World

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — At least three people are dead after a powerful earthquake hit a remote part of Papua New Guinea Sunday morning, authorities say. Others were injured and infrastructure damaged in the magnitude 7.6 jolt that was felt across the Pacific country. The three people died in a landslide in the gold-mining town of Wau, said Morobe Provincial Disaster Director Charley Masange. Other people had been injured from falling structures or debris, and there was damage to some health centers, homes, rural roads and highways, Masange told The Associated Press. Masange said it could take some time to assess the full extent of the injuries and damage in the region. But he said the sparse and scattered population and lack of large buildings near the epicenter in the nation’s l

Wanted crypto founder Do Kwon says 'not on the run' (Reuters file photo) Do Kwon, the wanted South Korean founder of the failed cryptocurrency Terra, denied Sunday he was on the run after the Singapore police said he was not in the city-state as had been believed. Kwon's whereabouts have been thrown into question after the Singapore Police Force (SPF) statement late Saturday, and his tweets did not reveal where he was. The collapse of Terraform Labs earlier this year wiped out about $40 billion of investors' money. A South Korean court on Wednesday issued an arrest warrant for Kwon. Early Sunday he said on Twitter: "I am 'not on the run' or anything similar", but did not reveal where he was. "For any agency that has shown interest to communicate, we are in full cooperation and we do...

Colombo, Sri Lanka:Recently, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabry and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi held a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in New York. The Chinese Embassy said that the two sides had “agreed to speed up the negotiation process and strive for an early conclusion of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), thereby boosting the confidence in and stabilizing the expectations for their economic and trade cooperation,” Daily Mirror reported.However, the Sri Lankan minister tweeted about their meeting but there was no trace of the discussion on FTA.While Sri Lanka has been prevaricating and dragging its feet on the FTA since talks on it began way back in 2015, China has been very keen on it, frequently reiterating it, and even making it a condition for conti

Amongst the most noteworthy rise in the history of great power nations, has certainly been the swift rise of the Chinese state in the 21st century. With a staggering billion plus population, it is hard to imagine the amount of governance and management that would be required to channelise the true potential of a nation. Certainly, China has been on a war path of elevating its status from a regional developing country to a nation that has threaten many of its contemporaries with its economic and militaristic powers. Yet, a rise to the helms of the global world, that perhaps should have been a matter of great celebration for many decolonised developing and under-developed countries, has today become a serious cause for concern for the rest of the world. October 1st is generally celebrate...

OTTAWA—Canada will co-ordinate its coming Indo-Pacific strategy with allies like South Korea to align on human rights and trade so China doesn’t pit one country against another vying for “bits of access” to the world’s largest market, says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Standing next to Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Trudeau said “it makes sense” to work with others on a more “nuanced” approach as Canada seeks to co-operate with China on issues like environment and climate change. But he said Ottawa would continue to challenge Beijing’s ruling Communist Party on economic and trade issues, human rights and respect for the “international rules-based order.” His remarks Friday came on a day when Trudeau tried to press reset on the Canada-China relationship with the appointment of a new amb

TORONTO - Blue Jays fan Frankie Lasagna grabbed a baseball glove from his garage before heading down to Rogers Centre for Wednesday’s game against the New York Yankees. With Aaron Judge on the verge of baseball history, Lasagna wanted to be prepared just in case the Yankees slugger hit his 61st homer of the season. “I would never ever bring a glove other than this situation,” Lasagna said. “I needed a bigger one.” The 37-year-old Toronto restaurant owner came agonizingly close to catching the historic ball after Judge went deep in the seventh inning. Lasagna stretched over the railing but the ball hit the wall just below and bounced into the Toronto bullpen. He put both hands on top of his head after the near-miss, a frustrated look etched on his face. “Two more feet and I would have

China says it has patience needed to bring Taiwan under control The Royal Canadian Navy Halifax-class frigate HMCS Vancouver (FFH 331) transits the Taiwan Strait with the guided-missile destroyer USS Higgins (DDG 76) while conducting a routine transit on Tuesday. (Photo by US NAVY / AFP) China said it has the patience to someday bring Taiwan under its control, partly because “compatriots” there want it to happen -- a view that contrasts with polling showing sceptical views of Beijing in the democracy. “With regard to resolving the Taiwan question and realising the complete unification of China, we have strategic composure and historic patience, and we are also full of confidence,” Qiu Kaiming, an official in a Chinese government department that handles ties with the island, said Wednesd

(Bangkok Post File Photo) Police in Laos have made their third-biggest single seizure of illegal drugs by netting 33 million methamphetamine pills, a United Nations official said on Saturday. In recent years Laos has become a gateway for traffickers moving meth out of Myanmar’s Shan state across the Mekong River into Thailand as a way to circumvent Thai patrols. Laos is part of the Golden Triangle that has for decades been a hub for Southeast Asia’s lucrative drug trade. The seizure of 33 million methamphetamine tablets and 500 kilogrammes of ice occurred on Friday in the northern province of Bokeo near the notorious Kings Romans Casino, said Jeremy Douglas, regional representative of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. The location is near a Chinese-run Golden Triangle Special Economic

China is becoming increasingly isolated internationally, thanks to its poor human rights records, trampling of the sovereign rights of other countries in the South China Sea, plans to annex Taiwan with military force and high-handed diplomatic manoeuvres. Analysts read in the apparent reluctance of President of China Xi Jinping to travel abroad for state visits and international gatherings a sign of this isolation. Xi Jinping has participated in global gatherings by means of video links, but his first overseas visit since the outbreak of Covid-19 in late 2019 has been the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Samarkand in September 2022. “Xi to attend SCO summit in first foreign visit since the pandemic,” wrote Global Times, the mouthpiece of the Communist Party of China, on Sept

A Thai Airways International plane takes off at Suvarnabhumi airport. (Bangkok Post file photo) Thai Airways International Plc (THAI) is aiming to resume its position as one of the world's top ten airlines after the completion of its rehabilitation process, the national flag carrier's executives said. The airline has planned to secure strategic partnerships with various private firms, including Thailand's largest energy conglomerate PTT Plc, as part of its business rehabilitation scheme. The carrier will tomorrow ask creditors to approve its revised rehabilitation plan which is a crucial stage for the airline's financial recovery. "There is likely not a problem [for the plan approval]. The plan is the way to rehabilitate the company's financial status and benefit the creditors," said P...