UK's Prince Philip surrenders driving license following crash
London, February 10 (IANS): UK's Prince Philip has surrendered his driving license, the Buckingham Palace announced, weeks after the 97-year-old was involved in a car crash that left a woman injured."After careful consideration, the Duke of Edinburgh has taken the decision to voluntarily surrender his driving licence," the Palace said in a statement on Saturday. UK police sent their investigation of the crash to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which is considering whether to bring charges against Prince Philip over the crash last month, reports CNN. A CPS spokesman said they would "review each file carefully before a decision is made" and will take into account that Philip surrendered his license. A Land Rover driven by Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, collided with another car on a public road near the Queen's Sandringham estate in Norfolk, England, last month. The Prince later apologised to Emma Fairweather, who suffered a broken arm in the collision, blaming the crash on sunlight that obscured his view and admitting he was "shaken" by the incident.
Russia warns against dismantling of arms control system
Moscow, February 10 (IANS): The dismantling of arms control system by the United States might cause unpredictable consequences, Vasily Nebenzya, Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations, said on Saturday. "Look what is going on in the disarmament field. The Americans tend to dismantle the arms control system, which will evolve into an absolutely unpredictable scenario," Nebenzya was quoted by Tass news agency as saying in an interview with Russian TV Channel One on Saturday. He said Washington was working on "an uncontrolled build-up of weapons," which would ratchet the threat of an unexpected conflict, Xinhua news agency reported. "It is extremely incomprehensible how this will end up," Nebenzya said. The diplomat said the world still faces disagreements stemming from the Cold War era, and that is one of the main reasons the West is disappointed that Russia has started to implement an independent foreign policy. "They cannot, like back in the 1990s, come to the Kremlin through the backdoor and dictate how we must behave and what we must do," Nebenzya said. On February 1, the US administration announced that Washington would withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with Russia within six months. Following the announcment, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on February 2 Russia will also suspend its participation in the INF Treaty.
Over 190 earthquakes jolt Philippines town
Manila, February 10 (IANS): More than 190 earthquakes have jolted a town in the Philippines in the last two days, authorities said on Sunday. A 5.5-magnitude earthquake was recorded at 6.21 a.m. as the strongest one on Sunday, hitting General Luna, a town in Surigao del Norte province, at a depth of 44 km, reports Xinhua news agency. More than 60 aftershocks have been recorded so far on Sunday, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. A 5.9-magnitude earthquake jolted the town on Friday evening. On Saturday, General Luna was also hit by over 130 earthquakes. The institute said the tremors, which were tectonic in origin, are not expected to cause any damage.
New Zealand to ban smoking in cars with children
Wellington, February 10 (IANS): The New Zealand government said on Sunday that it will ban smoking in cars with children. Once the legislation is approved by Parliament, the police will be able to give people warnings or issue a fine of 50 New Zealand dollars ($33) to smokers including those who vape, reports Xinhua news agency. Associate Minister of Health Jenny Salesa said the amendment is expected to take effect by the end of this year.
S. Korea signs cost-sharing deal with US for American troops
Seoul, February 10 (IANS): South Korea on Sunday signed a deal with the US to raise its contribution to the upkeep of American troops here by 8.2 per cent this year. Top negotiators of the two sides inked the agreement in Seoul, under which South Korea will pay 1.03 trillion won ($890 million) for the operation of the 28,500-strong US Forces Korea (USFK), up from 960 billion won in 2018, reports Yonhap News Agency. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha met Timothy Betts, the top US delegate to the Special Measures Agreement (SMA) talks, minutes before the signing ceremony. Kang said the latest SMA negotiations were a "very long process but ultimately a very successful process". The US has reaffirmed that there will be no change in American troop levels in South Korea. The previous agreement signed in 2014 expired at the end of 2018. South Korea has shared the financial burden for USFK since the early 1990s. The funds are used to cover the wages of South Korean workers at USFK bases, construction and logistical support.
Abu Dhabi adds Hindi as third language in courts
Abu Dhabi, February 10 (IANS): The Abu Dhabi Judicial Department (ADJD) has added Hindi as the third official language to be spoken in the city's courts, alongside Arabic and English. According to the ADJD, this step was aimed at helping foreigners to learn about litigation procedures, their rights and duties without a language barrier, in addition to facilitating registration procedures via unified forms available through the Department's website, The Khaleej Times reported. "The adoption of multilingual interactive forms for claim sheets, grievances and requests, aims to promote judicial services and increase the transparency of litigation procedures," Yousef Saeed Al Abri, undersecretary of the ADJD, said on Saturday. "This is in addition to facilitating registration procedures to the public through simplified and easy forms and raising litigants' legal awareness via interactive forms of the statements of claims, to ensure access to the legal materials related to the subject of the dispute." Of the United Arab Emirates' population of over 9 million people, 88.5 per cent are expatriate workers, according to official figures. Indians account for 38 per cent of the population.
Thousands evacuated after wildfire
Wellington, February 10 (IANS): Thousands of people were evacuated on Sunday from New Zealand's South Island due to a wildfire that began six days ago. The blaze, which began near the city of Nelson, is now threatening the town of Wakefield, the BBC reported. A state of emergency has been declared in the district of Tasman. Strong winds were expected, and officials warned that Sunday could be a "critical danger point" for the fire. The blaze is thought to be the worst forest fire in New Zealand since 1955. Twenty three helicopters and two planes have been deployed to tackle the blaze. Rain forecast for the area on Tuesday is expected to miss the fire zone.
3 killed in Indonesia flash floods
Jakarta, February 10 (IANS): As many as three people were killed and three others injured as flash floods struck the West Java province of western Indonesia on Saturday night, said an Indonesian disaster agency official. "Torrential rains caused a dam to burst and the water submerged Jati Endah village in the Bandung district by 10:00 p.m. local time on Saturday, destroying 12 houses," Xinhua news agency quoted spokesman of National Disaster Management Agency Sutopo Purwo Nugroho as saying on Sunday. The agency will do a risk assessment by combing all the affected areas, he said in a text message. Flash floods and landslide during heavy downpours are quite common in Indonesia.
