BEIJING, June 16, 2023 (AFP) – President Xi Jinping told his “old friend” Bill Gates on Friday that China had always placed its hopes in the American people, after the Microsoft co-founder’s foundation pledged $50 million to help Chinese efforts to battle disease. Gates — one of the world’s richest men — is the latest in a string of Western business leaders to visit China since the country ended strict Covid controls that largely closed […]
Asia
Cyclone Biparjoy leaves destructive trail on Indian coast
MANDVI, India, June 16, 2023 (AFP) – Cyclone Biparjoy tore down power poles and uprooted trees Friday after pummelling the Indian coastline, but the storm was weaker than feared and there were only two confirmed deaths. More than 180,000 people in the Indian state of Gujarat and Pakistan’s neighbouring Sindh province fled the path of Biparjoy — which means “disaster” in Bengali — before it made landfall on Thursday evening. The storm packed sustained winds […]
Myanmar junta-backed media slams ‘rotten’ United Nations
YANGON, June 16, 2023 (AFP) – Myanmar state media condemned the United Nations as “rotten” on Friday, days after the UN special envoy for the country stepped down and the world body slammed curbs on aid for cyclone survivors. Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military seized power in February 2021, ending a brief democratic experiment and sparking clashes across the country with ethnic rebel groups and anti-coup fighters. The military has criticised attempts […]
‘Disaster’ Cyclone Biparjoy weakens after ramming India’s coast
By Glenda KWEK and Ashraf KHAN in Badin, Pakistan Agence France-Presse MANDVI, India (AFP) — Cyclone Biparjoy slammed into the Indian coast with powerful winds, sowing fear and prompting evacuations, but began weakening in the early hours of Friday as it moved north. Indian forecasters had warned that Biparjoy, whose name means “disaster” in Bengali, was likely to devastate homes and tear down power lines as it barrels through the western state of Gujarat. The […]
Gales lash India and Pakistan coast as cyclone approaches
By Glenda KWEK and Ashraf KHAN in Badin, Pakistan Agence France-Presse MANDVI, India, June 15, 2023 (AFP) — Howling gales and crashing waves pounded the coastline of India and Pakistan on Thursday hours before a powerful cyclone was due to make landfall, with those unable to flee seeking shelter where they could. Nearly 150,000 people have fled the predicted path of Cyclone Biparjoy, whose name means “disaster” in Bengali, with meteorologists warning it could devastate […]
‘Voiceless’, destitute: Lebanon’s Syrian refugees lose hope for return
SAADNAYEL, Lebanon, June 15, 2023 (AFP) – Syrian refugees languishing in camps in eastern Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley for years say their hopes for the future are evaporating as their host country loses patience and international support dwindles. Ibrahim al-Korbaw is only 48, but the hardships of war and poverty have aged the white-bearded man beyond his years. In front of his tent in Saadnayel, he and his children are hard at work under the midday […]
Magnitude 6.2 earthquake strikes Philippines: USGS
MANILA, June 15, 2023 (AFP) – A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck the Philippines on Thursday, the US Geological Survey said, as local authorities warned of aftershocks and possible damage. The earthquake struck at a depth of 124 kilometres (77 miles) at around 10:00 am (0200 GMT) in waters about three hours’ drive from the capital Manila. Calatagan municipality police chief Emil Mendoza said he and his staff rushed outside following the tremor, which was also […]
China navy training ship visits the Philippines
MANILA, June 14, 2023 (AFP) — A Chinese navy training vessel berthed in the Philippines on Wednesday for a rare port visit as the two countries contest reefs and waters in the South China Sea. Dragon dances and a brass band greeted the 165-metre (542-foot) Qi Jiguang in Manila to mark its final stop on a Southeast Asian tour through Vietnam, Thailand and Brunei. “It’s a goodwill visit,” Chinese ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian […]
Two killed in shooting at Japan army training range
TOKYO, June 14, 2023 (AFP) – Two soldiers were killed and a third wounded when a fellow recruit opened fire at a training range in central Japan on Wednesday, the military said. “During a live-bullet exercise as part of new personnel training, one Self-Defense Forces candidate fired at three personnel,” the Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) said in a statement. “The death of another person has been confirmed of the three who were shot at,” the […]
Death toll in Vietnam shootings climbs to nine
The death toll following gun attacks on two police headquarters in Vietnam’s Central Highlands has risen to nine, including four officers, authorities said Monday. Twenty-six people have been arrested in connection with the rare shootings that occurred in the early hours of Sunday in Cu Kuin district of Dak Lak province, according to the website of the ministry of public security (MPS). “In the early morning of June 11, 2023, a group of people riding […]
6,000 Myanmar civilians killed in 20 months post coup: report
OSLO, June 13, 2023 (AFP) – More than 6,000 civilians were killed in Myanmar in the first 20 months after the February 2021 military coup, a report published Tuesday by the Peace Research Institute of Oslo said. “Our data shows that the human toll of the conflict is higher than previously reported, and while the junta is clearly the main killer, anti-junta forces also have large amounts of blood on their hands,” Stein Tonnesson, one […]
Ex-Samsung exec charged with stealing chip tech for China factory
SEOUL, June 13, 2023 (AFP) – South Korea has charged a former Samsung executive accused of stealing company secrets worth hundreds of millions of dollars to set up a copycat chip factory in China, prosecutors told AFP on Tuesday. Semiconductors have become a flashpoint issue between the United States and China, which are locked in a fierce battle over access to chip-making technology and supplies. South Korean prosecutors said the 65-year-old former Samsung employee allegedly […]