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China launches military drills in ‘stern warning’ to Taiwan after US visit

Published

1 year ago

August 19, 2023

China launches military drills in ‘stern warning’ to Taiwan after US visit

Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises were expected following Taiwan Vice President William Lai’s stopover in US.

China has launched military exercises around Taiwan, saying the drills were a “stern warning” to separatist forces on the island state – an angry response that was expected from Beijing following a recent visit by Taiwan’s Vice President William Lai to the United States.

The People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theatre Command, which has responsibility for the area around Taiwan, said in a brief statement on Saturday morning that it was carrying out joint naval and air combat readiness patrols around Taiwan.

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army would be holding joint naval and air force exercises focused on subjects such as ship-aircraft coordination to test seizing control of air and sea spaces, and “actual combat capabilities”, the eastern theatre command said.

“The armed forces’ ability to fight in real combat conditions will be tested,” a spokesperson for the eastern command told China’s state-run Xinhua news.

“The patrols and exercises serve as a stern warning to the collusion of ‘Taiwan independence’ separatists with foreign elements and their provocations,” the spokesperson said, according to Xinhua.

Taiwan’s defence ministry strongly condemned China’s latest military drills near the island, saying on Saturday that it would dispatch appropriate forces to respond and has the ability, determination and confidence to ensure national security.

“The launch of the military exercise this time not only does not help peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait but also highlights [China’s] militaristic mentality,” the ministry said in a statement.

Taiwan’s Vice President Lai, the frontrunner to be Taiwan’s next president at elections in January, returned from the US on Friday, where he had stopped over on his way to and from an official state visit to Paraguay.

Taiwanese officials and analysts had said China was likely to conduct military exercises this week near the island, using Lai’s transit through the US as a pretext to intimidate Taiwanese voters ahead of next year’s presidential election and make them “fear war”.

China’s foreign ministry issued a statement to coincide with Lai’s arrival in the US, saying it was opposed to any form of a visit by “Taiwan independence separatists” to the US.

“Lai stubbornly adheres to the separatist position of Taiwan independence and is a troublemaker through and through,” the ministry said.

China claims Taiwan as its own territory, and Beijing has not ruled out the use of force to take control of the democratic, self-governed island, increasing military activity near the island in recent years in response to what it calls “collusion” between Taipei and Washington.

The Chinese drills launched on Saturday followed shortly after the US, Japan and South Korea hailed “a new era of trilateral partnership” following a meeting at US President Joe Biden’s Camp David retreat in Maryland, where the three powers criticised China’s behaviour in the South China Sea.

In a joint statement Biden, South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said they were resolute in their “determination to uphold regional security, strengthen Indo-Pacific engagement, and promote common prosperity” and condemned Beijing’s “dangerous and aggressive” behaviour in the South China Sea.

Last August, China launched days of large-scale military drills around Taiwan in response to a visit by then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taipei.

Pelosi’s visit led to an unprecedented six days of Chinese military exercises that featured China’s J-20 stealth fighter jets and test firing of conventional missiles.

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World

Italian state railways plans 1.3 bln euro investment in solar plant

Published

3 hours ago

December 22, 2024

Press Room

Italian state railways plans 1.3 bln euro investment in solar plant

Italian state railways Ferrovie dello Stato plans to invest 1.3 billion euros ($1.36 billion) in a photovoltaic plant with an initial 1 gigawatt (GW) capacity that would cover 19% of its energy needs by 2029, the CEO said in a newspaper interview.

World

Christmas in Puerto Rico is a 45-day celebration with caroling, festive decorations, family feasts and more

Published

4 hours ago

December 22, 2024

Press Room

Christmas in Puerto Rico is a 45-day celebration with caroling, festive decorations, family feasts and more

Christmas, Navidad in Puerto Rico, extends far beyond Dec. 25.

The island proudly proclaims itself as having the “longest holiday season in the world,” according to the website Discover Puerto Rico.

On average, the holiday festivities in Puerto Rico last about 45 days, per the source, commencing right after Thanksgiving, and stretching all the way through mid-January.

The Christmas season in Puerto Rico typically lasts around 45 days. (iStock)

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The holiday season in Puerto Rico is full of rich traditions beloved by families.

One tradition those who visit Puerto Rico will immediately notice during the holiday season is decorations.

In Puerto Rico, decorations are typically put up by Thanksgiving, and kept up until the season concludes in mid-January, with opportune picture moments at every corner.

Parrandas, Christmas caroling, is a holiday staple.

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Carolers choose houses of family and friends to visit, typically starting around 10 p.m., performing aguinaldos (traditional Christmas songs), with not only their voices, but often with instruments as well, according to Discover Puerto Rico.

The group you begin caroling with is likely not the same group you end with.

In Puerto Rico, when carolers visit a house, they’ll often stop inside for conversation, food and drink before moving to the next residence.

Coquito is a popular beverage enjoyed during the holiday season in Puerto Rico. Coconut, vanilla and rum are among the ingredients. (Mayra Beltran/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

Usually, the residences of the house visited will join the group for the next house, according to Discover Puerto Rico.

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A night of serenading loved ones can last quite a while, often stretching into the early morning hours of the following day, according to the source.

The biggest day of the holiday season in Puerto Rico actually isn’t Christmas, but instead, the night before.

In Puerto Rico, Dec. 24 is Nochebuena. On that day, loved ones gather for the exchange of gifts, caroling and a large feast.

Many families will also attend a midnight Mass on the day, known as Misa de Gallo.

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After Christmas passes, the festivities go on in Puerto Rico.

Another big event in the holiday lineup is Three Kings Day on Jan. 6, a holiday that “commemorates the visit that the Three Wise Men paid to Jesus after his birth,” according to Discover Puerto Rico.

On the eve of the day, children fill up a shoebox with grass to be left for camels to munch on while the Three Kings leave behind gifts for them, according to PuertoRico.com.

For a particularly festive Three Kings Day, Juana Díaz is the place to go, as it hosts the largest celebration in Puerto Rico for the holiday. In Juana Díaz, there is an annual festival and parade in honor of Three Kings Day that brings together over 25,000 people every year, according to Discover Puerto Rico.

Gifts are primarily exchanged between loved ones on Christmas Eve in Puerto Rico. (iStock)

Then, eight days later is Octavitas, a post-holiday celebration where families get together and celebrate one last time for the season.

The end of the holiday season is marked with the San Sebastián Street Festival.

This festival, spanning over multiple days, takes place in Old San Juan, and is filled with live music, dancing, shopping and parades.

Ashlyn Messier is a writer for Fox News Digital.

World

Small plane crashes into Brazil town popular with tourists, killing 10

Published

5 hours ago

December 22, 2024

Press Room

Small plane crashes into Brazil town popular with tourists, killing 10

Twin-engine plane crashed in largely residential neighborhood of Gramado shortly after takeoff, authorities say.

A small plane has crashed into a tourist hotspot in southern Brazil, killing all 10 people on board and injuring more than a dozen people on the ground, officials have said.

The twin-engine Piper PA-42-1000 hit the chimney of a home and the second floor of a different house before crashing into a shop in a largely residential neighbourhood of Gramado shortly after takeoff from Canela, Brazil’s Civil Defense agency said on Sunday.

Rio Grande do Sul Governor Eduardo Leite told a news conference that the aircraft’s owner and pilot, Luiz Claudio Galeazzi, was killed along with nine members of his family.

Leite said that 17 people on the ground were injured, 12 of whom were still receiving treatment in hospital.

Galeazzi’s company, Galeazzi & Associados, confirmed that its CEO and Galeazzi’s wife and three daughters had died in the crash.

“Luiz Galeazzi will be forever remembered for his dedication to his family and for his remarkable career as a leader of Galeazzi & Associados,” the company said in a post on LinkedIn.

“In this moment of immense pain, Galeazzi & Associados is deeply grateful for the expressions of solidarity and affection received from friends, colleagues and the community. We also sympathize with all those affected by the accident in the region.”

Gramado, located in the Serra Gaucha mountains, is a popular destination for vacationers, especially during the Christmas season.

The crash comes a little more than a year after Brazil suffered its worst air disaster in nearly two decades when a twin-engine plane crashed in the southeastern city of Vinhedo, killing all 62 people on board.