China fires missiles in largest ever drills in waters off Taiwan

Chinese military helicopters fly past Pingtan island, one of mainland China’s closest point from Taiwan, in Fujian province on Aug. 4, 2022, ahead of massive military drills. (AFP)
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Updated 04 August 2022
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China fires missiles in largest ever drills in waters off Taiwan

  • The last time China fired missiles into waters around Taiwan was in 1996
  • China is conducting drills on the busiest international waterways and aviation routes

TAIPEI: China fired multiple missiles around Taiwan on Thursday as it launched unprecedented military drills a day after a visit by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the self-ruled island that Beijing regards as its sovereign territory.

Soon after the scheduled start at 0400 GMT, China’s state broadcaster CCTV said the drills had begun and would end at 0400 GMT on Sunday. It said the exercises, the largest ever by China in the Taiwan Strait, would include live firing on the waters and in the airspace surrounding Taiwan.

China’s Eastern Theatre Command said it had completed multiple firings of conventional missiles on waters off the eastern coast of Taiwan as part of the planned exercises.

The last time China fired missiles into waters around Taiwan was in 1996.

Taiwan’s defense ministry said several Dongfeng missiles had been fired in waters to the northeast and southwest of the island.

Two missiles were also launched by China near Taiwan’s Matsu islands, which lie off the coast of China, at around 2 p.m. local time (0600 GMT) in the direction of drill zones announced by China, according to an internal Taiwan security report seen by Reuters and confirmed by a Taiwan security source.

Taiwan officials have said the drills violate United Nations rules, invade Taiwan’s territorial space and are a direct challenge to free air and sea navigation.

China is conducting drills on the busiest international waterways and aviation routes and that is “irresponsible, illegitimate behavior,” Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party said.

Taiwan’s cabinet spokesman, expressing serious condemnation of the drills, said also that websites of the defense ministry, the foreign ministry and the presidential office were attacked by hackers.

Chinese navy ships and military aircraft briefly crossed the Taiwan Strait median line several times on Thursday morning, a Taiwanese source briefed on the matter told Reuters.

By midday on Thursday, military vessels from both sides remained in the area and in close proximity.

Taiwan scrambled jets and deployed missile systems to track multiple Chinese aircraft crossing the line.

“They flew in and then flew out, again and again. They continue to harass us,” the Taiwanese source said.

China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory and reserves the right to take it by force, said on Thursday its differences with the self-ruled island were an internal affair.

“Our punishment of pro-Taiwan independence diehards, external forces is reasonable, lawful,” China’s Beijing-based Taiwan Affairs Office said.

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi called Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan a “manic, irresponsible and highly irrational” act by the United States, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Wang, speaking at a meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, said China had made the utmost diplomatic effort to avert crisis, but would never allow its core interests to be hurt.

The foreign ministers in a statement had earlier warned that volatility caused by tensions in the Taiwan Strait could lead to “miscalculation, serious confrontation, open conflicts and unpredictable consequences among major powers.”

Unusually, the drills in six areas around Taiwan were announced with a locator map circulated by China’s official Xinhua news agency earlier this week — a factor that for some analysts and scholars shows the need to play to both domestic and foreign audiences.

On Thursday, the top eight trending items on China’s Twitter-like Weibo service were related to Taiwan, with most expressing support for the drills or fury at Pelosi.

“Let’s reunite the motherland,” several users wrote.

In Beijing, security in the area around the US Embassy remained unusually tight on Thursday as it has been throughout this week. There were no signs of significant protests or calls to boycott US products.

“I think this (Pelosi’s visit) is a good thing,” said a man surnamed Zhao in the capital’s central business district. “It gives us an opportunity to surround Taiwan, then to use this opportunity to take Taiwan by force. I think we should thank Comrade Pelosi.”


Australian mushroom murder suspect denies intent to kill

Updated 3 sec ago
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Australian mushroom murder suspect denies intent to kill

  • Erin Patterson is charged with murdering her estranged husband’s parents and aunt in July 2023
  • Patterson denies all charges in the trial, which has grabbed worldwide attention
SYDNEY: An Australian woman accused of murdering three lunch guests with a toxic mushroom-laced beef Wellington denied Thursday that she intended to kill them.
Erin Patterson, 50, is charged with murdering her estranged husband’s parents and aunt in July 2023 by spiking the beef-and-pastry dish with death cap mushrooms.
She is also accused of attempting to murder a fourth guest — her husband’s uncle — who survived the lunch after a long stay in hospital.
Patterson denies all charges in the trial, which has grabbed worldwide attention.
She says the traditional English dish, which she cooked in individually sized portions, was poisoned by accident.
Prosecutor Nanette Rogers concluded her cross-examination of Patterson on Thursday by suggesting she deliberately sought death cap mushrooms and put them in the beef Wellington.
Patterson rejected each accusation.
Rogers put it to Patterson that she intended to kill her lunch guests.
Patterson replied: “Disagree.”
The court also heard about two mobile devices used by Patterson — phone A, which was the main device she used, and phone B, which was activated days after the lunch.
Patterson said she began using phone B when her main phone was damaged.
Rogers alleged the main phone had been used to view online posts about death cap mushroom sightings near Patterson’s home in the months before the fatal lunch.
Patterson disagreed.
While police were searching Patterson’s home on August 5, 2023, her main phone lost connection to the network. Police have not located the device since.
Instead, Patterson handed over phone B to authorities.
That device underwent a factory reset three times in the days after the lunch, Rogers said.
The prosecutor alleged that the resets were done “to conceal the true contents of phone B” and that Patterson had hidden her original phone from police because “the data on that device would incriminate you.”
Patterson disagreed with both statements.
She has previously said phone B belonged to her son and she conducted the resets to remove his data so she could use the device.
The lunch host originally invited her estranged husband Simon to join the family meal at her secluded home in the Victoria state farm village of Leongatha.
But Simon turned down the invitation saying he felt uncomfortable going, the court heard earlier. The pair were long estranged but still legally married.
Simon’s parents Don and Gail, and his aunt Heather Wilkinson, attended the lunch. All three were dead within days.
Heather’s husband Ian fell gravely ill but recovered.
The trial in Morwell, southeast of Melbourne, is expected to last another two weeks.

UN to vote on resolution demanding Gaza ceasefire, hostage release and aid access

Updated 20 min 50 sec ago
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UN to vote on resolution demanding Gaza ceasefire, hostage release and aid access

  • Resolution drafted by Spain ‘strongly condemns any use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare’
  • Experts and human rights workers say hunger is widespread in Gaza

UNITED NATIONS: The UN General Assembly is expected to vote Thursday on a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages held by Hamas, and the opening of all Israeli border crossings for deliveries of desperately needed food and other aid.

The resolution, drafted by Spain and obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, “strongly condemns any use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare.”

Experts and human rights workers say hunger is widespread in Gaza and some 2 million Palestinians are at risk of famine if Israel does not fully lift its blockade and halt its military campaign, which it renewed in March after ending a ceasefire with Hamas.

Last week, the UN Security Council failed to pass a resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza and calling on Israel to lift all restrictions on the delivery of aid. The United States vetoed the resolution because it was not linked to the release of the hostages, while all 14 other members of the council voted in favor.

There are no vetoes in the 193-member General Assembly, where the resolution is expected to pass overwhelmingly. But unlike in the Security Council, assembly resolutions are not legally binding, though they are seen as a barometer of world opinion.

After a 10-week blockade that barred all aid to Gaza, Israel is allowing the United Nations to deliver a trickle of food assistance and is backing a newly created US aid group, which has opened several sites in the center and south of the territory to deliver food parcels.

But the aid system rolled out last month by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has been troubled by near-daily shootings as crowds make their way to aid sites, while the longstanding UN-run system has struggled to deliver food because of Israeli restrictions and a breakdown of law and order.

The draft resolution being voted on Thursday references a March 28 legally binding order by the top United Nations court for Israel to open more land crossings into Gaza for food, water, fuel and other supplies. The International Court of Justice issued the order in a case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of acts of genocide in its war in Gaza, charges Israel strongly denies.

The resolution stresses that Israel, as an occupying power, has an obligation under international law to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches those in need.

It reiterates the assembly’s commitment to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with the Gaza Strip as part of a Palestinian state. The assembly is holding a high-level meeting next week to push for a two-state solution, which Israel has rejected.

The resolution supports mediation efforts by Egypt, Qatar and the United States aimed at implementing a January ceasefire agreement.

When the US vetoed last week’s Gaza resolution, acting Ambassador Dorothy Shea said it would have undermined the security of Israel and diplomatic efforts to reach a ceasefire “that reflects the realities on the ground.”

Like the failed Security Council resolution, the resolution to be voted on Thursday also does not condemn Hamas’ deadly attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which ignited the war, or say the militant group must disarm and withdraw from Gaza. Both are US demands.

The Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostage. About 55 hostages are still being held. Israel’s military campaign has killed over 55,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. It says women and children make up most of the dead, but doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel says it has killed more than 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.


LA stars speak out against Trump’s increasingly ruthless migrant crackdown

Updated 12 June 2025
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LA stars speak out against Trump’s increasingly ruthless migrant crackdown

  • Celebrities hit disconnect between Trump’s claims about arresting dangerous criminals and raids that appear to be targeting day laborers and factory workers
  • “There are ruthless attacks that are creating fear and chaos in our communities in the name of law and order," says singer Doechii

LOS ANGELES: As President Donald Trump’s military-backed crackdown on immigrants continues in Los Angeles and across the US, celebrities are speaking out against the tactics and what they say are the intolerant views driving them.
Some pointed to the gulf between Trump’s apocalyptic descriptions of a city in flames and the reality of a vast and diverse metropolis where largely peaceful protests are limited to a small part of downtown.
Here’s what the glitterati had to say:

Many celebrities touched on the disconnect between Trump’s claims about arresting dangerous criminals and raids that appear to be targeting day laborers and factory workers.
“When we’re told that ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) exists to keep our country safe and remove violent criminals — great,” LA native and reality star Kim Kardashian wrote on social media.
“But when we witness innocent, hardworking people being ripped from their families in inhumane ways, we have to speak up.”
The billionaire behind Skims underwear added: “Growing up in LA, I’ve seen how deeply immigrants are woven into the fabric of this city. They are our neighbors, friends, classmates, coworkers and family.
“No matter where you fall politically, it’s clear that our communities thrive because of the contributions of immigrants.”
Singer Doechii echoed that sentiment in her acceptance speech for best female hip hop artist at the BET Awards on Sunday.
“There are ruthless attacks that are creating fear and chaos in our communities in the name of law and order. Trump is using military forces to stop a protest,” the “Anxiety” singer said. “We all deserve to live in hope and not fear”

Late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel gave a blistering 12-minute monologue from his studio in the heart of Hollywood, opening with footage of tourists enjoying the nearby attractions and a movie premiere.
“Not only is it not an apocalypse, they’re having a Disney/Pixar movie premiere right now for ‘Elio’, a movie about aliens — don’t tell Trump, he’ll send the Green Berets in, too,” the comedian said.
There is something wrong, he said, with innocent people “being abducted — which is the correct word to use — by agents in masks, hiding their identities, grabbing people off the streets.”

Grammy- and Oscar-winning musician and producer Finneas, famous for collaborations with sister Billie Eilish and for work on the “Barbie” movie soundtrack, reported being caught up in a heavy-handed police response at a protest.
“Tear-gassed almost immediately at the very peaceful protest downtown — they’re inciting this,” the LA native wrote on Instagram.
“Desperate Housewives” star Eva Longoria, called the raids “un-American.”
“It’s just so inhumane, hard to watch, it’s hard, it’s hard to witness from afar, I can’t imagine what it’s like to be in Los Angeles right now,” she wrote on Instagram.
Longoria added that the protests were a result of “the lack of due process for law-abiding, tax-paying immigrants who have been a part of our community for a very long time.”
 


Trump is receptive to contacts with North Korean leader, White House says

Updated 12 June 2025
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Trump is receptive to contacts with North Korean leader, White House says

  • Trump open to communication with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un
  • North Korea rejecting Trump letter, according to a report

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump would welcome communications with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un after having had friendly relations with Kim during his first term, the White House said on Wednesday.
“The president remains receptive to correspondence with Kim Jong Un,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.
She was responding to a report by Seoul-based NK News, a website that monitors North Korea, that the North’s delegation at the United Nations in New York had repeatedly refused to accept a letter from Trump to Kim.
Trump and Kim held three summits during Trump’s 2017-2021 first term and exchanged a number of what Trump called “beautiful” letters. In June 2019, Trump briefly stepped into North Korea from the demilitarized zone with South Korea.
Little progress was made, however, at reining in North Korea’s nuclear program, and Trump acknowledged in March that Pyongyang is a “nuclear power.”
Since Trump’s first-term summitry with Kim ended, North Korea has shown no interest in returning to talks.
The attempts at rapprochement come after the election in South Korea of a new president, Lee Jae-myung, who has pledged to reopen dialogue with North Korea.
As a gesture of engagement on Wednesday Lee suspended South Korean loudspeakers blasting music and messages into the North at the Demilitarized Zone  along their shared border.
Analysts say, however, that engaging North Korea will likely be more difficult for both Lee and Trump than it was in the US president’s first term.
Since then North Korea has significantly expanded its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, and developed close ties with Russia through direct support for Moscow’s war in Ukraine, to which Pyongyang has provided both troops and weaponry.
Kim said in a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin that his country will always stand with Moscow, state media reported on Thursday.


Russia hits Ukraine’s Kharkiv with deadly nighttime barrage of drones

Updated 12 June 2025
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Russia hits Ukraine’s Kharkiv with deadly nighttime barrage of drones

  • Zelensky: Attack shows Russia is not facing enough pressure
  • Two southern regions without electricity after attacks

KHARKIV, Ukraine: A concentrated, nine-minute-long Russian drone attack on Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv on Wednesday killed six people and injured 64, including nine children, Ukrainian officials said.
The attack followed Russia’s two biggest air assaults of the war on Ukraine this week, part of intensified bombardments that Moscow says are retaliatory measures for Kyiv’s recent attacks in Russia.
A new wave of drone attacks on four city districts was reported early on Thursday by Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov, including a drone that landed in a school courtyard and smashed windows. There were no other reports of casualties or damage.
Elsewhere, two southern Ukrainian regions, Mykolaiv and Kherson, were left without electricity on Wednesday after Russian forces attacked an energy facility, the governors said.
Kharkiv, in Ukraine’s northeast, withstood Russia’s full-scale advance in the early days of the war but has since been a regular target of drone, missile and guided aerial bomb assaults.
Prosecutors in Kharkiv region said on the Telegram messaging app that the death toll in Tuesday night’s incidents had risen to six as rescue teams pulled bodies from under the rubble. They said three people were still believed to be trapped.
The strikes by 17 drones on Kharkiv sparked fires in 15 units of a five-story apartment block and caused other damage in the city close to the Russian border, Mayor Terekhov said.
“There are direct hits on multi-story buildings, private homes, playgrounds, enterprises and public transport,” Terekhov said on the Telegram messaging app.
“Every new day now brings new despicable blows from Russia, and almost every blow is telling. Russia deserves increased pressure; with literally every blow it strikes against ordinary life, it proves that the pressure is not enough,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram.
A Reuters witness saw emergency rescuers helping to carry people out of damaged buildings and administering care, while firefighters battled blazes in the dark.
Nine of the injured, including a 2-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy, have been hospitalized, Oleh Sinehubov, the governor of the broader Kharkiv region, said on Telegram.
In total, the Ukrainian military said Russia had launched 85 drones overnight, 40 of which were shot down.
Blackouts
In the southern Kherson region, workers were trying to restore electricity supplies after Russian forces attacked what its governor, Oleksandr Prokudin, said was “an important energy facility.”
“It is currently impossible to predict the duration of the work. Residents of the region, I ask you to show understanding and prepare for a prolonged power outage,” he said on the Telegram messenger.
The governor of the neighboring Mykolaiv region, Vitaliy Kim, said his region was also experiencing emergency shutdowns but that power would soon be restored.
Kherson region directly borders a war zone and is under daily drone, missile and artillery attack. The Mykolaiv region faces mainly missile and drone attacks.
There was no immediate comment from Russia on the latest overnight attacks.
Both sides deny targeting civilians in the war that Russia launched on its smaller neighbor in February 2022. But thousands of civilians have died in the conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainian.