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Added on the 20/02/2018 09:39:00 - Copyright : NouvelObs Montage
China says it "poses no threat" to any country, after Australia's first National Defence Strategy signalled a new focus on deterring Beijing's "coercive tactics". "China poses no threat to any country," foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian says in a briefing, urging Canberra to "refrain from making accusations against China at every turn". SOUNDBITE
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan tells reporters that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed to send a team to Washington to discuss a potential military operation in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. SOUNDBITE
The White House says it wants to see Israel's plan for an operation in Gaza's Rafah that protected civilians, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved the military's proposal for an offensive. "We haven't seen it. We certainly would welcome the opportunity to see it," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby says, adding that the United States could not support any plan without "credible" proposals to shelter more than one million Gazans. SOUNDBITE
The United States says it does not consider Israel's deadly hostage rescue operation in Rafah to be a full-scale operation and still opposes an offensive without a plan to protect civilians. "Without such a plan that is credible, and that they can execute, we do not support a full-scale military operation," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller tells reporters. SOUNDBITE
Students from across Greece protest in Athens against the planned introduction of private universities, a reform that has riled the country's higher education community. IMAGES
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak tells the House of Commons he has "absolute conviction" in his government's plan to send migrants to Rwanda ahead of a vote in parliament on the bill which has exposed schisms in his ruling Conservative party. The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill, if passed, will compel judges to treat Rwanda as a safe third country and proposes giving UK ministers powers to disregard sections of international and British human rights legislation. SOUNDBITE