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SHANGHAI, May 23, 2024 (AFP) – China on Thursday announced two days of war games around self-ruled Taiwan, encircling the island with naval vessels and military aircraft. Here’s what you need to know. – Why has China launched these drills? – Taiwan has been self-governed since 1949, when nationalists fled to the island following their defeat by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in a civil war on the mainland. Beijing considers the democratic island part […]
LONDON, May 22, 2024 (AFP) – UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday set a general election date for July 4, ending months of speculation but not the doom-laden forecasts about the size of the government’s expected defeat. The poll will be the first time Sunak, 44, faces the public while in charge, after he was appointed leader of the largest party in parliament by Conservative MPs in October 2022. The vote — the third […]
By James EDGAR BEIJING, May 23, 2024 (AFP) – China on Thursday launched two days of military drills to surround self-ruled Taiwan in what it said was “strong punishment” for the island’s “separatist acts”. The drills come after Lai Ching-te was sworn in as Taiwan’s new president this week and made an inauguration speech that China denounced as a “confession of independence”. Communist China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has vowed to […]
By Anna PELEGRI PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil, May 22, 2024 (AFP) – The floods devastating southern Brazil have been exacerbated by deforestation, much of it driven by soybean farming, according to experts, who urge the country to restore its forests and their vast water-retaining root systems. The key agricultural state of Rio Grande do Sul has been hit by an unprecedented climate disaster for the past three weeks, with cities and rural areas alike inundated by […]
WASHINGTON, May 21, 2024 (AFP) – Israel has taken US concerns into account as it wages military operations in the Gaza city of Rafah, which is packed with refugees, a senior United States official said Tuesday. “It’s fair to say, I think the Israelis have updated their plans. They’ve incorporated many of the concerns that we have expressed,” the official told reporters. “This is an ongoing discussion, ongoing conversation. It’s been constructive,” said the official, […]
By Caroline GARDIN FUJIKAWAGUCHIKO, Japan (AFP) – A Japanese town mounted a large mesh barrier at a popular viewing spot for Mount Fuji on Tuesday, in an attempt to deter photo-taking by an ever-growing number of tourists. Japan’s most famous sight can be seen for miles around, but Fujikawaguchiko locals are fed up with streams of mostly foreign visitors littering, trespassing and breaking traffic rules in their hunt for a photo to share on social […]
SINGAPORE, May 22, 2024 (AFP) – Singapore has tightened security after an attack on a police station in neighbouring Malaysia by a man with suspected ties to an Al-Qaeda-linked group, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said Tuesday. Two police officers were killed and another injured by the machete-wielding attacker on Friday in Malaysia’s southern Johor state, near the narrow waterway separating the country from Singapore. The man, whose father is a member of Southeast Asia-based […]
LONDON, May 21, 2024 (AFP) – A former member of the UK’s Royal Marines, bailed by a court last week over allegations of assisting Hong Kong’s intelligence services in a Chinese-linked espionage case, has been found dead, British police said Tuesday. Matthew Trickett, 37, was found dead in a park in Maidenhead, west of London, on Sunday following a report by a member of the public, Thames Valley Police said. Trickett had more recently […]
LOS ANGELES, May 21, 2024 (AFP) – US police said Tuesday they are investigating the ketamine overdose death of “Friends” actor Matthew Perry, who died at his luxury Los Angeles home last year. Perry, who played Chandler Bing on the hit TV sitcom from 1994-2004, was found unresponsive in his pool at the age of 54, sparking a global outpouring of grief from fans and colleagues. An autopsy found the cause of his death was […]
BANGKOK, May 21, 2024 (AFP) – A 73-year-old British man died and more than 70 people were injured Tuesday in what passengers described as a terrifying scene aboard a Singapore Airlines flight that hit severe turbulence, triggering an emergency landing in Bangkok. An initial data analysis by the aviation tracking service Flightradar24 suggested the London-Singapore flight experienced more than one minute of extreme turbulence at around 11,300 metres (37,000 feet) over Myanmar, during which it […]
MANILA, May 21, 2024 (AFP) – The Philippines and the United States agreed Tuesday to train Filipinos how to build and operate nuclear power plants, as the Southeast Asian country seeks to boost its electricity supply. The announcement comes after Manila and Washington struck a nuclear cooperation agreement in November that cleared a path for US investment to jumpstart atomic power in the energy-hungry Philippines. Under Tuesday’s deal, the Philippine Department of Energy and the […]
ROME, May 21, 2024 (AFP) A flurry of tremors of a strength not seen in decades was registered at a volcanic caldera near the southern Italian city of Naples on Monday night, sparking panic among residents but resulting in no major damage, authorities said. One 4.4-magnitude quake was registered shortly after 8 pm (1800 GMT) at a depth of 2.5 kilometres (1.6 miles), according to the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV). It was […]
