Tag: Security

Singapore police investigate bomb threats at 18 locations

SINGAPORE, Aug 23, 2023 (AFP) – Singapore police have launched an investigation into bomb threats allegedly made at more than a dozen locations around the city-state, including government buildings and embassies, police said Wednesday. Authorities were alerted to the threats at around 09:10 am local time (0110 GMT) on Wednesday, the Singapore Police Force said in a statement. It added that the threats were reported at “18 locations around Singapore, including government buildings, embassies and […]

Continue Reading →

World must ‘wake up’ to Taiwan security threats: Japan ex-PM

TAIPEI, Aug 8, 2023 (AFP) – Former Japanese prime minister Taro Aso warned a Taipei security forum Tuesday that the international community must “wake up” to the worsening situation surrounding the Taiwan Strait, a hotspot waterway separating the democratic island from China. Taiwan has in recent years been under increased political and military pressure from China, which claims the island as its territory and has vowed to retake it one day. The past year has […]

Continue Reading →

US aims to deploy troops on tankers to deter seizures by Iran

  WASHINGTON, Aug 3, 2023 (AFP) – The United States is preparing to deploy Marines and Navy personnel aboard commercial tankers transiting the Gulf as part of efforts to deter Iran from seizing ships, a US official said Thursday. The security forces would provide a further layer of protection for the tankers in addition to the warships and planes operating in the strategically vital area, through which around a fifth of the world’s oil passes. […]

Continue Reading →

Australia fears China’s latest Pacific deal could stoke tensions

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia has urged China to release the details of a new policing pact with Solomon Islands, saying Beijing’s latest push for influence threatens to inflame tensions in the South Pacific. Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare inked a raft of deals during a trip to Beijing this week, including an agreement allowing China to maintain a police presence in the developing Pacific nation until 2025. China has lavished attention on Solomon […]

Continue Reading →

‘Unprecedented’ security for Putin at St Petersburg forum

MOSCOW, June 16, 2023 (AFP) – Mobile communications were severed Friday in Saint Petersburg in “unprecedented” security measures as President Vladimir Putin attended a global economic forum amid growing Ukrainian attacks on Russian soil. The Roskongress Foundation, the organisers of the forum in Russia’s second city, earlier said internet communication via mobile operators would be blocked. “Use wifi”, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, linking the heightened security to the threat of attacks from Ukraine. In […]

Continue Reading →

North Korea announces ‘satellite’ launch: Japan

TOKYO, Japan, May 29, 2023 (AFP) — Japan said Monday it is preparing for North Korea to launch in the coming weeks what Pyongyang has described as a satellite, but Tokyo believes may be a ballistic missile. Pyongyang has informed Japan’s coastguard that a rocket will be launched between May 31 and June 11 and will fall in waters near the Yellow Sea, East China Sea and east of Luzon Island in the Philippines, a […]

Continue Reading →

India hosts G20 tourism meet in disputed Kashmir under heavy security

By Parvaiz BUKHARI Agence France-Presse SRINAGAR, India, May 22, 2023 (AFP) – A G20 tourism meeting was set to begin on Monday amid high security in Indian-administered Kashmir, with China and Pakistan condemning holding the event in the disputed territory. Muslim-majority Kashmir has been disputed between New Delhi and Islamabad, both of which claim it in full, since their independence 75 years ago. The Indian-controlled portion has been roiled for decades by an insurgency seeking […]

Continue Reading →

Australia bans TikTok on government devices

by Steven TRASK Agence France-Presse SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia said Tuesday it will ban TikTok on government devices, joining a growing list of Western nations cracking down on the Chinese-owned app due to national security fears. Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the decision followed advice from the country’s intelligence agencies and would begin “as soon as practicable”. Australia is the last member of the secretive Five Eyes security alliance to pursue a government TikTok ban, […]

Continue Reading →

Australia PM says to meet Biden in US, submarine deal expected

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s prime minister on Wednesday said he will soon meet President Joe Biden in the United States, where a massive nuclear-powered submarine deal is expected to be unveiled. After 18 months of deliberation, Australia is expected to reveal plans to obtain eight nuclear-powered submarines, in what Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called “the single biggest leap” in defense capability in the country’s history. “I’ll be meeting with President Biden in the […]

Continue Reading →

US seeks to deflate Chinese balloon worries

  Washington, United States | AFP | by Sebastian Smith The White House sought Tuesday to take the air out of an escalating diplomatic crisis with Beijing, saying that preliminary evidence suggests three unidentified aerial objects shot down by US jets were not involved in a broader Chinese spy balloon program. The United States has been in a state of alarm since a huge white balloon from China was spotted tracking over a series of […]

Continue Reading →

Oops — US jet pilot misses mystery object with first missile

Washington, United States | AFP | It was more “oops” than “Top Gun” when a US fighter pilot roared up to fire a nearly half-million-dollar Sidewinder missile at a mysterious unarmed object in the sky over Lake Huron — and missed. US officials admit the would-be ace needed a second shot with one of the air-to-air missiles, which cost at least $400,000 a pop, when engaging the unidentified aerial object from an F-16 fighter Sunday […]

Continue Reading →

Speculation grows as US shoots down new mystery object

Washington, United States | AFP | by Paul HANDLEY / Brian KNOWLTON A US warplane shot down a new flying object near the Canadian border on Sunday, the latest of three mysterious devices spotted since military radar settings were cranked up in the wake of the downing of a suspected Chinese spy balloon. Jittery Americans have been watching the skies as the mysterious incursions unfolded against a backdrop of acute tensions with China — although only the first […]

Continue Reading →
1 2 3 4 5 … 15