China has reportedly discovered a gas field in the northern part of the South China Sea.
Asia
India tightens Vietnam defense, oil ties ahead of China’s Xi’s visit
(Reuters) – India extended a $100 million export credit to Vietnam for defense deals and tightened energy ties on Monday, signaling a more confident foreign policy ahead of a visit this week by China’s President Xi Jinping. India’s new accords with one of China’s rivals for influence in the South China Sea came as Xi visited the nearby islands of Sri Lanka and the Maldives, a reminder of the geostrategic jostling that is becoming an […]
China and India’s growing strategic weight
By Peter Drysdale Editor, East Asia Forum The visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to India this week, so early in the term of India’s new prime minister, Narendra Modi, underlines the growing strategic weight of the relationship between the two countries. Modi’s prime ministership, with its ambition to re-invigorate India’s stalled economic reform and growth, more than any other single factor, promises to accelerate its potential growth radically. Modi has runs on the board […]
Car bombing in Pakistan
A car bombing in Quetta, Pakistan resulted in 3 dead and 16 injuries. A paramilitary member of the Frontier Corps was one of the casualties in the said explosion. No group has claimed responsibility for said car bombing.
Nokor sentences U.S. citizen Matthew Todd Miller to 6 years hard labor
(Reuters) – North Korea sentenced U.S. citizen Matthew Todd Miller to six years hard labor for committing “hostile acts” as a tourist to the country, a statement carried by state media said on Sunday. Matthew Miller joins Kenneth Bae to become the second American currently serving a hard labor sentence in North Korea. A third, Jeffrey Fowle, is currently awaiting trial. “He committed acts hostile to the DPRK while entering the territory of the DPRK under the guise […]
More than 1,000 activists stage ‘black cloth’ march in Hong Kong
(Reuters) – More than 1,000 pro-democracy protesters clad in black marched silently through Hong Kong on Sunday, holding banners saying they felt betrayed and angry at Beijing’s refusal to allow fully-democratic elections for the city’s next chief executive in 2017. The protesters, who carried enormous black cloth ribbons through the streets, also held up signs calling for further civil disobedience and cheering on students planning to boycott classes. “Occupy Central with Love and Peace!” and […]
45 Fijian peacekeepers freed
The United Nations have confirmed the release of 45 Fijian peacekeepers kidnapped in Syria.
China asserts paternal rights over Hong Kong in democracy clash
(Reuters) – Just days before China was set to deliver its edict on electoral reform in Hong Kong, Beijing’s most senior official in the city held a rare meeting with several local lawmakers whose determined push for full democracy had incensed Beijing’s Communist leaders. The setting at the Aug. 19 meeting was calm: A room with plush cream carpets, Chinese ink brush landscape paintings and a vase of purple orchids. The political mood outside, however, was fraught. […]
Series of car bombing in Iraq kills 30
In an attack, two vehicles exploded, which immediately resulted in 19 casualties. According to authorities, the attacks started when a suicide bomber put a car full of explosives in a checkpoint wherein it was driven by a traffic police, The explosion killed 5 police and 9 others were injured. After a few seconds, another car bomb exploded in a public market, resulting in 15 dead and 35 injured.
Explosion in Syria kills 28
Authorities are still investigating an explosion in Syria which killed 28 members of the Islamist insurgent group, Ahrar Al-Sham. Meanwhile, Hassan Aboud, leader of the said group is in critical condition.
MH17 passenger remains return to Malaysia
(Reuters) — Two more bodies of victims killed when a jetliner was downed in Ukraine in July returned to Malaysia on Tuesday (September 9), ahead of the release of the Dutch Transport Safety Board preliminary report into the downing of the plane. Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 crashed after apparently being struck by a missile over war-tornUkraine on July 17, worsening a year of tragedy for the country following the baffling disappearance of another MAS flight in March. Bodies and wreckage from […]
At least 239 killed in Kashmir floods; India and Pakistan PMs offer help, lower cudgels
(Reuters) – The prime ministers of India and Pakistan have offered to help each other in efforts to alleviate flood havoc in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, lowering tension between the rival nations after weeks of army clashes and heated rhetoric. Kashmir is divided by one of the world’s deadliest and most heavily militarized borders. Both the Indian and Pakistani sides have been ravaged by floods that have killed at least 239 people as […]
