China denies military base ambitions in Pacific Islands

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Updated 03 July 2025
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China denies military base ambitions in Pacific Islands

China denies military base ambitions in Pacific Islands
  • China has established a police presence in Solomon Islands, Kiribati and Vanuatu
  • Former US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell urged the Trump administration to keep its focus on the region because China wanted to build bases in the Pacific Islands

SYDNEY: China’s embassy in Fiji denied on Thursday that Beijing wanted a military base or sphere of influence in the Pacific Islands, after Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka said islands were trying to cope with a powerful China seeking to spread its influence.

“The claims about China setting up a military base in the Pacific are false narratives,” an embassy spokesperson said in a statement.

“China’s presence in the Pacific is focused on building roads and bridges to improve people’s livelihoods, not on stationing troops or setting up military bases.”

Rabuka said on Wednesday his country had development cooperation with China, but was opposed to Beijing establishing a military base in the region. In any case, China did not need a base to project power in the region, he added.

China tested an intercontinental ballistic missile in September that flew over Fiji to land 11,000 km (6,800 miles) from China in the international waters of the Pacific Ocean.

“If they can very well target an empty space they can very well target occupied space,” Rabuka told the National Press Club in Canberra. Washington became concerned about China’s ambition to gain a military foothold in the

Pacific Islands in 2018 when Beijing sought to redevelop a naval base in Papua New Guinea and a military base in Fiji. China was outbid by Australia for both projects. The concern resurfaced in 2022 when China signed a security pact with Solomon Islands, prompting Washington to warn it would respond if Beijing established a permanent military presence. In November, the outgoing US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell urged the Trump administration to keep its focus on the region because China wanted to build bases in the Pacific Islands.

The Chinese embassy spokesperson said Fiji and China respect each other’s sovereignty.

“China has no interest in geopolitical competition, or seeking the so-called ‘sphere of influence’,” the statement added.

China has established a police presence in Solomon Islands, Kiribati and Vanuatu.


Four confirmed dead in small plane crash at London regional airport

Four confirmed dead in small plane crash at London regional airport
Updated 3 sec ago
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Four confirmed dead in small plane crash at London regional airport

Four confirmed dead in small plane crash at London regional airport
  • Video footage had shown a 12-meter (39-feet) plane in flames with a plume of black smoke at Southend-on-Sea

LONDON: Four people were killed when a small plane crashed at a London regional airport at the weekend, UK police said on Monday.

The plane went down around 4:00 p.m. (1500 GMT) on Sunday, shortly after departing London Southend airport in southeast England for the Netherlands.

“Sadly, we can now confirm that all four people on board died,” Essex Police chief superintendent Morgan Cronin told reporters.

“We are working to officially confirm their identities. At this stage, we believe all four are foreign nationals,” he added.

Cronin said the force was interviewing dozens of witnesses, and detectives and forensic teams were working to “build an accurate picture of what happened.”

He added that the airport “will remain closed until further notice.”

Video footage had shown a 12-meter (39-feet) plane in flames with a plume of black smoke at Southend-on-Sea.

Police evacuated a nearby golf club and rugby club as a precaution.

According to the BBC, the plane was a Beechcraft B200.

Southend-on-Sea is about 65 kilometers (40 miles) east of the capital, and its airport is the sixth largest in the London area.


Japanese FM offers support for Palestine in talk with Salameh

Japanese Foreign Minister IWAYA Takeshi met with Estephan Anton Salameh, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation.
Japanese Foreign Minister IWAYA Takeshi met with Estephan Anton Salameh, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation.
Updated 14 July 2025
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Japanese FM offers support for Palestine in talk with Salameh

Japanese Foreign Minister IWAYA Takeshi met with Estephan Anton Salameh, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation.
  • Iwaya reiterates Japan’s support for a two-state solution for Palestine and its commitment to assisting Palestinian state-building efforts

TOKYO: Japanese Foreign Minister IWAYA Takeshi met with Estephan Anton Salameh, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation of Palestine, at CEAPAD IV and expressed his hope that the conference would contribute to promoting CEAPAD’s objectives of expanding assistance to Palestine.

The Fourth Ministerial Meeting of the Conference on Cooperation among East Asian Countries for Palestinian Development (CEAPAD IV) was held in Kuala Lumpur and Foreign Minister Iwaya reiterated Japan’s support for a two-state solution for Palestine and its commitment to assisting Palestinian state-building efforts.

According to the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo, Minister Salameh expressed his appreciation for Japan’s continued support for Palestine, including through its initiatives such as CEAPAD. He also elaborated on the grave humanitarian situation in Gaza, stating that an immediate ceasefire is essential for advancing Palestinian development.

Iwaya expressed deep concern over the humanitarian situation in Gaza and stated that Japan has been calling for a ceasefire in Gaza as soon as possible.


Nigeria’s former leader Buhari to be buried on Tuesday, official says

Nigeria’s late former President Muhammadu Buhari will be buried in his northern home state of Katsina on Tuesday. (File/AP)
Nigeria’s late former President Muhammadu Buhari will be buried in his northern home state of Katsina on Tuesday. (File/AP)
Updated 14 July 2025
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Nigeria’s former leader Buhari to be buried on Tuesday, official says

Nigeria’s late former President Muhammadu Buhari will be buried in his northern home state of Katsina on Tuesday. (File/AP)

LAGOS: Nigeria’s late former President Muhammadu Buhari, who died in a London clinic on Sunday aged 82, will be buried in his northern home state of Katsina on Tuesday, the state governor said.

Buhari, a former military ruler after a coup in the 1980s, returned to frontline politics to become the first Nigerian president to oust an incumbent through the ballot box in 2015. He was re-elected for a second term four years later.

Nigeria’s Vice President Kashim Shettima and government officials were in London on Monday to organize the repatriation of the former president’s remains.

Katsina state governor Dikko Umaru Radda said after consultation with Buhari’s family it was agreed the body would arrive in Nigeria on Tuesday for burial the same day in his home town of Daura.

Among those who paid tribute to Buhari was Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who posted on X platform that “his wisdom, warmth and unwavering commitment to India–Nigeria friendship stood out.”

Buhari earned a devoted following for his brand of anti-corruption conviction politics, especially in Nigeria’s largely Muslim north.

He referred to himself as a “converted democrat” and swapped his military uniform for kaftans and prayer caps.

Ibrahim Babangida, another former military ruler who toppled Buhari in a coup in 1985, said he knew Buhari as a deeply spiritual and humble man.

“We may not have agreed on everything — as brothers often don’t — but I never once doubted his sincerity or his patriotism,” Babangida said in a statement.

After leaving office in 2023, Buhari spent most of his time in Daura, away from the public eye.

His successor Bola Tinubu inherited a country grappling with double digit inflation, foreign exchange shortages, economic hardship, low oil production and insecurity that had spread to most parts of Nigeria.

Buhari’s supporters, however, viewed him as Nigeria’s conscience because he had a reputation for shunning the corruption and ostentatious lifestyles often associated with the country’s political elites.

To his critics, Buhari was “an absentee landlord — a leader who governed by delegation, who disappeared for long stretches (often to London for medical treatment), and whose aloofness felt like abandonment,” the local BusinessDay newspaper said.


111 monsoon-related deaths in Pakistan since late June: disaster agency

A man along with a child carrying umbrellas walks along a street during monsoon rains in Islamabad on July 14, 2025. (AFP)
A man along with a child carrying umbrellas walks along a street during monsoon rains in Islamabad on July 14, 2025. (AFP)
Updated 14 July 2025
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111 monsoon-related deaths in Pakistan since late June: disaster agency

A man along with a child carrying umbrellas walks along a street during monsoon rains in Islamabad on July 14, 2025. (AFP)
  • Data from the national disaster agency between June 26 and July 14 showed that electrocution was the leading cause of fatalities, followed by flash floods

ISLAMABAD: Monsoon rains in Pakistan have been linked to more than 110 deaths including dozens of children since they arrived in late June, according to government figures released Monday.

Data from the national disaster agency between June 26 and July 14 showed that electrocution was the leading cause of fatalities, followed by flash floods.

In late June, at least 13 tourists were swept to their deaths while sheltering from flash floods on a raised river bank.

In its latest report, the disaster agency said 111 people including 53 children have been killed, with the highest number of deaths in the most populous province of Punjab.

Meanwhile, the national meteorological service has issued a warning for further heavy rainfall in the northern and eastern regions of the country, with the potential for urban flooding, landslides, and infrastructure damage due to strong winds.

Monsoon season brings South Asia 70 to 80 percent of its annual rainfall, arriving in early June in India and late June in Pakistan, and lasting through until September.

The annual rains are vital for agriculture and food security, and the livelihoods of millions of farmers.

But it brings with it flooding, landslides and causes buildings to collapse.

South Asia is getting hotter and in recent years has seen shifting weather patterns, but scientists are unclear on how exactly a warming planet is affecting the highly complex monsoon.

Pakistan is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change, and its 240 million residents are facing extreme weather events with increasing frequency.

In 2022, unprecedented monsoon floods submerged a third of Pakistan and killed 1,700 people, with some areas yet to recover from the damage.

In May, at least 32 people were killed in severe storms, including strong hailstorms.


Greek govt calls for EU farm scandal probe

Greek govt calls for EU farm scandal probe
Updated 14 July 2025
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Greek govt calls for EU farm scandal probe

Greek govt calls for EU farm scandal probe
  • In May, investigators searched the Athens offices of OPEKEPE and seized documents and electronic equipment
  • They indicated that “a significant number” of people had gained payment rights between 2019 and 2022

ATHENS: The Greek government on Monday called for a special parliamentary committee to probe a European Union farm subsidies scandal, reportedly involving tens of millions of euros, that has seen at least two ministers put under EU investigation.

Government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said the ruling conservative party would request an investigation into the 27-year operation of the Greek authority for the payment of common agricultural policy aid (OPEKEPE).

“Our proposal concerns the period from the establishment of OPEKEPE in 1998 until today in order to investigate the dysfunctions, identify the problems, and ensure complete transparency,” Marinakis told reporters.

An investigation by EU prosecutors has shown widespread abuse of funds at OPEKEPE, which according to the government annually disburses 2.5 billion euros ($2.9 billion) to nearly 650,000 farmers. Reports said prosecutors suspect tens of millions of euros have been siphoned off.

The investigation period is mostly under the current government, which came to power in July 2019. But the government argues that the fraud has lasted decades.

In nearly 30 years, the Greek state has paid more than 2.7 billion euros in fines, Marinakis said.

Greece’s ruling New Democracy party has a large enough majority in parliament to create the committee on its own.

Last month, a minister who had formerly held the agriculture portfolio resigned, after the European Public Prosecutor’s Office sent a case to parliament on the alleged involvement of two former ministers in Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s government in the misappropriation of EU funds.

Three junior ministers and another senior government official also submitted their resignations.

In May, investigators searched the Athens offices of OPEKEPE and seized documents and electronic equipment. They indicated that “a significant number” of people had gained payment rights between 2019 and 2022, mainly by falsely claiming public land.