Besides the G7 nations, the G20 bloc also includes such countries as Australia, Brazil and Saudi Arabia. A senior G20 source said negotiations over the communique were difficult, with Russia and China blocking proposals by Western countries. The source and several other officials said barring a last-minute surprise, a consensusContinue Reading
BEIJING: China called on Friday (Feb 24) for urgent peace talks as it released its plan to end the war in Ukraine, but several Western powers rebuffed the proposals while warning against Beijing’s closening ties to Moscow. The United Nations expressed cautious optimism over the Chinese proposals, particularly over theContinue Reading
Following Wang’s visit, Moscow said Beijing had presented its views on approaches to a “political settlement” of the conflict. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday he had not seen any Chinese peace plan and wanted to meet with Beijing over their proposal before assessing it. “I think it isContinue Reading
An avalanche of rock and soil could be seen in CCTV footage falling from one side of the mountain into the mine pit, burying a number of excavators and dump trucks. Three hundred rescue workers were using heavy machinery and rescue dogs in their search for the miners, state mediaContinue Reading
SEOUL: North Korea has test-fired four strategic cruise missiles during a drill designed to demonstrate its ability to conduct a nuclear counterattack against hostile forces, its state media said on Friday (Feb 25). The exercise on Thursday involved an apparently operational strategic cruise missile unit of the Korean People’s Army,Continue Reading
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and China’s top diplomat Wang Yi did not discuss a reported Chinese plan to resolve the conflict in Ukraine when they met on Wednesday (Feb 22), Moscow said. Wang, the highest-ranking Chinese official to visit Russia since it invaded Ukraine almost a year ago, met President VladimirContinue Reading
BEIJING: China must resolve issues in key technological fields from the bottom up as it deals with a growing number of mainly US export controls on advanced technology, President Xi Jinping has said. Xi told a study session of the 24-person Politburo on Tuesday (Feb 21) that China needed toContinue Reading
MANILA: A massive Philippine police search was under way on Wednesday (Feb 22) for two motorcycle-riding men who shot and killed a New Zealand man in a brazen street robbery that officials fear could scare foreign tourists away. The 34-year-old tourist, Nicholas Peter Stacey, was fatally shot once in theContinue Reading
On Monday, Wang called for a negotiated settlement to the Ukraine war during a stopover in Hungary. The same day, US President Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Kyiv in a show of solidarity, promising US$500 million worth of military aid to Ukraine and additional sanctions against Russian elitesContinue Reading
UNITED NATIONS: The United States proposed on Monday (Feb 20) that the United Nations Security Council condemn North Korea’s ballistic missile launches and encourage Pyongyang to engage in diplomacy, warning that the 15-member body’s failure to respond had become dangerous. China and Russia oppose any further action by the SecurityContinue Reading