Year: 2022

KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan has commissioned new navy minelayers to add to its defenses against giant rival China. President Tsai Ing-wen presided over a ceremony commissioning the navy’s First and Second Mining Operations Squadrons. The ships are able to automatically sow large numbers of small but powerful mines without the need for divers. Such

By NINIEK KARMINI and EDNA TARIGAN Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A powerful earthquake has shaken parts of Indonesia’s main island of Java, damaging buildings and houses and sending people into the streets, but no casualties were reported. Officials say there is no danger of a tsunami. The U.S. Geological Survey says the magnitude

By ZEN SOO Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong International Airport is banning transit passengers from 150 countries and territories starting Sunday, tightening stringent travel controls in an effort to stem the spread of the highly contagious omicron variant. Authorities also said Friday they will extend social distancing restrictions, including a ban on

BEIJING (AP) — China is dismissing a warning from Britain’s domestic intelligence service to lawmakers that a London-based lawyer is trying to “covertly interfere in U.K. politics” on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party as “irresponsible.” A Foreign Ministry spokesperson says China has “no need to and will never engage in the so-called interference,” and

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A fire  that erupted during maintenance work at a major oil refinery in Kuwait has killed two workers and critically injured five others. The Kuwait National Petroleum Company says the blaze broke out on Friday at a gas liquefaction unit that had been out of service for maintenance work.

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russia has strongly repeated its demand that NATO doesn’t expand eastward despite the rejection of that by the military alliance amid a Russian troop buildup near Ukraine. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday described Moscow’s demands that NATO will neither expand nor deploy forces to Ukraine and

STOCKHOLM (AP) — A top military chief in Sweden said Friday that they are seeing increased Russian activity in the Baltic Sea which “deviate from the normal picture” to explain why the Scandinavian nation’s military has raised its preparedness. Lt. Gen Leif Michael Claesson said Friday that “it does not have to mean an increased

By YURAS KARMANAU, FRANK BAJAK, ERIC TUCKER and DASHA LITVINOVA Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Hackers have temporarily shut down dozens of Ukrainian government websites, causing no major damage but adding to simmering tensions while Russia amasses troops on the Ukrainian border. Separately, in a rare gesture to the U.S. at a time of

By NICK PERRY and STEVE McMORRAN Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The treatment of tennis star Novak Djokovic by Australian immigration officials might seem from afar. But Australia has long taken a severe stance on immigration, including warehousing refugees in offshore detention camps and preventing overseas citizens from returning home during the pandemic.

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Boris Johnson’s office has apologized to the royal family for a lockdown-breaching staff parties in Downing Street on the eve of Prince Philips funeral. They are the latest in a string of rule-breaking social events that are threatening to topple the British prime minister. The Daily Telegraph

BEIJING (AP) — China’s ruling Communist Party says a top official in the southern region of Guangxi is under investigation for corruption. The Central Committee for Discipline Inspection says Vice Governor Liu Hongwu is being investigated for “serious violations of discipline and laws,” the party watchdog’s standard term for graft. It gave no further details.