MANILA : A decision by the Philippines to grant the United States greater access to its military bases was “not for engaging in war” but meant to enhance its ability to defend itself against external threats, its defence chief said on Thursday (Mar 2). “The geopolitical situation is becoming moreContinue Reading
BEIJING: Beijing accused Washington on Wednesday (Mar 1) of harming its own credibility after a top US intelligence official said his agency believed the COVID-19 pandemic “most likely” caused by a laboratory incident in Wuhan, China. FBI Director Christopher Wray told Fox News on Tuesday that the Bureau has nowContinue Reading
“SPY BALLOON” Similarly in doubt on the sidelines of the two-day G20 gathering in New Delhi was a meeting between Blinken and his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang. Blinken had a fiery encounter with top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi last month in Germany after the US shot down a suspected ChineseContinue Reading
MOSCOW: Russia brought new law amendments to parliament on Wednesday (Mar 1) that further strengthen the country’s censorship laws, envisaging up to 15 years in jail for discrediting the armed forces and voluntary military organisations such as the Wagner Group. Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner Group that is tryingContinue Reading
DUBAI: Hundreds of Iranian girls in different schools have suffered “mild poison” attacks over recent months, the health minister said, with some politicians suggesting they could have been targeted by religious groups opposed to girls’ education. The attacks come at a critical time for Iran’s clerical rulers, who faced monthsContinue Reading
The University of New South Wales, which welcomed a quarter of its students from China until 2020, said its on-campus accommodation was full and it was refurbishing university apartments to rent to foreign students. A spokesperson for Sydney University, also with a fourth of its students coming from China, saidContinue Reading
UNITED NATIONS: The issue of human rights in North Korea will stay on the UN Security Council agenda at the request of the United States and Albania after they submitted a note on Tuesday (Feb 28) with the support of dozens of countries – double what they received last year.Continue Reading
Xi has spoken to Putin several times since the war began, but has not done so with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Lukashenko is a close ally of Putin and has backed Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Belarus shares a border with both Ukraine and Russia, but is financially and politicallyContinue Reading
BEIJING: China says the United States is overstretching the concept of national security and abusing state power to suppress foreign companies after the White House gave government agencies 30 days to remove Chinese-owned app TikTok on federal devices. “We firmly oppose those wrong actions,” said Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao NingContinue Reading
The viruses that infected two people in Cambodia with H5N1 avian influenza have been identified as an endemic clade of bird flu circulating in the country, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said. The cases reported last week had raised concerns they were caused by a newContinue Reading