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HONG KONG, China (AFP) — A high-rise building under construction in Hong Kong erupted in flames and was still burning hours later, with some nearby residential blocks evacuated early Friday after the fire threatened to spread. Officials said the fire initially broke out at 11:11 pm (1511 GMT) Thursday in the heart of Tsim Sha Tsui, a busy shopping and tourist district on the city’s harborfront. It eventually escalated to the fourth level of severity […]
Vietnam’s rubber stamp National Assembly voted in a new president on Thursday, who immediately pledged to crack down on corruption following the resignation of his predecessor in an anti-graft campaign. The appointment of Vo Van Thuong comes during a period of political upheaval in Vietnam, where the all-powerful Communist Party’s anti-graft purge and factional fighting have seen several ministers fired. Members of the National Assembly elected 52-year-old Thuong — the sole candidate — for a […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US has approved the sale to Taiwan of $619 million in munitions for F-16 fighter jets, the Pentagon announced Wednesday, in a move likely to anger Beijing. The package includes 100 AGM-88B High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missiles (HARM), 200 AIM-120C-8 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles(AMRAAM), and launchers and dummy missiles for training, the Pentagon said in a statement. The sale will boost Taiwan’s “capability to provide for the defense of its […]
by Shaun Tandon and Manon Billing Agence France-Presse NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Thursday for the G20 to bridge differences over Ukraine, telling the opening of a meeting in New Delhi that global governance has “failed”. “The experience of the last few years -– financial crisis, climate change, pandemic, terrorism and wars — clearly shows that global governance has failed,” Modi said in a recorded statement opening the meeting […]
BEIJING, March 1, 2023 (AFP) – Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko told his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping that his country “fully supports” Beijing’s proposals for ending the Ukraine war when the two leaders met Wednesday. The state visit to the Chinese capital by Lukashenko — a staunch ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin — comes after Beijing published a position paper on Moscow’s war in Ukraine insisting it is a neutral party and calling for dialogue. […]
by Sunghee Hwang Agence France-Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Born into an elite North Korean family with ties to the ruling dynasty, Oh Hye Son grew up believing she was “special” — but then she tasted freedom overseas and decided to defect. Most of the tens of thousands of North Koreans who have escaped repression and poverty at home make an arduous, high-risk journey across the country’s land border with China, where they face […]
by Poornima WEERASEKARA Agence France-Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — China last year approved the largest expansion of coal-fired power plants since 2015, according to a study published Monday, despite its vow to begin phasing down use of the fossil fuel in just three years. The coal power capacity that China began building in 2022 was six times as much as that in the rest of the world combined, the report by the Center for Research […]
by Lisa MARTIN Australia’s defence minister aimed to reassure Thailand on Friday that plans to acquire a new fleet of nuclear submarines would enhance “collective security” in the region after neighbouring countries voiced concerns. The submarine issue came up during a visit to Manila earlier this week, Defence Minister Richard Marles told AFP in an interview, and was also on the agenda for Friday’s talks with Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha, who is responsible […]
Indonesia has deployed security forces to a town in the breakaway eastern region of Papua after 10 people were killed during a riot sparked by rumours of a child abduction, officials said Friday. Angry locals in Wamena town attacked police with stones and arrows Thursday, believing them to be holding a young girl’s abductors, Papua province police spokesman Ignatius Benny Ady Prabowo told AFP. Police responded with lethal fire, killing eight people, the official said, […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — The Bank of Japan’s long-standing monetary easing policies are “appropriate”, its next governor Kazuo Ueda told parliament on Friday, suggesting no sudden changes to the bank’s stance when he takes the helm in April. Under current boss Karuhiko Kuroda, the bank has unleashed a raft of extraordinary ultra-loose policies — from a negative interest rate to spending vast sums on government bonds — in a bid to boost the sluggish economy. […]
by Claire LEE Agence France-Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea said Friday it had fired cruise missiles and claimed that ramped-up US-South Korean military drills “can be regarded as a declaration of war”. It came after the two allies conducted a tabletop exercise at the Pentagon focused on responses to a nuclear attack by Pyongyang. North Korean forces held a “strategic cruise missile launching drill” in the early hours of Thursday, firing […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China called Friday for Russia and Ukraine to hold peace talks as soon as possible, while insisting that nuclear weapons must not be used in their conflict. Beijing’s foreign ministry made the comments in a 12-point paper on the “political settlement” of the crisis, timed to coincide with the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The paper follows accusations from the West that China is considering arming Russia — a […]
