KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — Malaysian rescuers on Tuesday were searching for three missing crew members from an oil tanker that caught fire off the country’s southern coast. Thick, black smoke engulfed the Gabon-flagged ship when the fire broke out on Monday during its journey from China to Singapore, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) said in a statement. Singaporean authorities identified the ship as the MT Pablo. The fire was extinguished and the vessel […]
Asia
Singapore ‘should avoid economic contraction’: PM
Singapore is expected to post slower economic growth this year but it “should avoid an outright contraction”, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Sunday. The Southeast Asian city-state’s economic performance is often seen as a barometer of the global environment because of its reliance on trade with the rest of the world. The financial centre also has one of the busiest ports in the world which serves as a key link between Asia and the […]
US panel again takes aim at India on religious freedom
WASHINGTON, May 1, 2023 (AFP) – A US government panel renewed calls Monday to blacklist India over religious freedom, saying that treatment of minorities has continued to worsen under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom offers recommendations but does not set policy and there is little expectation that the State Department will accept its stance on India, a growing US partner. The State Department each year lists countries where it […]
Jack Ma takes up visiting professor post in Japan
TOKYO, May 1, 2023 (AFP) – Chinese billionaire Jack Ma on Monday took up a visiting professor position at a Japanese university, another new academic role for the founder of tech giant Alibaba. Tokyo College, part of the prestigious University of Tokyo, said Ma would “share his rich experience and pioneering knowledge on entrepreneurship, corporate management and innovation” in seminars for students and staff. The 58-year-old has kept a low profile since his fall from […]
US, PHL to discuss countering Beijing in S.China Sea
WASHINGTON, May 1, 2023 (AFP) – Moves to check Beijing’s aggressive expansion into the trade routes and strategic islands of the South China Sea will headline talks Monday between President Joe Biden and his Philippines counterpart Ferdinand Marcos at the White House. Marcos is on a four-day trip that follows last week’s state visit to Washington by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and a White House meeting in January between Biden and Japanese Prime […]
US demands Beijing stop ‘provocative and unsafe’ acts in South China Sea
WASHINGTON, April 29, 2023 (AFP) – The United States called on China Saturday to stop “provocative and unsafe conduct” in the disputed South China Sea after a recent near-collision with a Philippines coast guard boat there, ramping up rhetoric ahead of a visit by the Filipino president to the White House. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, in a statement two days before President Joe Biden is to host his Philippine counterpart Ferdinand Marcos Jr., said […]
China says Philippine boat’s ‘provocative action’ caused near-crash
Beijing, China | AFP | China said Friday that a near-collision in the South China Sea between a Chinese coast guard ship and a Philippine patrol vessel carrying journalists was caused by the latter’s “premeditated and provocative action”. The near-miss off the Spratly Islands on Sunday was the latest in a long string of incidents between China and the Philippines in the contested waterway. Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, ignoring […]
Sniff test: Japan declares war on hayfever woes
Tokyo, Japan | AFP | Japan’s prime minister vowed Friday to tackle an insidious enemy that causes enormous economic damage and misery for the country’s citizens each year: pollen. Japan’s spring season might be best known for the blooming of its famed cherry blossoms and the good cheer of flower-watching picnics, but for many it is mostly synonymous with sneezes. Each spring, the country’s vast tracts of cedar trees in particular release potent clouds of […]
China says Philippine boat’s ‘provocative action’ caused near-crash
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China said Friday that a near-collision in the South China Sea between a Chinese coast guard ship and Philippine patrol vessel carrying journalists was caused by the latter’s “premeditated and provocative action”. The near-miss off the Spratly Islands on Sunday was the latest in a steady string of incidents between China and the Philippines in the contested waterway. The incident happened after Philippine coast guard boats approached Second Thomas Shoal, known […]
India presses China on Himalayan border disputes
NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh has told his Chinese counterpart that military deployments on their disputed Himalayan frontier were undermining relations and called for disengagement to preserve “peace and tranquility”. Relations between the two Asian powers have been fraught since a high-altitude clash that left 20 Indian soldiers and at least four Chinese troops dead in June 2020. The neighbors have since massed tens of thousands of soldiers along the […]
Chinese ‘scorpion’ combat drone circles Taiwan
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — A long-range Chinese combat drone capable of carrying a large weapons payload has circled Taiwan, the island’s defense ministry said Friday. Democratic Taiwan lives under constant threat of an attack by Beijing, which views the island as part of its territory. Taiwan’s defense ministry said it detected 38 Chinese aircraft, including a TB-001 drone nicknamed the “twin-tailed scorpion”, around the island between 6:00 am (1000 GMT) Thursday and 6:00 am Friday. […]
11 dead after Indonesia boat capsizes
PEKANBARU, Indonesia (AFP) — Eleven people drowned in western Indonesia after a passenger boat carrying dozens overturned, an official said Friday. Rescuers saved 62 people and found the bodies of mostly women and children after the accident off the coast of western Riau province on Thursday afternoon, local search and rescue agency official Kukuh Widodo said in a statement. “The capsized boat carried 74 people. Sixty-two survived the incident, 11 are dead, and one other […]