Blinken says Asia concerned about spread of Middle East conflict

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at the 12th ASEAN-US Summit during the 44th and 45th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summits in Vientiane on October 11, 2024. (AFP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at the 12th ASEAN-US Summit during the 44th and 45th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summits in Vientiane on October 11, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 11 October 2024

Blinken says Asia concerned about spread of Middle East conflict

Blinken says Asia concerned about spread of Middle East conflict
  • “We are seeing escalation after escalation, a regionalization of the conflict that is becoming a threat to global peace and security”

VIENTIANE LAOS: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday there was deep concern in Asia about the prospect of conflict spreading in the Middle East, as the UN chief called for everything possible to be done to avoid “all-out war” in Lebanon.
The conflict in the Middle East was a central issue during Friday’s East Asia Summit in Laos, where Blinken said Washington was dedicated to using diplomacy to try to control the situation in the face of what he called an Iranian-led axis of resistance.
“The intense focus of the United States, which has been the case going back a year... (is) preventing these conflicts from spreading. And we’re working on that every day,” Blinken told a press conference.

FASTFACT

US is dedicated to diplomacy to stop escalation, Blinken says.

“We’re working very hard through deterrence and through diplomacy to prevent that from happening. There’s also obviously deep concern that we share about the plight of children, women, and men in Gaza.”
The US has stressed to Israel the importance of meeting the humanitarian needs of people in Gaza, Blinken said, adding it was in Israel’s interest that people forced from their homes by hostilities in Lebanon are able to return.
The annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations also included meetings with leaders and top diplomats from India, China, Japan, the US, Russia, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, as well as United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Friday’s discussions included the war in Ukraine, Myanmar’s civil war, climate change, tensions in the Taiwan Strait and concern about confrontations in the South China Sea, a key conduit for at least $3 trillion in annual ship-borne trade.

‘Escalation after escalation’
Guterres condemned an attack by Israeli forces on a watchtower that wounded two UN peacemakers from Indonesia, an incident he said violated international law and must not be repeated.
He said any spread of fighting in the Middle East would have dramatically negative impacts on the whole world and called for maximum restraint from all sides.
“I have never seen in my time as secretary-general any example of death and destruction as dramatic as what we are witnessing here,” he told a press conference.
“We are seeing escalation after escalation, a regionalization of the conflict that is becoming a threat to global peace and security.”
“We see an enormous tragedy in Lebanon. And we must do everything to avoid an all-out war,” he added.
Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. made a plea before the regional leaders for all parties to be genuinely committed to managing disputes over the South China Sea, where his country has been embroiled in more than a year of confrontations with China.
The row has sparked fears those could spiral out of control, as US defense ally the Philippines accuses China of aggression, and Beijing expresses outrage over what it calls provocations and territorial infringements by Manila.
His remarks come a day after he called for ASEAN and China to urgently speed up negotiations on a code of conduct.
“These kinds of behavior cannot be ignored, and demand of us concerted and serious efforts to truly manage our disputes,” Marcos said.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, whose country takes over the ASEAN chair next year, said violence must be avoided and that Chinese Premier Li Qiang had given assurances that matters would be handled peacefully.
“This is an issue that affects all countries but the solution we propose, that is agreed upon by all, including China, is to avoid violence, use diplomatic channels, have negotiations,” he told a press conference.

Intensely focused
ASEAN and China on Friday issued a statement recognizing the proliferation of online gambling crimes and telecommunications network fraud, more commonly known as scam centers, for which hundreds of thousands of people have been trafficked in Southeast Asia by criminal gangs, according to the UN.
Blinken and the ASEAN leaders on Friday agreed to cooperate on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and strengthen its safety, security and trustworthiness, including developing compatible approaches to AI governance.
Blinken gave reassurances about Washington’s commitment to the Indo-Pacific region, regardless of the outcome of next month’s US presidential election.
“Even with everything else going on, our focus has remained intensely on this region,” he said.


Kremlin says it awaits ‘major statement’ from Trump

Kremlin says it awaits ‘major statement’ from Trump
Updated 4 sec ago

Kremlin says it awaits ‘major statement’ from Trump

Kremlin says it awaits ‘major statement’ from Trump
  • Trump has expressed frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the Russia-Ukraine conflict
MOSCOW: Russia is awaiting the “major statement” that US President Donald Trump announced he would deliver on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.
Trump told NBC News on Thursday that he will make a “major statement” on Russia on Monday, without elaborating what it will be about.
In recent days, Trump has expressed frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
When asked about the new NATO weapons deliveries to Ukraine, Peskov called it “just business” as Kyiv had already been receiving weapons prior to this development.

Rubio meets China’s Wang in Malaysia amid trade tension

Rubio meets China’s Wang in Malaysia amid trade tension
Updated 44 min 23 sec ago

Rubio meets China’s Wang in Malaysia amid trade tension

Rubio meets China’s Wang in Malaysia amid trade tension
  • Washington’s top diplomat is in Malaysia on his first trip to Asia since taking office
  • Marco Rubio’s visit is part of an effort to renew US focus on the Indo-Pacific region

KUALA LUMPUR: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, their first in-person meeting at a time of simmering trade tensions between the two major powers.

Washington’s top diplomat is in Malaysia on his first trip to Asia since taking office, attending the East Asia Summit and ASEAN Regional Forum alongside counterparts from Japan, China, South Korea, Russia, Australia, India, the European Union and Southeast Asian states.

His meeting with Wang comes amid escalating friction globally over US President Donald Trump’s tariffs offensive, with China this week warning the United States against reinstating hefty levies on its goods next month.

Beijing has also threatened to retaliate against nations that strike deals with the United States to cut China out of supply chains. Rubio’s visit is part of an effort to renew US focus on the Indo-Pacific region and look beyond conflicts in the Middle East and Europe that have consumed much of the Trump administration’s attention.

But that has been overshadowed by this week’s announcement of steep US tariffs on many Asian countries and US allies that include 25 percent on Japan, South Korea and Malaysia, 32 percent for Indonesia, 36 percent for Thailand and Cambodia and 40 percent on Myanmar and Laos.

Analysts said Rubio would be looking to press the case that the United States remains a better partner than China, Washington’s main strategic rival, during the visit. The State Department said Rubio met counterparts of Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia on Friday.

A day earlier, he told Southeast Asian foreign ministers the Indo-Pacific remained a focal point of US foreign policy.

China, initially singled out with tariffs exceeding 100 percent, has until August 12 to reach a deal with the White House to keep Trump from reinstating additional import curbs imposed during tit-for-tat tariff exchanges in April and May.

‘Bullying behavior’

China’s Wang has been fierce in his criticism of the United States in Kuala Lumpur and told Malaysia’s foreign minister the US tariffs were “typical unilateral bullying behavior” that no country should support or agree with, according to remarks released by Beijing on Friday.

He told Thailand’s foreign minister the tariffs had been abused and “undermined the free trade system, and interfered with the stability of the global production and supply chain.”

During a meeting with his Cambodian counterpart, he said the US levies were an attempt to deprive Southeast Asian countries of their legitimate right to development.

“We believe that Southeast Asian countries have the ability to cope with complex situations, adhere to principled positions, and safeguard their own interests,” Wang said, according to China’s foreign ministry.

The foreign secretary of US ally the Philippines said on Friday President Ferdinand Marcos Jr would meet Trump in Washington this month and discussions would include the increase in the US tariff on its former colony.

Rubio told reporters on Thursday he would also likely raise with Wang US concerns over China’s support for Russia in its war against Ukraine.

“The Chinese clearly have been supportive of the Russian effort and I think that generally, they’ve been willing to help them as much as they can without getting caught,” he said.

Rubio met together with Japanese foreign minister and South Korea’s first vice foreign minister in Malaysia on Friday, at a time of concerns about the tariffs.

According to a US State Department statement, they discussed regional security and a strengthening of their “indispensable trilateral partnership” including security and resilience of critical technologies and supply chains, energy, trusted digital infrastructure, and shipbuilding.


Pakistani father kills daughter over TikTok account: police

Pakistani father kills daughter over TikTok account: police
Updated 11 July 2025

Pakistani father kills daughter over TikTok account: police

Pakistani father kills daughter over TikTok account: police
  • TikTok is wildly popular in Pakistan, in part because of its accessibility to a population with low literacy levels
  • Pakistani women have found both audience and income on the app, which is rare in the country

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan police on Friday said a father shot dead his daughter after she refused to delete her account on popular video-sharing app TikTok.

In the Muslim-majority country, women can be subjected to violence by family members for not following strict rules on how to behave in public, including in online spaces.

“The girl’s father had asked her to delete her TikTok account. On refusal, he killed her,” a police spokesperson said.

According to a police report shared with AFP, investigators said the father killed his 16-year-old daughter on Tuesday “for honor.” He was subsequently arrested.

The victim’s family initially tried to “portray the murder as a suicide” according to police in the city of Rawalpindi, where the attack happened, next to the capital Islamabad.

Last month, a 17-year-old girl and TikTok influencer with hundreds of thousands of online followers was killed at home by a man whose advances she had refused.

Sana Yousaf had racked up more than a million followers on social media accounts including TikTok, where she shared videos of her favorite cafes, skincare products, and traditional outfits.

TikTok is wildly popular in Pakistan, in part because of its accessibility to a population with low literacy levels.

Women have found both audience and income on the app, which is rare in a country where fewer than a quarter of the women participate in the formal economy.

However, only 30 percent of women in Pakistan own a smartphone compared to twice as many men (58 percent), the largest gap in the world, according to the Mobile Gender Gap Report of 2025.

Pakistani telecommunications authorities have repeatedly blocked or threatened to block the app over what it calls “immoral behavior,” amid backlash against LGBTQ and sexual content.

In southwestern Balochistan, where tribal law governs many rural areas, a man confessed to orchestrating the murder of his 14-year-old daughter earlier this year over TikTok videos that he said compromised her “honor.”


Wildfires force evacuations at Grand Canyon’s North Rim and Colorado’s Black Canyon national park

Wildfires force evacuations at Grand Canyon’s North Rim and Colorado’s Black Canyon national park
Updated 11 July 2025

Wildfires force evacuations at Grand Canyon’s North Rim and Colorado’s Black Canyon national park

Wildfires force evacuations at Grand Canyon’s North Rim and Colorado’s Black Canyon national park
  • The Grand Canyon’s North Rim in Arizona also closed Thursday because of a wildfire on adjacent Bureau of Land Management land near Jacob Lake

JACOB LAKE, Ariz: Visitors and staff at two national parks in the US West have been evacuated because of wildfires.
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, about 260 miles (418 kilometers) southwest of Denver, closed Thursday morning after lighting sparked blazes on both rims, the park said. The wildfire on the South Rim has burned 2.5 square miles (6.5 square kilometers), with no containment of the perimeter.
The conditions there have been ripe for wildfire with hot temperatures, low humidity, gusty winds and dry vegetation, the park said, adding that weather will remain a concern Friday.
The Grand Canyon’s North Rim in Arizona also closed Thursday because of a wildfire on adjacent Bureau of Land Management land near Jacob Lake. The Coconino County Sheriff’s Office said it helped evacuate people from an area north of Jacob Lake and campers in the Kaibab National Forest nearby.
The fire began Wednesday evening after a thunderstorm moved through the area, fire officials said. It has burned about 1.5 square miles (3.9 square kilometers) with zero containment.


Gunmen abduct and kill 9 passengers from 2 buses on a southwestern Pakistan highway

Gunmen abduct and kill 9 passengers from 2 buses on a southwestern Pakistan highway
Updated 11 July 2025

Gunmen abduct and kill 9 passengers from 2 buses on a southwestern Pakistan highway

Gunmen abduct and kill 9 passengers from 2 buses on a southwestern Pakistan highway
  • Ashfaq Chaudhry, an administrator in Punjab’s Dera Ghazi Khan district, said the attackers appeared to target passengers from Punjab specifically
  • Baluchistan has been the scene of a long-running insurgency in southwestern Pakistan with an array of separatist groups

Gunmen in southwestern Pakistan abducted and killed nine people after stopping two passenger buses on a highway Thursday night, officials said.
The overnight attacks occurred in the Zhob and Loralai districts of Balochistan province as the buses traveled from the provincial capital, Quetta, to Punjab province, district administrator Saadat Husain said Friday.
The attackers fled the scene and a search is underway to track down the assailants. Authorities recovered the bodies along the highway, Husain said.
Ashfaq Chaudhry, an administrator in Punjab’s Dera Ghazi Khan district, said the attackers appeared to target passengers from Punjab specifically.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the abduction and killings of the bus passengers.
Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari issued a statement condemning the “brutal killing of passengers” in Balochistan. He blamed the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army for the deaths and said the group wanted to “spread chaos and instability in Pakistan.”
The BLA killed 23 passengers in Balochistan in a similar attack last year. However, the militant group issued a statement saying on Thursday night it was engaged in an attack on a military camp in Balochistan’s Surab district, far away from the areas of the bus attacks.
Baluchistan has been the scene of a long-running insurgency in southwestern Pakistan with an array of separatist groups, including the BLA, demanding independence from Pakistan’s central government in Islamabad. The groups have staged attacks mainly targeting security forces and people from Punjab who travel to Balochistan for business or employment.
Although Pakistani authorities say they have quelled the insurgency, violence in the province has persisted.
The Pakistani government has routinely blamed India for backing the Pakistani Taliban and Baloch insurgents in Pakistan.