Solomon Islanders cast votes in an election that will shape relations with China

HONIARA, Solomon Islands (AP) — Voting has closed across Solomon Islands on Wednesday in the South Pacific nation's first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiances from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy...

US navy flies aircraft through the Taiwan Strait a day after US-China defense chiefs hold rare talks

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The U.S. 7th Fleet said a Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, a day after U.S. and Chinese defense chiefs held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane...

Stock market today: Asian shares track Wall Street slump triggered by strong US spending data

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares skidded Tuesday following a slump on Wall Street after higher yields in the U.S. bond market cranked up pressure on stocks. The Shanghai Composite index lost 1.4% to 3,013.84 even though the Chinese government reported that the economy grew at a...

House Speaker Mike Johnson pushes towards a vote on aid for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson is pushing toward action this week on aid for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, unveiling an elaborate plan Monday to break the package into separate votes to squeeze through the House's political divides on foreign policy. Facing an outright...

Chinese President Xi meets former Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou on pro-unification visit

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping met with former Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou in Beijing Wednesday in a bid to promote unification between the sides that separated amid civil war in 1949. Ma stepped down as president in 2016 and was largely excluded from the...

US-China competition to field military drone swarms could fuel global arms race

As their rivalry intensifies, U.S. and Chinese military planners are gearing up for a new kind of warfare in which squadrons of air and sea drones equipped with artificial intelligence work together like a swarm of bees to overwhelm an enemy. The planners envision a scenario in which...

China sanctions 2 US defense companies and says they support arms sales to Taiwan

BEIJING (AP) — China on Thursday announced rare sanctions against two U.S. defense companies over what it called their support for arms sales to Taiwan, the self-governing island democracy Beijing claims as its own territory to be recovered by force if necessary. The announcement...

China blacklists 2 US defense-related companies over military sales to Taiwan

Even in the age of Google Earth, people still buy globes. Here's why they remain so alluring

LONDON (AP) — Find a globe in your local library or classroom and try this: Close the eyes, spin it and drop a finger randomly on its curved, glossy surface. You’re likely to pinpoint a spot in the water, which covers 71% of the planet. Maybe you’ll alight on a place you’ve...

Earthquake aftershocks halt the demolition of a leaning building in Taiwan. Death toll rises to 13

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The demolition of a building that is leaning precariously after an earthquake in Taiwan was halted on Saturday because of aftershocks that made it lean even more, media reports said. The red building, about 10 stories tall and inclined over a street in the...