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by Sunghee Hwang Agence France-Press SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea said Monday it had test-fired two strategic cruise missiles from a submarine, as South Korea and the United States kicked off their largest joint military exercises in five years. Nuclear-armed Pyongyang said the test verified its “nuclear war deterrence means in different spaces” as it slammed the drills — known as Freedom Shield — which will run for 10 days from Monday as […]
by Mathias CENA Agence France-Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s government eased its mask guidelines on Monday, recommending them only on crowded trains and in hospitals or care homes, but there was little sign residents were keen to unmask. Japan has never had a mask mandate, but residents have adhered to guidelines to wear them indoors and outside from the early days of the pandemic, and masks were common even pre-Covid during cold and hayfever […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s Xi Jinping on Monday emphasized the need to strengthen national security, in his first address since being handed a historic third term as the country’s president. Xi became China’s most powerful leader in generations last week when he was reanointed for another five years at the helm of the world’s most populous nation, in a break with long-standing political precedent. The National People’s Congress (NPC) — a carefully choreographed conclave […]
Yogyakarta, Indonesia | AFP | Saturday 3/11/2023 Indonesia’s Mount Merapi, one of the world’s most active volcanoes, erupted on Saturday, spewing out smoke and ash that blanketed villages near the crater. There were no immediate reports of casualties, the country’s disaster mitigation agency said. Images broadcast on local outlet Kompas TV showed ash-covered houses and roads at a village near the volcano, located on Java Island, near Indonesia’s cultural capital Yogyakarta. The Merapi Volcano Observatory […]
Pekín, China | AFP | Li Qiang, one of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s most trusted allies, was confirmed as premier on Saturday, as Xi cements his influence on the country’s top leadership. Li, the former Shanghai party chief who oversaw the city’s gruelling two-month lockdown last spring, was named the successor of outgoing premier Li Keqiang at a meeting of the country’s rubber-stamp parliament. The 63-year-old received nearly every vote from the more than 2,900 […]
Kim Jong Un ordered North Korea’s military to intensify drills for a “real war”, state media reported Friday, as the leader oversaw a fire assault drill with his daughter in tow. Photographs showed Kim and his daughter, both wearing matching black jackets, accompanied by uniformed officers as they watched an artillery unit fire a volley of missiles on Thursday. The South Korean military said yesterday it had detected the launch of one ballistic missile and […]
Xi Jinping on Friday sealed a historic third term as China’s president. AFP examines how he is expected to handle the key issues facing the country: – Slowing economy – China’s slowing economy will likely dominate Xi’s next five years but his decision to pack the Communist Party’s top leadership with loyalists has stoked concerns about him prioritising ideology at the expense of growth. The world’s second-largest economy expanded just three percent last year, widely […]
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday congratulated Xi Jinping on his third term as China’s leader, hailing the strengthening ties between the two countries. “Dear friend, please accept sincere congratulations on the occasion of your reelection,” Putin said in a statement released by the Kremlin. “Russia highly values your personal contribution toward the strengthening of ties… and strategic cooperation between our nations.” “I am certain that working together, we will ensure the development of […]
by Peter CATTERALL Xi Jinping was handed a third term as Chinese president on Friday, capping a rise that has seen him become the country’s most powerful leader in generations. His appointment by China’s rubber-stamp parliament comes after Xi locked in another five years as head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in October. Since then, the 69-year-old has weathered widespread protests over his zero-Covid policy and the deaths of countless people after its abandonment. […]
North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile Thursday, Seoul’s military said, Pyongyang’s latest show of force just days before South Korea and the United States kick off major joint military exercises. Relations between the two Koreas are at one of their worst points in decades, with the nuclear-armed North conducting ever more provocative banned weapons tests as Seoul moved to ramp up security cooperation with Washington in response. Last year, Kim Jong Un’s regime declared […]
by M JEGATHESAN Malaysia’s former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin was arrested Thursday after anti-graft authorities questioned him for alleged misuse of public funds meant to fight Covid-19. Muhyiddin, who was prime minister for 17 months between 2020 and 2021, at the height of Malaysia’s battle against the coronavirus, is expected to be slapped with multiple charges in court on Friday, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) said in a statement. He now leads an opposition […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China lashed out at the United States on Tuesday, accusing Washington of stoking tensions between the two powers and warning of “conflict and confrontation”. Beijing’s new Foreign Minister Qin Gang told a press conference on the sidelines of the ongoing National People’s Congress (NPC) there would be “catastrophic consequences” if the United States carried on in its current direction. “If the United States does not hit the brakes but continues to […]
