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SYDNEY, Dec 7, 2023 (AFP) – Australia clinched a security deal with Papua New Guinea on Thursday, bolstering ties to a key Pacific neighbour that has been courted persistently by China. Canberra pushed for a more substantive treaty earlier this year, but Papua New Guinea baulked because leaders feared it undermined the country’s “sovereign rights”. The salvaged agreement focuses on Papua New Guinea’s domestic security, as stretched police struggle to stamp out arms trafficking, drug […]
THITU ISLAND, SOUTH CHINA SEA, Dec 1, 2023 (AFP) – The Philippines said Friday it was establishing a coast guard station on the largest island it holds in the disputed South China Sea, to improve monitoring of Chinese vessels asserting Beijing’s claims in the waters. National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano made the announcement during a visit to the Philippine-held Thitu Island, which is part of the hotly contested Spratly Islands. The coast guard station would […]
JAKARTA, Nov 15, 2023 (AFP) – Southeast Asian defence ministers called for an end to the Myanmar crisis and to the Israel-Hamas war on Wednesday as they gathered for talks that will include meetings with regional counterparts and the Pentagon chief. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meetings in Jakarta were dominated by issues ranging from the Myanmar crisis to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, as well as Beijing’s growing assertiveness in the […]
WASHINGTON, Nov 13, 2023 (AFP) – The United States Secret Service said Monday that an agent — reportedly assigned to President Joe Biden’s granddaughter — opened fire during an attempted break-in of one of its unmarked vehicles on a Washington street. It was not immediately clear whether Naomi Biden, 29, was in the vicinity during the incident in the wealthy Georgetown area. “On Nov. 12 around 11:58 pm…, Secret Service agents encountered possibly three individuals […]
SYDNEY, Nov 13, 2023 (AFP) – Major ports handling 40 percent of Australia’s freight trade have reopened, operator DP World said Monday, three days after they were crippled by a cyberattack. DP World cut its systems from the internet when the attack was detected Friday, preventing trucks from unloading or picking up cargo at ports in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Fremantle. “DP World Australia is pleased to announce that operations resumed at the company’s ports […]
By Steven TRASK SYDNEY, Nov 10, 2023 (AFP) – Citizens of climate-threatened Tuvalu will have the right to live in Australia under a landmark pact unveiled Friday — an offer of refuge as their Pacific homeland is lost beneath the seas. Prime ministers Kausea Natano and Anthony Albanese inked a treaty to help Tuvalu’s 11,000 residents tackle climate change, and to take up sanctuary should the worst fears materialise. Tuvalu is among the world’s most […]
TOKYO, Nov 10, 2023 (AFP) – Japan’s government said on Friday that it plans to spend 2 trillion yen ($13 billion) to boost domestic production of strategically important semiconductors and generative AI technology. The planned outlays will include 700 billion yen ($4.6 billion) to support the construction of a Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) plant in Kumamoto, the firm’s second plant in the southern Japanese region, trade ministry official Motoki Kurita told AFP. TSMC controls […]
HELSINKI, Nov 6, 2023 (AFP) – Finnish authorities said Monday that a Russian telecommunications cable in the Baltic Sea was discovered damaged in October, roughly coinciding with damage to subsea infrastructure in Sweden and Finland. “The Russian salvage vessel Spasatel Karev began to repair Rostelecom’s Baltika telecommunications cable in the Gulf of Finland on November 6,” Finland’s Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. The ministry was informed of the damage to the Baltika […]
By Tiphaine LE LIBOUX, Murielle KASPRZAK PARIS, Oct 31, 2023 (AFP) – French police on Tuesday shot and seriously wounded an unarmed woman who was making threats at a train station in Paris during morning rush hour, police and prosecutors told told AFP. According to witnesses the 38-year-old woman, who was completely veiled, shouted “Allahu akbar” (“God is Greatest”) and “made threats”, a police source said, adding that “police fired because they feared for their […]
BEIJING, Oct 20, 2023 (AFP) – China on Friday announced new curbs on exports of certain types of graphite, key to making batteries for electric vehicles, days after the United States slapped fresh restrictions on outflows of high-tech microchips. Washington said this week it would ramp up restrictions on exports of cutting-edge semiconductors crucial for powering artificial intelligence systems — its latest effort to curb Beijing’s access to advanced tech. China has branded Washington’s policy […]
QUITO, Oct 16, 2023 (AFP) – Car horns in Quito blared in celebration Sunday as banana empire heir Daniel Noboa, 35, became violence-riddled Ecuador’s youngest president-elect ever. With 90 percent of votes counted, the electoral authority announced Noboa as the victor. Moments earlier, socialist rival Luisa Gonzalez conceded defeat and offered her “profound congratulations” to Noboa, “because this is democracy.” Addressing supporters in Quito, Gonzales also said she would not be claiming fraud. Ecuadorans voted […]
BERLIN, Oct 7, 2023 (AFP) – Germany and France on Saturday moved to reinforce security around Jewish temples, schools and monuments after the surprise attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas against Israel. Germany tightened police protection of Jewish and Israeli institutions, as some supporters of the Palestinians took to the streets of Berlin to celebrate the attack. France focussed on Jewish temples and schools in cities across the country, as one Jewish leader expressed concern […]
