JOHANNESBURG: Leaders of the BRICS emerging economies, which account for about a quarter of the world’s wealth, meet in Johannesburg this week looking to widen the bloc’s influence and push for a shift in global geopolitics. South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to host China’s President Xi Jinping, India’s PrimeContinue Reading
Mr Walters said it is important to lock these down for future political considerations, so that the countries will still have these agreements even if Mr Biden, Mr Kishida or Mr Yoon are no longer in office, “because they eventually will change”.
There remains, however, issues to be ironed out among the three countries.
Mr Matthew Goodman, senior vice-president for economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that some of the economic policies pursued by the Biden administration at home has a “protectionist bent” which concerns its allies like Japan and Korea.
These include policies which are good for US growth, along with potential critical investments in clean energy that would reduce costs and provide new technologies for its people.
“So I think there are still some doubts on the economic side about the Biden administration’s approach to the region,” said Mr Goodman.
A video taken by a passenger appears to show the man, who was wearing a backpack, threatening passengers and staff.
Police did not specify the nationality of the man though they said he is a resident of Canberra.
They had earlier stressed the incident posed no “impending threat to the community” – although it did cause 32 domestic flights to be cancelled and created lengthy delays of up to 90 minutes for others. No international flights were cancelled.
“In the interest of safety, the commander of the flight made a decision to return to Sydney,” said a Malaysia Airlines spokesperson in response to CNA’s queries on Monday night.
The airline added that other passengers and crew members completed disembarkation at 7pm.
The man has also been charged with one count of not complying with cabin crew’s safety instructions, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) added.
“The AFP will not divulge operational matters, however, an emergency response plan was enacted and an evacuation was initiated once it was deemed safe for passengers and crew.”
The man is expected to appear in court on Tuesday.
The offences carry a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment and a fine of over A$15,000 (S$13,200).
The World Health Organization on Monday (Aug 7) flagged a batch of contaminated common cold syrup, manufactured by an Indian company, the latest in a series of warnings by the agency about substandard medicines from the country. The United Nations agency said the batch of the syrup, branded Cold Out,Continue Reading
BEIJING: China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in a phone conversation on Monday (Aug 7) that China would uphold an independent and impartial position on Ukraine as it strives to find a political settlement to the issue. Wang’s comments to Lavrov were announced in aContinue Reading
WASHINGTON: On Wednesday, August 2, senior US and Chinese national surveillance officers had a unique high-level conversation with an official from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to the Pentagon. According to a Pentagon spokesman, Assistant Secretary Ratner and Director Yang talked about local security concerns as well as US-PRCContinue Reading
WASHINGTON: The United States has formally invited China’s newly reappointed foreign minister, Wang Yi, to Washington, the US State Department said on Tuesday (Aug 1), after Wang’s predecessor was abruptly removed from his post by Beijing. China reappointed veteran diplomat Wang last week, replacing former rising star Qin Gang, whoContinue Reading
BRISBANE: Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday (Jul 28) said that the United States believes Russia’s defence minister is in North Korea to secure supplies of weapons to aid the stalled invasion of Ukraine. Following Sergei Shoigu’s arrival on a rare trip to Pyongyang, Blinken said that Russia isContinue Reading
WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden will host Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol for a trilateral summit at Camp David in Maryland on Aug 18, the White House said on Friday (Jul 28). “The three leaders will discuss expanding trilateral cooperation across the Indo-PacificContinue Reading
WASHINGTON: China is helping Russia evade Western sanctions and likely providing Moscow with military and dual-use technology for use in Ukraine, according to an unclassified US intelligence report released on Thursday (Jul 27). The assessment by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) was published by the USContinue Reading