Tag: Tensions

Chinese balloon crosses Taiwan strait median line: defense ministry

TAIPEI, Dec 8, 2023 (AFP) – Taiwan’s defence ministry said Friday it had detected a Chinese balloon crossing the so-called median line which bisects the sensitive strait that separates the island from China. “1 PRC (People’s Republic of China) balloon was detected at 11:52 (0352 GMT) yesterday after crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait at the location (of) 101 nautical miles (187 kilometres) southwest of Keelung,” said the ministry, referring to a city […]

US police: No Indication of anti-semitism in synagogue president’s murder

DETROIT, Oct 22, 2023 (AFP) – Police probing the stabbing death of the president of a US synagogue said Sunday that no evidence has emerged of anti-Semitism as a motive. Detroit police chief James White said in a brief statement that his force is interviewing “individuals with information that may further the investigation” into the death Saturday of Samantha Woll. He gave no details. “No evidence has surfaced suggesting that this crime was motivated by […]

Russia’s Lavrov warns of ‘real’ danger of World War III

  MOSCOW, Russia (AFP)– Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday that peace talks with Ukraine would continue, while warning there was a “real” danger of a World War III. Speaking to Russian news agencies, he criticised Kyiv’s approach to the talks, adding: “Good will has its limits. But if it isn’t reciprocal, that doesn’t help the negotiation process. “But we are continuing to engage in negotiations with the team delegated by (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) […]

Eighteen killed in attack near Ukraine’s Odessa

  KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — Eighteen people died Thursday in an air strike on a military base near Ukraine’s Black Sea port city of Odessa, the local administration said. “Eighteen died — eight men and 10 women. At the moment, we are still digging through the rubble,” the Odessa regional administration said in a statement. The attack came on the first day of an invasion of Ukraine that President Vladimir Putin launched after sparring for […]

UK accuses Moscow of trying to install pro-Russia leader in Ukraine

by James PHEBY Britain on Saturday alleged that it had information that Moscow was “looking to install a pro-Russian leader in Kyiv” as fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine grow. Tensions have soared in recent weeks as tens of thousands of Russian troops mass on Ukraine’s border, along with an arsenal of tanks, fighting vehicles, artillery and missiles. London said it had seen evidence that several former Ukrainian politicians had maintained links with Russian […]

Israel-Palestinian conflict escalates as rockets fly, street violence flares

  by Ben Simon with Adel Zaanoun in Gaza City Agence France Presse TEL AVIV, Israel (AFP) — Israel faced an escalating conflict on two fronts Thursday, scrambling to quell riots between Arabs and Jews on its own streets after days of exchanging deadly fire with Palestinian militants in Gaza. Despite diplomatic efforts to ease the crisis, which US President Joe Biden said he hoped would end “sooner than later”, hundreds of rockets flew across […]

President Duterte sends envoy to Iran, Iraq to talk to leaders, secure Filipinos there

  (Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte has already sent Presidential Adviser on Overseas Filipino Workers Abdullah Mamao to Iran and Iraq to talk with the leaders of these countries for the purpose of securing Filipinos in the midst of heightening tension in the region, according to a Malacanang announcement. “Well, I have sent Secretary Mamao. He is a Maranao. He’s a Cabinet member. He’s my fraternity brother. I trust him,” the President said in […]

US, North Korea: face-to-face after decades of tension

(AFP)- With US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, poised to meet Tuesday, here is a recap of the decades of tensions between their countries: – Divided Korean peninsula – The Soviet Union declares war on Japan, Korea’s colonial power, in the closing days of World War II and Washington and Moscow agree to divide the peninsula into two zones of occupation along the 38th parallel. Two rival states emerge in […]

Colombia tensions rise with 3 rebels killed in military bombing

BOGOTA, Colombia (AFP) — Tensions between Colombia’s government and a hold-out rebel group, the ELN, rose Thursday when officials said three of the guerrillas were killed in the bombing of a camp in the northwest of the country. The offensive, part of wider crackdown ordered by President Juan Manuel Santos following a string of deadly attacks on police stations blamed on the ELN, was another blow to peace efforts with the group that have been […]

North Korea quake not a nuclear test, say China experts

BEIJING, China (AFP) — A shallow 3.5-magnitude earthquake which hit North Korea near the country’s nuclear test site on Saturday was not the result of a fresh nuclear test, China’s seismic service said, after initially reporting a “suspected explosion.” The China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC) said in a statement late Saturday that study of infrasonic data determined “the incident is not a nuclear explosion, but had the nature of a natural earthquake.” The Chinese Academy […]

PHL Ambassador to S. Korea says contingency plans in place for Filipinos there amid tensions in Korean Peninsula

  (Eagle News) — The government has put in place contingency measures for Filipinos in South Korea amid tensions resulting from North Korea’s missile tests. “Meron tayong contingency plans at mayroong indications sa alert levels,” Ambassador Raul Hernandez said in a radio interview. He said Filipinos in the country should “monitor developments” and “always get in touch with the embassy.” Apart from the Filipinos residing there, he said around 400,000 go to South Korea as […]

Germany, France, Italy seek tougher EU sanctions on N. Korea

BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Germany, Italy and France on Sunday urged tougher European Union sanctions against North Korea, after Pyongyang “reached a new dimension of provocation” with its latest nuclear test. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed during a phone call “that North Korea has trampled on international law and that the international community must therefore react with determination against this new escalation,” the chancellery said in a statement. Both leaders […]