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By Blaise GAUQUELIN VIENNA, June 26, 2024 (AFP) – Austria’s highly controversial former foreign minister Karin Kneissl — who now lives in Russia — told AFP she feels slandered as Vienna reels from an unfolding Russian spying scandal. A pariah in her home country after dancing with Russian President Vladimir Putin at her wedding, Kneissl claims she had no choice but to flee Austria and shelter in Russia. Now she denies any involvement in the […]
SYDNEY, June 26, 2024 (AFP) – Australia urged Solomon Islands to rely on fellow Pacific nations for security assistance Wednesday during a visit by China-friendly Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele. The Solomons leader was visiting Australia as part of a three-nation tour that will also take him to China and Japan. It is Manele’s first official international trip since he replaced enthusiastic Beijing supporter Manasseh Sogavare as prime minister in May. Sogavare switched diplomatic recognition from […]
PARIS, June 26, 2024 (AFP) – US reporter Evan Gershkovich is due to face the start of a closed-door trial on espionage charges in Russia on Wednesday. He is one of several Westerners held by Russia at a time when Moscow’s tensions with the West have soared to Cold War-era levels, following the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. Washington has accused Moscow of arresting its citizens on baseless charges to use them as bargaining chips to […]
LONDON, June 22, 2024 (AFP) – Japan’s Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako arrived in Britain on Saturday for a three-day state visit hosted by King Charles III. A special flight from Japan landed at London’s Stansted airport. The royal couple are to spend Sunday and Monday at private engagements before the official programme begins on Tuesday. The highlight will be a state banquet at Buckingham Palace, with all eyes on a possible appearance by heir […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
MANILA, June 18, 2024 (AFP) – The Philippines said Tuesday one of its navy personnel was severely injured after the China Coast Guard rammed a Philippine vessel near Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea. “A Philippine Navy personnel sustained severe injury after the CCG’s (China Coast Guard’s) intentional high-speed ramming during the rotation and resupply mission to the BRP Sierra Madre (LS57) on June 17,” a military statement said. The shoal, which hosts […]
MANILA, June 17, 2024 (AFP) – The Philippine government on Monday accused Chinese ships of ramming and damaging its boats in the South China Sea during a confrontation in waters off the Second Thomas Shoal, home to a garrison of Filipino troops. “The People’s Liberation Army-Navy, China Coast Guard and Chinese Maritime Militia vessels engaged in dangerous maneuvers, including ramming and towing,” Manila’s national task force on the West Philippine Sea said in a statement. […]
SYDNEY, June 18, 2024 (AFP) – Premier Li Qiang toured a Chinese-controlled lithium refiner in Perth on Tuesday, a sign of his country’s vast appetite for Australian “critical minerals” required for clean energy technologies. Li ended his four-day visit to Australia with a tour of the low-carbon energy industry in resource-rich Western Australia. His first stop was Tianqi Lithium Energy Australia, a 51-percent Chinese-owned venture comprising a mine for hard rock lithium ore, and a […]
