SYDNEY, June 18, 2024 (AFP) – Premier Li Qiang toured a Chinese-controlled lithium refiner in Perth on Tuesday, a sign of his country’s vast appetite for Australian “critical minerals” required for clean energy technologies. Li ended his four-day visit to Australia with a tour of the low-carbon energy industry in resource-rich Western Australia. His first stop was Tianqi Lithium Energy Australia, a 51-percent Chinese-owned venture comprising a mine for hard rock lithium ore, and a […]
Asia
Philippine ship, Chinese vessel collide in South China Sea: Beijing
BEIJING, June 17, 2024 (AFP) – Philippine and Chinese vessels collided near the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea on Monday, the Chinese Coast Guard said, as Beijing steps up efforts to push its claims over the disputed area. Known in Chinese as the Ren’ai Reef, the Second Thomas Shoal has seen an escalating number of confrontations between Chinese and Philippine ships in recent months. These have often taken place during Philippine attempts […]
Philippines submits UN claim to extended continental shelf
MANILA, June 16, 2024 (AFP) – The Philippines has sought recognition from the United Nations for its claim to an extended continental shelf off the island that is closest to a hotly disputed region of the South China Sea. China claims almost the entire waterway through which trillions of dollars in ship-borne trade passes annually, and huge unexploited oil and gas deposits are believed to lie under its seabed. The sea is also important as […]
Oil spill forces beach closure on Singapore’s Sentosa island
SINGAPORE, June 15, 2024 (AFP) – Beaches on Singapore’s top resort island of Sentosa, which also house luxury waterfront homes, were shuttered on Saturday due to an oil spill at a nearby port, maritime authorities said. The oil spill resulted from an accident on Friday at the Pasir Panjang terminal between a Netherlands-flagged dredger and a stationary Singapore-flagged bunker vessel, Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) said. Waters of three popular beaches on the island […]
New China rules allow detention of foreigners in South China Sea
By Jing Xuan TENG SHANGHAI, June 15, 2024 (AFP) – New Chinese coast guard rules took effect Saturday, under which it can detain foreigners for trespassing in the disputed South China Sea, where neighbours and the G7 have accused Beijing of intimidation and coercion. Beijing claims almost the entirety of the South China Sea, brushing aside competing claims from several Southeast Asian nations including the Philippines and an international ruling that its stance has no […]
One of two Japanese climbers missing in Pakistan found dead
SKARDU, Pakistan, June 15, 2024 (AFP) – One of two Japanese climbers was found dead and his body recovered from a mountain in northern Pakistan on Saturday, with a search ongoing for the second man, an official said. Ryuseki Hiraoka and Atsushi Taguchi were attempting to summit the 7,027-metre (23,054-foot) Spantik mountain in the Karakoram range before they went missing this week. “The dead body of a Japanese climber was found, and a search is […]
North Korea building roads, walls inside Demilitarized Zone: Yonhap
SEOUL, June 15, 2024 (AFP) – North Korea’s military has been building roads and walls inside the Demilitarized Zone that separates it from the South, the Yonhap news agency reported Saturday. The construction activities are taking place north of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) that runs through the middle of the DMZ, the South Korean agency said, citing an unnamed military source. The report follows an incident last week when South Korean forces fired warning […]
India’s Modi sworn in as prime minister
By Peter MARTELL NEW DELHI, June 9, 2024 (AFP) – India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi was sworn in on Sunday for a third term after worse-than-expected election results left him reliant on coalition partners to govern. Modi’s Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ruled outright for the past decade but failed to repeat its previous two landslide wins this time around, defying analysts’ expectations and exit polls. He was instead forced into quick-fire talks with the […]
Japan video-sharing site Niconico hit by cyberattack
TOKYO (AFP) – Popular Japanese video-sharing website Niconico has suspended its services as it has been under “a large-scale cyberattack,” its operator said. “Currently, Niconico is under a large-scale cyberattack, and we are suspending our services to minimise its impact,” operator Dwango said in a statement late Saturday. “We are hastily investigating and taking countermeasures, but we won’t be able to restore the service until we make sure about its safety after completely excluding the […]
Seoul says will resume loudspeaker propaganda against North
SEOUL, June 9, 2024 (AFP) – South Korea announced Sunday that it would resume loudspeaker propaganda campaigns against the North, after Pyongyang sent a fresh barrage of trash-filled balloons across the border. “We will install loudspeakers against North Korea today and carry out the broadcast,” the president’s office said in a statement. It added that “the responsibility for the escalation of tension between the two Koreas will be entirely up to the North.” North Korea […]
Python swallows woman whole in Indonesia
MAKASSAR, Indonesia, June 8, 2024 (AFP) – A woman has been found dead inside the belly of a snake after it swallowed her whole in central Indonesia, a local official said Saturday. The husband of 45-year-old Farida and residents of Kalempang village in South Sulawesi province discovered her on Friday inside the reticulated python, which measured around five metres (16 feet). The mother-of-four had gone missing Thursday night and failed to return home, forcing a […]
Philippines accuses Chinese boats of ‘dangerous’ actions in high seas medivac
MANILA, June 7, 2024 (AFP) – As two Philippine vessels meet on the high seas to transfer a sick Filipino soldier, China Coast Guard boats shadow, block and bump them, according to video released by the Philippine Coast Guard on Friday. The incident happened last month during the medical evacuation of a soldier who was stationed on a grounded Philippine Navy vessel on Second Thomas Shoal in the disputed South China Sea. The Philippine […]