International

President Marcos says Philippines won’t be intimidated amid China row

  MANILA, June 23, 2024 (AFP) – President Ferdinand Marcos said Sunday the Philippines “will not be intimidated” by anyone after a violent clash between the Filipino navy and the Chinese coast guard in the South China Sea. The confrontation took place Monday off Second Thomas Shoal as the Chinese sailors foiled an attempt by Philippine forces to resupply marines stationed on a derelict warship that was deliberately grounded atop the disputed shoal in 1999 […]

Mexico on alert as heat claims 155 lives since March

MEXICO CITY, June 20, 2024 (AFP) – Mexico has registered 155 deaths associated with high temperatures since March, with 30 in the past week alone, the government said Thursday. At least 2,567 people have suffered heat-related illnesses so far this warm season, which started mid-March and will continue until the beginning of October, the health secretariat said in a weekly report. A dozen Mexican cities broke heat records in May, with an all-time high of […]

Japan ‘seriously concerned’ over Putin’s North Korea treaty

TOKYO, June 20, 2024 (AFP) – Japan is “seriously concerned” that Russian President Vladimir Putin did not rule out military and technical cooperation under a pact signed with North Korea on a visit to the isolated state, a government spokesman said Thursday. Putin on Wednesday inked the strategic treaty at a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang that included a pledge to come to each other’s aid if attacked. Russia “does […]

Head-on train crash kills two in Chile

SANTIAGO, June 20, 2024 (AFP) – Two people died and nine were injured Thursday when a freight train collided head-on with a locomotive carrying out test runs on the outskirts of the Chilean capital, authorities said. Four Chinese citizens were injured aboard the train carrying out speed tests, said the state railway company EFE. The driver of the freight train and his assistant were killed. “We regret to report the death of two workers on […]

Myanmar’s Suu Kyi in ‘good health’: junta spokesman

YANGON, June 20, 2024 (AFP) – Detained Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is in “good health”, a junta spokesman told AFP on Thursday, a day after the Nobel laureate turned 79 in military custody. Suu Kyi has been detained by the military since it toppled her government and seized power in 2021, plunging the Southeast Asian nation into turmoil. The Nobel laureate is serving a 27-year sentence imposed by a junta court after […]

Ecuador experiences hours-long nationwide power outage

QUITO, June 20, 2024 (AFP) – Ecuador suffered a nationwide blackout for several hours Wednesday as the electrical grid failed, with metro services, road traffic and other critical services crippled. The blackout hit abruptly just after 3:00 pm local time, surprising subway riders in the capital Quito as trains came to a halt and hundreds of people were evacuated. Some were forced to walk long distances through dark metro tunnels until finding an exit. Three […]

Death toll tops 1,000 after hajj marked by extreme heat: AFP tally

RIYADH, June 20, 2024 (AFP) – The death toll from this year’s hajj has exceeded 1,000, an AFP tally said on Thursday, more than half of them unregistered worshippers who performed the pilgrimage in extreme heat in Saudi Arabia. The new deaths reported Thursday included 58 from Egypt, according to an Arab diplomat who provided a breakdown showing that of 658 Egyptians who passed away, 630 were unregistered pilgrims. All told, around 10 countries have […]

Chinese sailors wield sticks, axe in disputed sea clash with Philippines

MANILA, June 20, 2024 (AFP) – Chinese coast guard sailors brandishing weapons including sticks, knives and an axe clashed with Philippine naval vessels near a strategic reef in the South China Sea, dramatic new footage released by Manila showed. The clash took place Monday as Philippine forces attempted to resupply marines stationed on a derelict warship deliberately grounded atop the disputed Second Thomas Shoal, Manila said. Fresh footage of the confrontation released late Wednesday by […]

N.Korea, Russia sign mutual defense deal as Kim pledges support on Ukraine

By Cat Barton and Claire Lee SEOUL, June 19, 2024 (AFP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a mutual defence agreement on Wednesday with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, who offered his “full support” on Ukraine. The pledge of military cooperation was part of a strategic treaty signed during a summit in Pyongyang, where Putin was making his first visit in 24 years. “It is really a breakthrough document,” Putin said at a news conference […]

China’s ‘salami-slicing strategy’ against Philippines in disputed sea

By Matthew WALSH BEIJING, June 19, 2024 (AFP) – Ramming boats, building militarised islands and threatening perceived trespassers — China is escalating confrontations with the Philippines in a bid to push it out of the South China Sea, analysts say. One of the most perilous flashpoints between the two nations is a submerged reef called the Second Thomas Shoal, where in 1999 the Philippine navy intentionally marooned a decrepit World War II ship to assert […]

Philippines says Chinese coast guard boarded navy vessels in South China Sea

MANILA, June 19, 2024 (AFP) – The Philippine military said Wednesday the Chinese coast guard rammed and boarded Filipino navy boats in a violent confrontation in the South China Sea this week in which a Filipino sailor lost a thumb. Monday’s incident was the latest in a series of escalating confrontations between Chinese and Philippine ships in recent months as Beijing steps up efforts to push its claims to the disputed area. Filipino military chief […]

Russian President Putin in North Korea to boost defence ties

SEOUL, June 19, 2024 (AFP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will meet Wednesday in Pyongyang for a summit where they are widely expected to discuss ways to boost sanctions-busting military ties. Kim greeted Putin at the airport, with the two internationally isolated leaders hugging on the red carpet, photographs in North Korean state media showed, underscoring the increasingly close relationship that has sparked concern in Seoul and Washington. […]