World News TheFOXposts

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has begun its first joint naval exercise at a time when several member countries are responding more strongly to increasing Chinese assertiveness in the area JAKARTA, Indonesia -- The Association of Southeast Asian Nations began its first joint naval exercise on Tuesday at a time when several member countries are responding more strongly to increasing Chinese assertiveness in the area. The non-combat drills, named ASEAN Solidarity Exercise, include joint maritime patrol operations, search and rescue operations, and humanitarian and disaster relief, Indonesian military chief Adm. Yudo Margono said. He said the five-day exercise in Indonesia's Natuna waters aims to boost Military ties among the ASEAN nations and enhance interoperability. The drill s also involve civilian groups involved in humanitarian relief and disaster prevention. ASEAN nations have taken part in naval exercises before with other countries — including both the United S...

Armenian authorities say they are prepared for tens of thousands of families to flee. LONDON -- Thousands of ethnic Armenian refugees have started fleeing from the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, amid growing fears of an exodus following Azerbaijan’s successful military offensive to retake control of the region last week. Nearly 3,000 people have already crossed the border into Armenia as of Monday morning, according to an Armenian government statement quoted by the Russian state news agency TASS. An advisor to the enclave ’s ethnic Armenians leadership on Sunday told Reuters that virtually its entire population -- estimated at 120,000 -- would now leave. If they stayed, they would be “ ethnic ally cleansed” by Azerbaijan, he said. Refugees sit in a bus after registering at a centre of the Armenian foreign affairs ministry, near the border town of Kornidzor, on Sept. 24, 2023. Afp Contributor#afp/AFP via Getty Images Reporters on the border reported dozens of civilian cars and o...

The Philippine coast guard says it has complied with a presidential order to remove a floating barrier placed by China’s coast guard to prevent Filipino fishing boats from entering a lagoon in a disputed shoal in the South China Sea MANILA, Philippines -- The Philippine coast guard said Monday it has complied with a presidential order to remove a floating barrier placed by China’s coast guard to prevent Filipino fishing boats from entering a lagoon in a disputed shoal in the South China Sea. Philippine officials condemned the installation of the 300-meter (980-foot) -long barrier at the entrance to the lagoon at Scarborough Shoal as a violation of international law and their Southeast Asian nation’s sovereignty. The Philippine coast guard’s report that it has removed the barrier underscores intensifying Philippine efforts to fight China’s increasingly aggressive actions, against many odds, in one of the world’s most hotly contested waters. Chinese coast guard vessels laid the rope and ...

An explosion Monday tore through a gas station in Nagorno-Karabakh amid exodus of ethnic Armenians following Azerbaijan's successful military offensive. LONDON -- At least 20 people were killed and nearly 300 were injured in an explosion on Monday night at a makeshift gas station being used by ethnic Armenian refugees as thousands sought to flee the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, according to local authorities, as senior U.S. officials visited Armenia to signal concern over the humanitarian crisis affecting the region's civilians. Dozens of people are in a critical condition with severe burns and in urgent need of evacuation from the enclave where medical assistance was already minimal, the Health ministry of the Nagorno-Karabakh's unrecognised ethnic Armenia government, the Republic of Artsakh, said in a statement. It said many people were still missing following the blast . The explosion and fire ripped through the fuel store on Monday night as hundreds of refu...

A Philippine admiral says Filipino forces will dismantle any floating barrier that China’s coast guard may install in the disputed South China Sea MANILA, Philippines -- Filipino forces would dismantle any floating barrier that China’s coast guard may install in the disputed South China Sea, a Philippine admiral said Wednesday after Manila infuriated China by removing one such obstruction in a contested shoal. Philippine officials strongly condemned the installation last week of a 300-meter (980-foot) -long barrier by Chinese coast guard vessels at the entrance to the lagoon of Scarborough Shoal as a violation of international law and the country’s sovereignty. The barrier has prevented a swarm of Filipino boats from entering the rich fishing area, they said. The shoal lies within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone just west of the main Luzon Island, but has been occupied by China since 2012 as part of a push by Beijing to lay claim to virtually the entire South China Sea. On...

At least 70,000 ethnic Armenians have fled Nagorno-Karabakh, which is half the disputed enclave's population. LONDON -- At least 75,500 ethnic Armenian refugees have now fled Nagorno-Karabakh, in the last five days, which is more than half the disputed enclave's population, local authorities said Thursday, as the exodus from the region continues to accelerate. It is feared the enclave's whole population will likely flee in the coming days, unwilling to remain under Azerbaijan's rule following its successful military offensive last week that defeated the ethnic Armenian separatist authorities and restored Azerbaijan's control after over three decades. The leader of Nagorno-Karabakh's unrecognized Armenian state, the Republic of Artsakh, on Thursday announced its dissolution, signing a decree that it will "cease to exist" by Jan. 1, 2024. MORE: Over 50,000 Armenians have now fled from enclave, fearing Azerbaijan De facto President Samvel Shahramanya...

Zimbabwe’s main opposition party has boycotted President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s first State of the Nation Address since disputed elections in August HARARE, Zimbabwe -- Zimbabwe’s main opposition party on Tuesday boycott ed President Emmerson Mnangagwa's State of the Nation address following his disputed reelection in August, revealing the widening political cracks in the southern African nation amid allegations of a post-vote clampdown on government critics. Citizens Coalition for Change spokesperson Promise Mkwananzi said the party's lawmakers stayed away from the speech because it views Mnangagwa as “illegitimate.” The CCC accuses Mnangagwa, 81, of fraudulently winning a second term and using violence and intimidation against critics, including by having some elected opposition officials arrested. The ruling ZANU-PF party, which has been in power in Zimbabwe since the country's independence from white minority rule in 1980, also retained a majority of Parliament seats ...

Philippine officials say a Chinese coast guard ship and a militia vessel separately bumped a Philippine coast guard ship and a military-run supply boat off a disputed shoal MANILA, Philippines -- A Chinese coast guard ship and one of its militia vessels separately bumped a Philippine coast guard ship and a military-run supply boat Sunday off a disputed shoal in the South China Sea “in dangerous, irresponsible and illegal actions,” Philippine officials said. They did not say if there were injuries or damage from the two incidents off the Second Thomas Shoal, where there were two naval faceoffs in August. The Philippine government condemned the latest confrontation in “the strongest degree” and called it a violation of Manila’s sovereignty. Chinese Embassy officials did not immediately comment on the Philippine report. A Philippine government task force said the collisions occurred as two Philippine supply boats escorted by two Philippine coast guard ships were heading to deliver food...

Over 93,000 Armenians have now fled Nagorno-Karabakh, 75% of the disputed enclave's entire population. LONDON -- Over 93,000 ethnic Armenian refugees have fled Nagorno-Karabakh as of Friday, local authorities said, meaning 75% of the disputed enclave's entire population has now left in less than a week. Tens of thousands of ethnic Armenians have been streaming out of Nagorno-Karabakh following Azerbaijan's successful Military operation last week that restored its control over the breakaway region. It's feared the whole population will likely leave in the coming days, in what Armenia has condemned as "ethnic cleansing." Families packed into cars and trucks, with whatever belongings they can carry, have been arriving in Armenia after Azerbaijan opened the only road out of the enclave on Sunday. Those fleeing have said they are unwilling to live under Azerbaijan's rule, fearing they will face persecution. Ethnic Armenians fleeing Nagorno-Karabakh walk on...