BEIJING: China accused Indian troops of violating a bilateral agreement and firing warning shots in the air during a confrontation with Chinese personnel on the disputed border on Monday, amid renewed tensions between the two countries. Chinese border guards took “countermeasures” to stabilise the situation, Zhang Shuili, spokesman for the […]
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WASHINGTON: Republican President Donald Trump, accused by Joe Biden of putting lives at risk in his handling of the coronavirus, yesterday called his Democratic rival “stupid” and demanded an apology for what Trump called anti-vaccine rhetoric. Trailing in national opinion polls as the US death toll from the virus approaches […]
TOKYO: Japan’s chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga signalled the possibility of calling a snap election if he were to become the country’s next prime minister, the Asahi newspaper reported today. Suga, a frontrunner to succeed incumbent prime minister Shinzo Abe, also stressed Japan’s resolve to hold next year’s Tokyo Olympic […]
HONG KONG: Lawyers representing some of the Hong Kongers captured by the Chinese coastguard as they allegedly tried to flee the financial hub by speedboat told AFP today that they have been denied access to their clients. Mainland authorities announced a group of 12 Hong Kongers were intercepted some 70 […]
GUWAHATI (India): The Indian Army has asked its Chinese counterpart if five civilians who went missing from an eastern border state days ago were in their custody, an Indian military spokesman said today. Relations between the nuclear-armed Asian giants have hit a multi-decade low since clashes at their western Himalayan […]
WELLINGTON: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern resumed campaigning in New Zealand’s virus-delayed general election today with an attention-grabbing promise to make the Maori New Year a public holiday. Electioneering had barely started last month when a sudden Covid-19 outbreak forced Auckland into lockdown and brought a temporary halt to campaign activities. […]
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump today again defended his support for American troops while others in his administration rallied around him after reports that Trump had disparaged fallen US soldiers in Europe and declined to visit an American cemetery during a 2018 trip to France. The Atlantic magazine reported on […]
KATHMANDU: Police in Nepal used tear gas and water cannon yesterday to break up a religious rally that defied a government ban on public gatherings imposed to fight the coronavirus pandemic. Despite the ban, about 2,000 residents poured into a major thoroughfare of Lalitpur, near Nepal’s capital Kathmandu, to pull […]
COLOMBO: Indian warships yesterday aided Sri Lanka’s navy to extinguish a fire on a massive oil tanker off the island’s eastern coast, officials said. Sri Lankan authorities said there was no immediate danger to the coastline should there be a leak from the New Diamond, which was carrying 270,000 tonnes […]
SYDNEY: Australian writer Yang Hengjun, detained by Chinese authorities for 18 months, has told family he has refused to make a false confession, as his case appears to move closer to trial. Yang’s lawyer was yesterday allowed access to the Beijing detention facility where the 55-year-old writer is being held, […]