IN BRIEF

China

'No objection' to normal passing

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Tuesday that China has no objection to normal visit passing through the South China Sea, but adding that "it will be a different matter if the trip has different intentions". Reports had said Tokyo plans to dispatch its largest warship, Izumo helicopter carrier, on a three-month tour through the South China Sea beginning in May, in its biggest show of naval force in the region since World War II. "We have not yet heard it from the Japanese authorities," she said in Beijing, adding that related countries' normal exchanges should facilitate regional peace and stability.

Turkey

49 tourists hurt in balloon accident

Forty-nine tourists, including 15 from China, were injured after three hot-air balloons crashed while landing in gusty weather in Cappadocia, Turkey, on Tuesday, according to a report by China Central Television. Among the injured, two were critical while nine had bone fracture and bruises, the report said. The Chinese embassy in Turkey has dispatched staff workers to the site.

Somalia

Pirates hijack tanker off coast

Pirates have hijacked an oil tanker off the coast of Somalia, officials and a piracy expert said on Tuesday. It is the first hijacking of a large commercial vessel there since 2012. The United Arab Emirates-owned Aris 13 on Monday reported being approached by two skiffs, John Steed with the organization Oceans Beyond Piracy said. About eight crew members were aboard the Sri Lankan-flagged ship, which had been carrying fuel from Djibouti to Somalia's capital, Mogadishu.

Egypt

Ancient statue lifted from site

The three-ton torso of a massive statue that may be of one of Egypt's most famous pharaohs was lifted on Monday from mud and groundwater where it was recently discovered in a Cairo suburb. The torso was pulled by a crane as dozens of workers supported it while being moved to dry land where it was covered by a white fabric. The statue is likely of Ramses II, who took the throne in his early 20s and ruled Egypt for 60 years more than 3,000 years ago.