Asia

China formally arrests Canadian ex-diplomat, businessman: report

BEIJING, China (AFP) — China has formally arrested two Canadians who have been detained for months on national security grounds, a Canadian newspaper reported on Thursday, in a case that has inflamed tensions between Ottawa and Beijing. A Canadian government source told The Globe and Mail that neither Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat, nor Michael Spavor, a China-based businessman who organized trips to North Korea, have been formally charged. “Canada strongly condemns their arbitrary arrest […]

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UAE seeks Gulf ‘de-escalation’ after ship attacks

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AFP) — The UAE said Wednesday it was “committed to de-escalation” after a spike in tensions in the Gulf but warned it would retaliate hard against Yemen rebel attacks on civilian facilities in the region. The UAE minister of state for foreign affairs, Anwar Gargash, was speaking after the mysterious sabotage at the weekend of four ships, including two Saudi oil tankers, and after Yemen’s Huthi rebels claimed drone attacks Tuesday […]

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Iran showing ‘maximum restraint,’ US escalation ‘unacceptable’: Zarif

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) –Iran is showing “maximum restraint” despite the US withdrawal from a nuclear deal, the country’s foreign minister said Thursday, accusing Washington of an “unacceptable” escalation in tensions. “The escalation by the United States is unacceptable,” Mohammad Javad Zarif said in Tokyo where he is holding talks with Japanese officials. “We exercise maximum restraint… in spite of the fact that the United States withdrew from JCPOA last May,” he added, referring to the nuclear […]

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Riyadh says oil facility attacks target world supplies

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Saudi Arabia said Wednesday that attacks on two of its oil tankers and a major pipeline targeted not only its own security but that of the world’s supplies. Drone attacks claimed by Iran-aligned Yemeni rebels shut down one of the kingdom’s main oil pipelines on Tuesday, further ratcheting up Gulf tensions after the mysterious sabotage of four ships, two of them Saudi tankers, just outside the Gulf on Sunday. “The […]

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Xi: ‘No clash’ of civilisations amid US trade war

BEIJING, China (AFP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping declared Wednesday there was “no clash” of civilizations and denounced racial supremacy as “stupid” amid tensions with the United States and concerns over Beijing’s rising global power. His remarks came after a top-level US official last month described the rivalry between China and the US as “a fight with a really different civilization and a different ideology”. Kiron Skinner, the director of policy planning at the US […]

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US, Russia ‘share same objective’ on N.Korea: Pompeo

SOCHI, Russia (AFP) — The United States and Russia share the same goals on North Korea as Washington tries to negotiate a nuclear deal, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said after talks with President Vladimir Putin. “I think we share the same objective and I hope that we can find ways that we can work together,” Pompeo told reporters after the talks late Tuesday in the Russian resort of Sochi. “He understands that the US […]

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Putin meets Pompeo as US seeks ‘a way forward’ in ties

  by Shaun Tandon Agence France Presse SOCHI, Russia (AFP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday meets US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in the highest-level talks between the rival powers in nearly a year as they see if they can make headway on a raft of disagreements from Venezuela to Iran to arms control. Pompeo will visit Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi less than two weeks after US President Donald […]

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Oil tankers hit by ‘sabotage attacks’ as Gulf tensions soar

by Mumen Khatib with Dana Moukhallati in Dubai FUJAIRAH, United Arab Emirates (AFP) — Four ships, including two Saudi oil tankers, were damaged in mysterious “sabotage attacks” that further inflamed Gulf tensions on Monday amid a standoff between the United States and Iran. In the face of growing international concern, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo scrapped a planned visit to Moscow to head to Brussels instead for talks with European officials on Iran. Tehran […]

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Indian cyclone death toll rises, anger grows

NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — The death toll from a major cyclone that hit eastern India and Bangladesh in early May rose to 77 on Monday as anger grew over millions of people still without power and water. Cyclone Fani, the first summer cyclone to hit India’s Bay of Bengal coast in 43 years, made landfall in Odisha state on May 3 packing winds up to 200 kilometers (125 miles) per hour. The winds damaged […]

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Two Saudi tankers came under ‘sabotage attack’ off UAE

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Two Saudi oil tankers came under “sabotage attack” off the United Arab Emirates coast, the official Saudi Press Agency reported on Monday, quoting the Saudi energy minister. “Two Saudi oil tankers were subjected to a sabotage attack in the exclusive economic zone of the United Arab Emirates, off the coast of the Emirate of Fujairah, while on their way to cross into the Arabian Gulf,” SPA cited Khalid al-Falih as […]

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Hong Kong to cull 6,000 pigs as first swine fever case found

  HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Hong Kong will cull 6,000 pigs after African swine fever was detected in an animal at a slaughterhouse close to the border with China, the first case of the disease in the densely populated financial hub. “In order to minimise the risk of ASF virus spreading from the slaughterhouse, all pigs in Sheung Shui Slaughterhouse will be culled so that thorough cleansing and also disinfection could be conducted,” Sophia […]

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North Korea’s missile tests not ‘breach of trust’: Trump

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — North Korean missile launches over the past week have not affected Donald Trump’s relationship with Kim Jong Un, the US president said Friday, in a change of course after initially expressing his dissatisfaction. Pyongyang fired two short-range missiles Thursday following an earlier drill the previous Saturday — the first in 18 months. The North had not launched any missiles since November 2017, shortly before once reclusive Kim embarked on diplomatic […]

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