Global Times - 21.08.2019

8 Wednesday August 21, 2019

WORLD

‘Environmental tragedy’

A firefighter observes flames rising from a forest near the village of Ayacata in Tejeda on the island of Gran Canaria on Tuesday.

The fire raged out of control on the Spanish holiday island, forcing evacuations as flames rose so high even water-dropping

planes could not operate in what was dubbed an “environmental tragedy.” Photo: AFP

Trump calls India, Pakistan leaders

Delhi’s moon

probe enters

lunar orbit

India’s Chandrayaan 2 space-

craft entered lunar orbit on

Tuesday, executing one of the

trickiest maneuvers on its his-

toric mission to the moon.

After four weeks in space,

the craft completed its lunar or-

bit insertion as planned, the In-

dian Space Research Organiza-

tion (ISRO) said in a statement.

The insertion “was complet-

ed successfully today at 0902

hrs IST (3:32 GMT) as planned,

using the onboard propulsion

system. The duration of ma-

neuver was 1738 seconds,” the

national space agency said.

India is seeking to become

just the fourth nation after Rus-

sia, the US and China to land a

spacecraft on the moon.

If the rest of the mission

goes to plan, the Indian probe

will land on the lunar south

pole on September 7.

To enter the final orbit over

the lunar poles, Chandrayaan

2 will undergo four more simi-

lar maneuvers, with the next

scheduled for Wednesday.

ISRO chief K. Sivan said the

maneuver was a key milestone

for the mission, adding he was

hoping for a perfect landing

next month.

“On September 7, the lander

will land on the moon. What-

ever is humanly possible, has

been done by us,” Sivan told

reporters.

Tuesday’s insertion was one

of the trickiest operations in the

mission because if the satellite

had approached the moon at a

higher velocity it would have

bounced off and got lost in deep

space.

And had it approached at a

slow velocity, the moon’s grav-

ity would have pulled it in,

causing a crash. “The approach

velocity had to be just right and

the altitude over the moon pre-

cise. Even a small error would

have killed the mission,” Sivan

said.

AFP

Japan has approved shipments of a high-

tech material to South Korea for the sec-

ond time since imposing export curbs

last month, two sources said, ahead of

talks by government officials this week

to resolve a dispute stemming from

their wartime past.

Relations between the two US allies

worsened late last year when a South Ko-

rean court ordered Japanese companies

to compensate some of their former la-

borers forced by the firms to work dur-

ing World War II.

In early July, Japan tightened con-

trols on shipments to South Korea

of three materials used in chips and

displays, threatening to disrupt the

global tech supply chain. Japan also an-

nounced a plan to remove South Korea’s

fast-track export status from later this

month.

The material cleared for Japan’s ex-

ports to Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

in South Korea is photoresists, which

are crucial for the tech giant’s advanced

contract chip-making production, the

people who were familiar with the mat-

ter said on Tuesday.

A Samsung Electronics spokes-

woman and a South Korean trade min-

istry spokeswoman declined to com-

ment. A Japanese official in charge

of the issue was not available for

comment.

An official at South Korea’s presi-

dential office confirmed the exports at

a briefing, but said that “uncertainties”

will remain until Japan completely re-

moves the tighter export controls it has

instituted.

“Tokyo’s latest export approval is posi-

tive for the local industry, but I don’t see

Japan’s move as a conciliatory message

to South Korea,” another South Korean

government official told Reuters, re-

questing anonymity because of the sen-

sitivity of the matter.

Earlier this month, Japan gave the

green light to the export of photoresists

to Samsung Electronics for the first time

since it imposed the restrictions.

Samsung Electronics shares ended

up 1.95 percent on Tuesday, leading the

wider market’s gain of 1.05 percent.

Reuters

US President Donald Trump

spoke with the leaders of India

and Pakistan on Monday, dis-

cussing prospects for improved

trade ties with Washington and

stressing the need to reduce

tensions over Kashmir between

the nuclear-armed neighbors.

“Spoke to my two good

friends, Prime Minister Modi

of India, and Prime Minister

Khan of Pakistan, regarding

Trade, Strategic Partnerships

and, most importantly, for In-

dia and Pakistan to work toward

reducing tensions in Kashmir.

A tough situation, but good

conversations!” Trump said in

a Twitter post.

Relations between Islam-

abad and New Delhi, already

hostile, have been further

strained over India’s decision

this month to revoke the special

status of its portion of the Kash-

mir region that both countries

claim. Pakistan reacted with

fury, cutting transport and trade

links and expelling India’s en-

voy in retaliation.

Indian Prime Minister Nar-

endra Modi told Trump he was

hopeful that India’s commerce

minister and the US trade rep-

resentative would meet again

to discuss bilateral trade, the

Indian government said in a

statement.

Washington confirmed that

Trump and Modi had spoken

about trade.

“The two leaders further dis-

cussed how they will continue

to strengthen United States-

India economic ties through in-

creased trade, and they look for-

ward to meeting again soon,”

the White House said. Trump

also stressed during the call the

need to lower tensions between

India and Pakistan, it said.

US and Indian trade nego-

tiators ended talks in July with-

out making major progress on

a range of disputes over tariffs

and other protectionist mea-

sures imposed by both sides

that are straining bilateral ties,

officials have told Reuters.

The two sides had resumed

trade talks after Trump and

Modi met on the sidelines of

the G20 summit in June and

agreed to seek to deepen the

two countries’ relationship.

The White House said in a

statement that Trump also had

spoken with Pakistani Prime

Minister Imran Khan to “dis-

cuss the need to reduce ten-

sions and moderate rhetoric”

with India over the situation in

Kashmir.

“The president reaffirmed

the need to avoid escalation

of the situation and urged

restraint on both sides,” the

White House said in a state-

ment, adding that Trump and

Khan also agreed to work to-

gether to strengthen trade and

economic ties.

Reuters

Japan allows further exports of high-tech material to South Korea

 President stresses need for reduced tensions in Kashmir

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