Day: June 2, 2023

Train crash in India kills more than 200 people

Media Library

A train crash in eastern India has killed more than 200 people, officials said, in one of the country’s deadliest railway accidents in decades. At least 233 people were killed and 900 injured in a collision involving multiple trains in the state of Odisha on Friday night, according to the state’s chief secretary Pradeep Jena. The Coromandel Express, which was travelling from Kolkata to Chennai in southern India, crashed into a derailed train travelling from Bengaluru to Kolkata. Local media reported that a stationary goods train was also caught up…

More than 200 killed in train crash in India

Media Library

A train crash in eastern India has killed more than 200 people, officials said, in one of the country’s deadliest railway accidents in decades. At least 233 people were killed and 900 injured in a collision involving multiple trains in the state of Odisha on Friday night, according to the state’s chief secretary Pradeep Jena. The Coromandel Express, which was travelling from Kolkata to Chennai in southern India, crashed into a derailed train travelling from Bengaluru to Kolkata. Local media reported that a stationary goods train was also caught up…

US Defense Secretary Addresses Asian Security Summit, Urges Dialogue with China

Media Library

Singapore —  U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin encouraged China Saturday to keep the lines of communication open between the two powerful countries. Speaking in Singapore at the Shangri La Dialogue, Asia’s top security summit, Lloyd said, “I am deeply concerned that the PRC has been unwilling to engage more seriously on better mechanisms for crisis management between our two militaries.” Austin said that ongoing communication between the two countries is essential to avoid miscalculations that could lead to conflict. “We do not seek conflict or confrontation,” Austin said in…

US Defense Secretary, at Asian Security Summit, Urges Dialogue with China

Media Library

U.S Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Saturday that dialogue between the United States and China is essential to avoiding miscalculations that could lead to conflict, adding he was deeply concerned by Beijing’s unwillingness to engage in crisis management between the two militaries. “We do not seek conflict or confrontation,” Austin said in his address at the Shangri La Dialogue, Asia’s top security summit, in Singapore. “But we will not flinch in the face of bullying or coercion,” he added. Austin’s remarks were likely aimed at China. China Minister of…

Washington won’t stand for China ‘bullying’ US allies, Lloyd Austin tells security summit

Media Library

The US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, has vowed that Washington will not stand for any “coercion and bullying” of its allies and partners by China, while assuring Beijing that the US remains committed to maintaining the status quo on Taiwan and would prefer dialogue over conflict. Speaking in Singapore at the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia’s top security summit, Austin lobbied for support for Washington’s vision of a “free, open and secure Indo-Pacific within a world of rules and rights” as the best course to counter increasing Chinese assertiveness in the region.…

Shangri-La Dialogue: the right time to talk is now, US defence chief Lloyd Austin says in swipe at China

Media Library

Chinese Lieutenant General He Lei told the South China Morning Post earlier that the main reason for declining a formal encounter were the US sanctions placed on Li. ‘Encirclement and containment’ Responding to Austin’s call for talks, Senior Colonel Zhao Xiaozhuo, a Chinese delegate to the conference, said on the sidelines that the US defence secretary wanted to present China as “not being so responsible”. Advertisement “But he ignored that US is shoring up military alliances in this region and strengthening its military posture. Everyone can see this policy: encirclement,…

US Treasury Official Meets With China’s New Ambassador

Media Library

washington —  U.S. Treasury Undersecretary Jay Shambaugh met on Friday with China’s new ambassador to the United States, Xie Feng, holding a discussion aimed at maintaining open communications between the world’s two largest economies, the Treasury said. “The meeting was candid, constructive, and part of ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication and responsibly manage our bilateral relationship,” the Treasury said in a statement. Shambaugh, who heads international affairs at Treasury, raised U.S. concerns with Xie but “emphasized the importance of the two largest economies closely communicating on global…

China, Russia Ignore US Call at UN to Condemn North Korea Launch

Media Library

WASHINGTON —  China and Russia on Friday ignored a U.S. call for the U.N. Security Council to unite in condemning North Korea for its attempted satellite launch this week and instead blamed Washington for raising tensions on the Korean peninsula. Robert Wood, a diplomat from Washington’s U.N. mission, made the call at a U.N. Security Council meeting organized by the United States and allies to discuss Wednesday’s failed launch, which the U.S. said violated multiple U.N. resolutions because it used ballistic missile technology. “We call on all council members to…

Hong Kong Businesses Mark Tiananmen Anniversary in Face of Pressures

Media Library

hong kong —  Some Hong Kong shopkeepers are quietly commemorating the 34th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown despite the specter of a China-imposed national security law and pressure to stay silent on the episode that is censored in mainland China. Hong Kong used to play a leading global role in commemorating the 1989 crackdown by Chinese troops in and around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, in what was long seen as a symbol of the city’s relative openness compared with mainland China. However, since Hong Kong’s own major pro-democracy movement in 2019,…

Main opposition party delays election protest following threat from Cambodia’s leader

Media Library

Cambodia’s main opposition Candlelight Party has delayed plans for a demonstration following a public threat from Prime Minister Hun Sen to jail the party’s vice president and other members. Organizers had hoped that 10,000 people would march through the streets of Phnom Penh to protest against the National Election Committee’s decision to keep the party off the ballot for the July 23 parliamentary elections. But top party officials decided on Friday to hold off on submitting a permit request to municipal authorities, according to Candlelight Party Vice President Rong Chhun,…