At least 9 injured in Taipei smoke grenade, knife attack
TAIPEI: At least nine people were injured in an indiscriminate smoke grenade and knife attack in Taiwan’s capital on Friday, and the suspect was very likely to have jumped from a building fearing arrest, Taipei’s mayor said.The suspect threw smoke grenades at the Taipei Main subway station near the city’s main train station, sending some other pedestrians running, according to the local media reports.The suspect then rode the subway one stop, exited the station and threw more smoke grenades on the street, according to footage carried by broadcaster EBC. He was holding a knife and wielding it toward pedestrians before running into a shop, causing others to scream, the video showed.
Syria welcomes permanent repeal of sweeping US sanctions
DAMASCUS: Syria’s government and its allies on Friday welcomed the final lifting of the most draconian sanctions imposed on the country in recent decades. The US Congress imposed the so-called Caesar Act sanctions on Syria’s government and financial system in 2019 to punish then-President Bashar Assad for human rights abuses during the country’s nearly 14-year civil war that began in 2011. Also Friday, the United Kingdom - which had previously removed its own broad sanctions against the Syrian government and financial institutions - imposed new sanctions on organisations and individuals it said were “involved in violence against civilians” in Syria.