrying a satellite.
Amid already tense US-Iran relations, the US Treasury imposed fresh sanctions, singling out six companies owned or controlled by Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group (SHIG), which it said was central to the Islamic republic’s missile program, freezing their US assets and barring US citizens from dealing with them. Foreign financial institutions could face punitive measures if they deal with the sanctioned entities, it added.
Sri Lanka, China sign $1.1b Hambantota Port deal
PTI, Colombo
Sri Lanka today signed a US $1.1 billion deal to sell a 70 per cent stake of the strategic Hambantota port to China, amid concerns over the massive debt the island nation incurred in building the port.
The deal had been delayed by several months over concerns that the deep-sea port could be used by the Chinese navy. Cash-rich China has invested millions of dollars in Sri Lanka’s infrastructure since the end of a brutal civil war in 2009.
Britain lifts laptop ban for some flights from Turkey
AFP, London
Britain on Friday lifted a ban on personal electronic devices for flights from Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen airport but will keep restrictions for Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and other Turkish hubs. Britain’s transport ministry said passengers would be allowed to carrying large phones, laptops and tablets in the cabin on all UK-bound flights from the airport.
Abbas leaves hospital after ‘routine checkup’
AFP, Ramallah
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas was discharged from hospital in the Israel-occupied West Bank on Saturday after a brief “routine checkup”, the official Wafa news agency reported.
The 82-year-old president “was admitted to hospital in Ramallah for a routine checkup to last only a few hours”, his spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said in a statement.
Wafa later reported: “The president left the Istishari hospital in Ramallah after routine health tests.”
