MOSCOW, Sept 19, 2023 (AFP) – Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu arrived in Iran on an official visit on Tuesday to deepen Moscow’s defence ties with Tehran, which provides Russia with attack drones for its Ukraine offensive, Russian news agencies reported. “During the visit, the Russian Defense Ministry delegation will hold a number of talks with the republic’s military leadership,” the ministry said, according to a statement carried by Russian news agencies. This is a […]
Other News
Black bear captured after shutting down Disney World rides
MIAMI, Sept 18, 2023 (AFP) – An apparently hungry black bear forced a brief shutdown of some attractions at Disney World’s Magic Kingdom in Florida until it was captured, officials said. Local television station Fox 35 said more than a dozen popular rides at the Orlando theme park were closed after the bear was sighted in a tree, including the “Haunted Mansion” and “Pirates of the Caribbean.” “During the fall, bears are more active as […]
Indonesia hosts first-ever ASEAN military drills
BATAM, Indonesia, Sept 19, 2023 (AFP) – Militaries from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations began their first-ever joint exercises on Tuesday in Indonesia, with a Myanmar representative present despite the bloc’s ban on its junta leaders. ASEAN countries have participated in multinational defence drills before, but these are the first featuring just the bloc, which is battling perceptions of irrelevance on major regional issues such as the turmoil in Myanmar and disputes in the […]
Seoul summons Russian ambassador after Kim-Putin summit
SEOUL, Sept 19, 2023 (AFP) – South Korea summoned the Russian ambassador Tuesday, the foreign ministry said, to warn Moscow over military cooperation with North Korea after Kim Jong Un met President Vladimir Putin in Russia. Kim spent nearly a week touring Russia’s far east before returning home Monday, visiting a space centre and weapons factories, on a trip which has fanned Western fears that isolated, nuclear-armed Pyongyang could provide Moscow with weapons for its […]
Embracing extraordinary times! ASEAN in Focus – Sept. 19, 2023
US Abrams tanks to enter Ukraine ‘soon’: US defense secretary
Ukraine will “soon” receive M1 Abrams tanks from the United States as Kyiv’s forces make “steady” progress in a counter-offensive against Moscow’s troops, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Tuesday. Washington had promised the tanks to Kyiv at the beginning of the year, part of more than $43 billion in security assistance pledged by the United States since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. “I’m… pleased to announce that the M1 Abrams tanks that […]
Australia warns of worse fires, heat as El Nino kicks in
Australia’s weather bureau confirmed on Tuesday that an El Nino weather pattern is under way, bringing hot and dry conditions that risk a severe wildfire season and drought. The announcement, which follows similar confirmations from other weather agencies, came as the country bakes in unseasonal heat, with the weather agency warning of more to come. Government forecaster Karl Braganza said elevated surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean could impact the country until early next year. […]
Musk says X could charge all users ‘small monthly payment’
Online platform X could introduce a monthly fee for all users, its owner Elon Musk said Monday, citing the need to cut down on bots. The tech tycoon has made multiple changes since taking over the site for $44 billion in October last year, when it was known as Twitter. He has fired thousands of employees, introduced a paid premium option, cut content moderation and reinstated formerly banned accounts including that of former US president […]
Escaped Chinese crocodiles all captured: state media
Dozens of crocodiles that escaped a flooded Chinese farm have all been recaptured, state media reported on Tuesday, a week after the reptilian runaways wriggled free. More than 70 reptiles escaped from a commercial crocodile farm in the southern Chinese city of Maoming earlier this month after a typhoon inundated the area. Authorities in Guangdong Province launched an expansive hunt, with state broadcaster CCTV running footage of workers in rain boots dragging a crocodile out […]
Solar panels go into service near North Pole
By Viken KANTARCI Norway has installed solar panels in its Svalbard archipelago, a region plunged in round-the-clock darkness all winter, in a pilot project that could help remote Arctic communities transition to green energy. Neatly lined up in six rows in a field, 360 solar panels will on Thursday begin providing electricity to an old shipping radio station, Isfjord Radio, now converted into a base camp for tourists. The windswept archipelago — also known as […]
Water shortage drives elephant migration from Zimbabwe
Large numbers of elephants from Zimbabwe’s biggest national park are moving to neighbouring Botswana in a search for water, a spokesman said Monday. “Many animals have and are moving from Hwange National Park into Botswana” Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority spokesman Tinashe Farawo told AFP. Hwange National Park covers an area of more than 14,600 square kilometres (5,600 square miles) and is home to about 50,000 elephants. “Water bodies have dried up and the […]
Marine heatwaves last longer in deeper water: study
Marine heatwaves may last longer and be more intense in deeper water, potentially threatening sensitive species as climate change makes the extreme events more frequent, researchers said on Monday. Oceans have absorbed 90 percent of the excess heat produced by the carbon pollution from human activity since the dawn of the industrial age. Marine heatwaves — episodes of abnormally high water temperatures — have become more frequent and intense. These can have a particularly severe […]
