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BEIJING, May 29, 2024 (AFP) – China on Wednesday vowed military pressure on Taiwan would carry on as long as “independence” provocations continued on the self-ruled island. Last week, China held two days of military drills around Taiwan that saw warships and jets loaded with live munitions practise seizing and isolating the self-ruled island. The exercises were launched three days after Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te took office and made an inauguration speech that China […]
BANGKOK, May 29, 2024 (AFP) – Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra will be prosecuted for insulting the monarchy, the attorney general’s office said Wednesday, over comments he made almost a decade ago. Prayuth Pecharakun, spokesman for the attorney general, said Thaksin would be summoned to court on June 18 to answer charges under the kingdom’s strict lese-majeste laws. The decision comes as a blow to Thaksin, a two-time premier ousted in a 2006 coup […]
TAIPEI, May 27, 2024 (AFP) – A senior US lawmaker affirmed on Monday Washington’s support for Taiwan against Chinese “aggression”, on the first congressional visit to the self-ruled island since it swore in a new president. Sitting down Monday morning with President Lai Ching-te, Representative Michael McCaul — who heads the influential House Foreign Affairs Committee — said he and his colleagues stood in “strong support of this beautiful island”. Three days after Lai was […]
By Dene-Hern CHEN TAIPEI, May 26, 2024 (AFP) – Taiwan’s new president said Sunday he was still ready to work with China, despite this week’s military drills around the self-ruled island. Three days after Lai Ching-te was sworn in, Chinese warships and fighter jets encircled Taiwan in drills that China said were a test of its ability to seize the island. During the two-day drills, China vowed that “independence forces” would be left “with their […]
By Yussel GONZALEZ MEXICO CITY, May 23, 2024 (AFP) – An election rally in northern Mexico descended into tragedy after a gust of wind sent the stage careening into the crowd on Wednesday night, killing at least nine people, including a child, authorities said. At least 50 other people were injured in the accident, some seriously, according to Nuevo Leon Governor Samuel Garcia. Footage of the incident showed a chaotic scramble as people screamed and […]
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 […]
TEHRAN, May 20, 2024 (AFP) – Iranian state media said President Ebrahim Raisi died on Monday after his helicopter crashed in a mountainous region of the country. The government has not yet issued a confirmation of the leader’s death. Rescue teams had been scouring the area since Sunday afternoon after a helicopter carrying Raisi, the foreign minister and other officials had gone missing. Early Monday, relief workers located the missing helicopter, with state TV saying […]
TEHRAN, May 19, 2024 (AFP) – A helicopter carrying Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi was involved in “an accident” amid poor weather conditions on Sunday, state media reported, with a search underway and no news yet on his condition. “An accident happened to the helicopter carrying the president” in the Jofa region of the western province of East Azerbaijan, state television said. Rescue team were headed to the area to locate him and other officials, state […]
KINMEN, Taiwan, May 19, 2024 (AFP) – Taipei’s coast guard ramped up patrols over the weekend around its outlying islands that have seen increased presence of Chinese vessels, the agency said Sunday, the eve of Lai Ching-te’s inauguration as Taiwan’s new president. China claims democratic Taiwan as part of its territory, maintaining a near-daily military presence with frequent appearances of fighter jets, drones and naval ships around the island. It has also in recent months […]
BANGKOK, Thailand, May 18, 2024 (AFP) – Vietnam’s Communist Party has nominated public security minister To Lam to be the country’s new president, state media said Saturday, after his predecessor resigned as part of a sweeping anti-graft purge. Thousands of people — including top officials and senior business leaders — have been caught up in the Southeast Asian country’s “blazing furnace” crackdown on graft, led by Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. The party’s […]
By Mathurin DEREL NOUMEA, May 18, 2024 (AFP) – French Pacific territory New Caledonia was “under siege” Saturday, the mayor of its capital Noumea said, with another person killed in rioting that has left six dead over six days. Anger is still high over a contested voting reform, with Noumea mayor Sonia Lagarde telling news channel BFMTV “we’re far from getting back to calm” even after the arrival of hundreds of military and police reinforcements. […]
