East seas

KUALA LUMPUR: The Chinese government's top diplomat, State Councillor Wang Yi, said on Tuesday (Oct 13) that Beijing and members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) should work together to remove "external disruption" in the South China Sea. Wang, who is on a visit to Malaysia as part of a short Southeast Asian tour, did not elaborate. During a joint a news conference, Malaysia's Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said disputes over the South China Sea should be resolved peacefully through regional dialogue. China, which has for years been locked in maritime disputes with other coastal states in the South China Sea, has in recent months held military exercises in disputed parts of the strategic waterway, while Washington has accused China of attempting to build a "maritime empire" in the area. … [Read more...] about China, ASEAN should prevent ‘external disruption’ in South China Sea: Wang Yi

LONDON: “Remember that name, Fakhrizadeh.” Thus spoke Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, in a characteristically histrionic moment during his April 2018 presentation on Iran’s nuclear programme. No one in the Middle East is now likely to forget the name of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, Iran’s top nuclear physicist, who was ambushed and killed by gunmen near Tehran late on Friday. Especially not the Iranians – any more than they will forget Qassem Soleimani, the Revolutionary Guard commander of Iran’s foreign legion, assassinated by a US missile strike at Baghdad airport in January. READ: Commentary: Trump walks away clean from Soleimani fallout READ: Commentary: As Iran-US drama plays out, North Korea leader Kim Jong Un takes notes ISRAEL'S LATEST HIT? Israel, rather than the US, is probably responsible for killing Fakhrizadeh, just as it is widely blamed or, depending on the viewpoint, credited with murdering four nuclear scientists on his staff from 2010 to … [Read more...] about Commentary: Assassinating top scientist makes killing Iran’s nuclear programme harder

HONOLULU: The United States has a responsibility to lead in the Pacific and "won't cede an inch" to other countries that think their political system is better, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Wednesday (Aug 26) in a thinly-veiled swipe at China. Speaking during a visit to Hawaii, Esper said they hope to work with China to get it to respect the international rules-based order even as Beijing, which has repeatedly fallen short of its promises, pursues aggressive military modernisation. China had not lived up to promises to abide by international law, rules and norms, adding that Beijing wanted to project its power globally, he added. READ: US targets Chinese individuals, companies amid South China Sea dispute "To advance the CCP's agenda, the People's Liberation Army continues to pursue an aggressive modernisation plan to achieve a world class military by the middle of the century," Esper said, referring to the ruling Chinese Communist Party. "This will undoubtedly … [Read more...] about US ‘won’t cede an inch’ in Pacific, Esper says in swipe at China

TOKYO: Tokyo has lodged protests to Beijing over the entry of Chinese coast guard ships into Japan's territorial waters off disputed East China Sea islands and their refusal to move out for a third day Tuesday, Japanese officials said. The two Chinese ships entered the Japanese-claimed waters Sunday morning, appearing to approach a Japanese fishing boat carrying three crew members. They have remained there, while ignoring repeated warnings and exit demands by the Japanese side, Japanese coast guard officials said. Chinese coast guard vessels routinely violate territorial waters around the Japanese-controlled southern islands of Senkaku, which China calls Diaoyu and also claims. Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said Tuesday that it was “extremely regrettable” that the two Chinese coast guard ships were still in Japanese waters. Japan “strictly protested” to the Chinese side and demanded that the Chinese ships immediately move out of Japanese waters, Kato said. He said … [Read more...] about Japan protests to China for entering Japanese waters

NASA recently published a study uncovering just how fast Antarctica's ice sheets are flowing into the ocean. Scientists used a new technique compiling hundreds of thousands of high-precision satellite imagery to illuminate the speed of glaciers—which act like massive solid rivers—sliding into the sea. Understanding this speed helps scientists pinpoint how much sea levels will rise due to melting glaciers. "We're entering a new age," Alex Gardner, lead author and cryospheric scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said in a statement . "When I began working on this project three years ago, there was a single map of ice sheet flow that was made using data collected over 10 years, and it was revolutionary when it was published back in 2011." The findings, published February 13 in The Cryosphere , reveal accelerating ice flow in the West Antarctic ice sheet, and a steady flow in the East. Much of the findings confirm what previous studies have shown, but using more direct … [Read more...] about NASA Photos Reveal How Fast Antarctic Ice Sheets Are Melting Into The Oceans