China sends forces to 1st foreign base
BEIJING — China on Tuesday dispatched members of its People’s Liberation Army to the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti to man its first overseas military base, a key part of a wide-ranging expansion of the role of China’s armed forces.
The Defense Ministry said on its website that a ceremony was held at a naval pier in the southern Chinese port of Zhanjiang, presided over by navy commander Vice Adm. Shen Jinlong.
It said the personnel would travel by naval ship, but it gave no details on numbers or units. Photos showed naval officers and marines in battle dress lining the rails of the support ships Jingangshan and Donghaidao.
China says the logistics center will support anti-piracy, U.N. peacekeeping, and humanitarian relief missions in Africa and western Asia.
U.S. keeps Sudan
tied to sanctions
President Donald Trump’s administration is giving itself until October to decide whether to permanently lift sanctions on Sudan.
Just before leaving office, former President Barack Obama temporarily lifted sanctions on Sudan in a move that was to become permanent today if it wasn’t reversed by Trump. The Obama administration justified lifting the 1990s-era sanctions by citing improved counterterrorism efforts and other progress in Sudan.
Rights advocates and opposition groups have said the move will strengthen President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court on genocide charges linked to conflict in the Darfur region, and do much to bring his government back into the international fold after decades of isolation, war and abuses.
State Department spokesman Heather Nauert said Sudan has made significant progress. But she said Trump’s executive order is needed to give the administration more time to determine whether there’s been enough progress to lift the sanctions permanently.
India justices stay cow-slaughter ban
NEW DELHI — India’s top court on Tuesday stayed for three months a ban introduced by the Hindu nationalist government on the sale of cows and buffaloes for slaughter.
The Supreme Court approved a lower-court ruling that said people have a basic right to choose their food.
The court is expected to give a final ruling after the federal government reconsiders the issue in view of widespread criticism of its decision announced in May.
The government informed Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud on Tuesday that it was re-examining the ban and would make the necessary changes by the end of August, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.
The Supreme Court decision Tuesday is a reprieve for state governments that criticized the ban as a blow for beef and leather exports that would leave hundreds of thousands jobless and deprive millions of Christians, Muslims and poor Hindus of a cheap source of protein.