International

Papua New Guinea inks new police deal with Australia

PORT MORESBY, Feb 1, 2024 (AFP) – Australia will plough millions more dollars into Papua New Guinea’s police force under a four-year deal designed to underscore a “traditional” security partnership in the face of growing Chinese influence. Canberra will spend about US$25 million on renovating and expanding police barracks and housing, according to the deal revealed late Wednesday. The investment represents a bid to help the beleaguered police force, while cementing long-standing security ties that […]

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META CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologises to social media victims at US Senate child safety hearing

By Alex PIGMAN WASHINGTON, Jan 31, 2024 (AFP) – Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg gave a public apology in US Congress on Wednesday as hostile lawmakers grilled tech chiefs over the dangers that children face on social media platforms. The executives convened by the US Senate Judiciary Committee were put to task in a session titled “Big Tech and the Online Child Sexual Exploitation Crisis.” Tech giants are confronting a torrent of political anger for not […]

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US downs Iranian drones, strikes Huthi anti-air missile

By W.G. DUNLOP WASHINGTON, Feb 1, 2024 (AFP) – An American naval destroyer shot down three Iranian drones along with an anti-ship missile fired by Yemen’s Huthis rebels Wednesday, the US military said. The US Central Command (CENTCOM) had also earlier announced a strike on a Huthi surface-to-air missile it said posed an “imminent threat” to American aircraft — a deviation from past air raids that focused on reducing the rebels’ ability to threaten international […]

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Efforts to pause Israel-Hamas war gain pace amid fierce fighting

By Adel Zaanoun with Beatrice Le Bohec in Jerusalem International efforts towards a new pause in the devastating Gaza war gathered pace Wednesday, as Israel bombarded the Palestinian territory during fierce fighting with Hamas militants. Hamas was reviewing a proposal for a six-week truce in its war with Israel, a source told AFP, after mediators gathered in Paris. While talks take place, the population of Gaza is starving to death due to constraints imposed on […]

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US judge voids Elon Musk’s $56 billion Tesla compensation

NEW YORK, Jan 31, 2024 (AFP) – A judge in the US state of Delaware voided the $56 billion compensation package of Tesla chief executive Elon Musk on Tuesday, siding with a shareholder who claimed the entrepreneur was overpaid. The judge in Delaware Chancery Court ruled that the plaintiff, a Tesla shareholder named Richard Tornetta, was “entitled to rescission,” approving the annulment of Musk’s 2018 humongous compensation agreement worth as much as $55.8 billion. Judge […]

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Biden says he’s decided response to Jordan attack

By Andrew Caballero-Reynolds with Danny Kemp in Washington JUPITER, United States, Jan 30, 2024 (AFP) – US President Joe Biden said Tuesday he had decided on a response to a drone strike that killed three American troops in Jordan, while insisting he did not want a wider war in the Middle East. Facing growing pressure in a US election year, Biden said he held Iran responsible for supplying the weapons to the people who carried […]

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Vietnam, Philippines boost South China Sea ties amid China row

Vietnam and the Philippines agreed on Tuesday to boost coastguard cooperation in the South China Sea, as Manila tussles with Beijing over a hotly disputed reef. China claims almost all of the strategic waterway in full, but the Philippines, Vietnam and several other countries claim various islands, islets, reefs and shoals. Tensions have flared recently between Manila and Beijing over a series of confrontations between vessels from both countries, in particular around the Second Thomas […]

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Qatar says Gaza truce proposal to be sent to Hamas as war rages on

By Adel Zaanoun with Mark Anderson in Jerusalem A framework to halt the Gaza fighting and for hostage releases is to be relayed to Hamas, mediator Qatar said Monday, as a bitter row flared around the UN aid agency for Palestinians. While deadly fighting again rocked Gaza, fears mounted of a widening regional conflict after Israel’s top ally Washington vowed to respond to an attack that killed three US troops in Jordan. Israeli bombing of […]

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Lawsuit filed over ‘everyday’ racial profiling by Japan police

Racial profiling by police is an “everyday occurrence” in Japan, one of three foreign-born residents who sued the government over the issue on Monday said. In the first lawsuit of its kind, the three men accused the police of having repeatedly questioned them because of their ethnicity or appearance. They are each seeking 3.3 million yen ($22,300) in compensation. “A lot of apathy here has allowed people like me to be abused and mistreated,” one […]

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Biden blames Iran-backed militants for deadly drone strike in Jordan

By W.G. DUNLOP A drone attack on a base in Jordan killed three American troops, with President Joe Biden blaming Iran-backed militants for the first US military deaths in the region since the Israel-Hamas war began. Iran said it had nothing to do with the attack and denied US and British accusations that it supported militant groups responsible for the strike on the remote frontier base in Jordan’s northeast, near the borders with Iraq and […]

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NKorea’s Kim oversaw test of cruise missiles launched from submarine: state media

By Sunghee Hwang North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has hailed the test launch of a new strategic cruise missile from a submarine as a key moment in building the nation’s naval power, state media said Monday. Pyongyang has accelerated weapons testing in the new year, including tests of what it called an “underwater nuclear weapon system” and a solid-fuelled hypersonic ballistic missile. Kim expressed “great satisfaction” over Sunday’s test, state-run news agency KCNA said, […]

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Iran executes four men convicted of spying for Israel

Iran executed four men at dawn on Monday after they were convicted of collaborating with the country’s arch-foe Israel on a plan to sabotage an Iranian defense site, according to the judiciary. The four defendants, identified as Mohammad Faramarzi, Mohsen Mazloum, Wafa Azarbar, Pejman Fatehi, were arrested in July 2022 and accused of plotting to carry out out an operation against a Ministry of Defense centre in the central province of Isfahan, according to the […]

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