Categories
Australia

NSW Police believe Saudi sisters Asra and Amaal Abdullah Alsehli died in suicide pact after interim toxicology reports

Amaal Abdullah Alsehli, 23, and her sister Asra Abdullah Alsehli, 24, were found dead inside their Canterbury unit block more than two months ago on June 7. Picture: NSW Police

New South Wales Police believe the two Saudi sisters found rotting in their south-western Sydney apartment had died in a suspected suicide pact.

The bodies of Asra Abdallah Alsehli, 24, and her sister Amaal, 23, were found in separate bedrooms inside a Canterbury unit on June 7 after a concern for welfare report.

The grim discovery was made by officers from the Sheriff’s Department after the women failed to pay their rent and owed more than $5,000 to their landlord, NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal records showed.

Police had been baffled for several weeks about how the women died, who were found fully clothed, badly decomposed and no signs of forced entry into the unit.

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But the mystery appears to have been solved with interim toxicology reports showing traces of substances, which were found next to their bodies, detected in their systems, The Daily Telegraph reports.

“There’s no indication of anyone else being in the unit … no forced entry. It really does appear to be a tragic suicide,” a senior police source told the publication.

Further testing is being conducted by specialist pathology labs before an exact cause of death for the sisters can be determined.

It’s believed the bodies were laying in the Canterbury Rd unit for at least six weeks before the remains were discovered.

It was also reported a bottle of bleach, non-perishable foot items and clothing were some of the items found in the bedrooms.

The sisters, who arrived to Australia from Saudi Arabia as teenagers in 2017, largely kept to themselves and were “afraid of something” one friend claimed.

NSW Police released the images of the two women in a press conference last week as they launched a community appeal for anyone who had any information.

But despite the media coverage on the case, officers still know little about the sisters.

The outstanding rent is expected to be paid to the landlord through a black BMW, believed to be owned by the sisters, which was seized when the bodies were found.

Their family in Saudi Arabia have made no plans to fly the bodies home and have not arranged a burial in Australia.

The NSW Coroner can organize a state-funded burial if there were no substantial funds in the deceased person’s bank accounts.

The Canterbury apartment was listed for rent for $520 this week with a disturbing claimer included at the bottom of the advertisement.

“Disclaimer: This property has found two deceased persons on 06/07/2022, crime scene has been established and it is still under police investigation,” the description wrote.

“According to the police, this is not a random crime and will not be a potential risk for the community.”

Lifeline 13 11 14.

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Categories
US

Sen. Elizabeth Warren will vote no on bipartisan bill

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., at the US Supreme Court on May 3, 2022.

Categories
Business

ASX to rise, Wall Street snaps two-day losing streak as tech stocks rebound

Close up of red and green numbers on ASX board

Australian shares are expected to start the day higher as US technology stocks rebounded overnight, lifting the Nasdaq to a three-month high.

ASX futures were up 0.5 per cent, to 6,913 points, by 7:50am AEST.

The Australian dollar was trading at 69.5 US cents, after a 0.5 per cent rise overnight.

Wall Street’s main indexes rebounded, after dropping for the past two days.

The Nasdaq jumped 2.6 per cent, to 12,668 points, its highest level since early May, and the S&P 500 climbed 1.6 per cent, to end the session at 4,155, while the Dow Jones index rose 1.3 per cent, to 32,813.

Spot gold rose 0.2 per cent, to $US1,763.10 an ounce.

Meanwhile, oil prices fell sharply, with Brent crude futures down 3.4 per cent, to $US97.10 a barrel.

It comes after the OPEC+ group of oil-producing nations, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, announced that it would increase its supply by a mere 100,000 barrels per day.

On top of that, a new report from the Energy Information Administration showed an unexpected surge in US crude and gasoline stocks.

“Oil is still up 25 per cent from the beginning of the year,” said Oliver Pursche, senior vice president at Wealthspire Advisors in New York

“This recent drop is a combined result of that and a reflection that there is going to be an economic slowdown. The market is trying to find equilibrium.”

Stronger-than-expected earnings

Investor sentiment was also boosted by strong earnings reports from PayPal, CVS Health Corp and other companies.

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Categories
Technology

A College Student Discovered a Cloudflare Bug That Let You Read Any User’s Emails

A College Student Discovered a Cloudflare Bug That Let You Read Any User’s Emails

Last year, IT firm Cloudflare launched an email routing service, giving users the ability to set up a large number of addresses connected to the same inbox. Email routing can be a powerful privacy tool, as it allows you to hide your current email address behind a network of temporary or “burnable” addresses. Unfortunately, as demonstrated in research published Wednesday by a college student from Denmark, Cloudflare’s service had a giant bug in it. The flaw, when properly exploited, allowed any user to read — or even manipulate — other users’ emails.

Albert Pedersen, who is currently a student at Skive College in Midtjylland, wrote that he discovered the invasive vulnerability back in December. In a write-up published to his website by him, Pedersen explained that the bug would have allowed a hacker to “modify the routing configuration of any domain using the service.”

“I’m curious and like to produce things to see if they break. I want to help keep the internet safe,” Pedersen told Gizmodo in a direct message. “I’ve always had an interest in everything computers and IT. I found and reported my first bug back in April of last year, and I’ve spent a lot of time bug hunting since then.”

The vulnerability, which Cloudflare has confirmed but says was never exploited, involved a flaw in the program’s “zone ownership verification” system, meaning that it was possible for a hacker to reconfigure email routing and forwarding for email domains that weren’t owned by them . Proper manipulation of the exploit would have allowed someone with knowledge of the bug to re-route any users’ emails to their own address. It would have also allowed a hacker to prevent certain emails from being sent to the target at all.

In his write-up, Pedersen notes that it’s not that difficult to find online lists of email addresses attached to Cloudflare’s service. Using one of those lists, a bad guy could have quite easily targeted anybody using the forwarding service.

After discovering the exploit, Pedersen managed to reproduce it a number of times using multiple personal domains and decided to report the issue to Cloudflare’s bug bounty program. The program ultimately awarded him a total of $US6,000 ($8,329) for his efforts. Pedersen also says his blog was published with permission from Cloudflare.

In an email to Gizmodo, a company representative reiterated that the bug was fixed immediately after discovery: “As summarized in the researcher’s blog, this vulnerability was disclosed through our bug bounty program. We then resolved the issue and verified that the vulnerability had not been exploited.”

It’s a good thing that it wasn’t, because if a hacker had gotten ahold of this exploit they could’ve caused some real inbox havoc. In his write-up of him, Pederson notes that a cybercriminal could have used this bug to reset passwords, which would have threatened other accounts linked to the exploited email address:

“Not only is this a huge privacy issue, but due to the fact that password reset links are often sent to the email address of the user, a bad actor could also potentially gain control of any accounts linked to that email address. This is a good example of why you should be using 2-factor authentication,” he wrote.

Truth! Use 2-factor authentication! It just goes to show: we need as many nerds watching the internet as possible because you never know when something that sounds great is actually a giant security catastrophe waiting to happen.

Categories
Australia

Locum doctor costs skyrocket 50pc to $3,500 a day due to shortage

A doctor treats a child in a hospital while the child's mother watches on.

The cost of a short-term locum doctor contract has increased 50 per cent in a year, according to rural doctors.

Locum contracts are being offered at $3,500 a day in Launceston, $3,000 a day in Bathurst and Mount Gambier, and $280 an hour in Broken Hill.

Karyn Matterson works locum contracts around the country and so far this year has worked from Clermont in Queensland to Collarenebri and Corowa in New South Wales, and from Tasmania to Palm Island off Townsville.

“Locum doctors, both in the city and in the bush are in high demand,” Dr Matterson said.

“It’s increased exponentially as the general practitioner shortage has become more visible across Australia.”

Dr Matterson saw a connection between the decreasing Medicare rebates for GP appointments in real terms and the increase in the need for locums, as GP clinics around the country struggled to find staff.

“That is putting pressure on emergency departments across Australia because we’re seeing a lot more GP-type presentations in hospitals,” she said.

“The people who are presenting are actually sicker than what we’ve seen in primary health care in the past because they can’t get into doctors.”

‘Problem will get worse’ without reform, says doctor

The Royal Australian College of GPs said the cost of Medicare rebates for most GP appointments had risen by 1.6 per cent.

That’s well short of the most recent inflation figure of 6.1 per cent.

A man standing in a corridor, wearing a mask
Dr Matt Masel predicts the rural doctor shortage will only get worse.(Supplied: Dr Matt Masel)

Matt Masel, president of the Rural Doctors Association of Queensland, said it reflected a lack of longer-term planning over time.

Dr Masel is a partner in a GP practice in Goondiwindi, almost 300 kilometers south-west of Brisbane. He said the increasing cost of locums was a sign the health system was not working.

“We’re seeing doctors coming out of medical schools where 50 per cent used to choose general practice and only about 15 per cent do now,” he said.

“That means this problem is only going to be worse in a few years’ time unless we really make those choices to go into general practice and rural practice more attractive.”

Dr Masel said the increasing cost of locums would put it out of reach for many GP clinics in the bush.

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Categories
US

Pelosi’s Taiwan trip leaves Asian countries nervously awaiting China’s response : NPR

Pelosi's Taiwan trip leaves Asian countries nervously awaiting China's response : NPR

A plane carrying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her delegation departs Taipei on Wednesday.

Taiwanese Foreign Ministry/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images


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Taiwanese Foreign Ministry/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

A plane carrying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her delegation departs Taipei on Wednesday.

Taiwanese Foreign Ministry/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived late Tuesday night in Taiwan, its tallest building — iconic landmark Taipei 101 — lit up with words of welcome, blinking “Thank you” and “TW ♥ US”

While Pelosi’s visit delighted people in Taiwan, it enraged Beijing and set the region on edge over what China might do in retaliation. From the Philippines to Singapore, countries are worried about the status quo could turn from tension to conflict.

“What countries in this region know is that China cannot do nothing — it will look weak,” says Singaporean veteran diplomat and academic Kishore Mahbubani. “China has no choice but to react,” he says, adding, “at the same time, China doesn’t want to start World War III.”

China views Taiwan as a breakaway island that should be ruled by the mainland. The US follows an intentionally vague “One China” policy, which views Taiwan as an independent entity that should eventually be integrated into China.

Pelosi has long been a critic of China and an advocate for Taiwan’s democracy. She was the first House speaker to visit in 25 years, as US officials generally avoid any moves that could touch off a military conflict — China versus Taiwan, and possibly, the US

Southeast Asia especially feels the strain of living in the shadow of the US-China rivalry. “Governments will be very cautious” talking about cross-Taiwan Strait relations, “for fear of how China will react,” says Manila-based maritime expert Jay Batongbacal.

He says the region does not want to become “an arena of major power conflict,” and countries would not like to be seen as taking sides.

For that reason, governments in Southeast Asia have stuck to mild statements about the importance of the US and China avoiding “any miscalculation and further escalation of tensions,” as the Philippines Foreign Affairs Ministry put it. Indonesia has called on “all parties to refrain from provocative actions that may worsen the situation.”

China announced fresh live-fire drills in six locations near Taiwan within hours of Pelosi’s arrival on the self-governed island of 23 million. His military maneuvers have restricted air space and water routes around Taiwan, and an anxious region is watching.

Japan complained to Beijing that the area overlaps with its exclusive economic zone, while Taiwan called the move “a challenge to the international order.”

The live drills — more aggressive than usual exercises — should have been anticipated, according to Dewi Fortuna Anwar, an analyst at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, a government research agency. She calls Pelosi’s trip “dangerously provocative” and says it came at a time when tensions were already high in the region.

Anwar says with Russia invading Ukraine, “We are all very nervous.” The prospect of China moving on Taiwan, replicating events in Europe, looms over Asia, she says.

Anwar says the Taiwan visit by such a high-ranking US official flouted the one-China policy that many countries adhere to when they conduct business with Taiwan, but refrain from sending their senior-most figures. “It’s a matter of face for China,” she says, and this “is spitting in their face.”

Anwar questions what the endgame is for the United States: “Does it want an open war with China over Taiwan?”

Because war is so “unthinkable,” says De La Salle University international studies professor Renato Cruz de Castro in Manila, regional governments don’t tend to game out the geostrategic significance of Taiwan. His own government focuses instead, he says, on more manageable issues like how to evacuate the 142,000 overseas Filipino workers from Taiwan in the event of armed conflict.

Across the South China Sea, Beijing is flexing its muscle, accused of intimidating fishers, interfering with other nations’ ships and occupying islands claimed by its smaller neighbors, including Vietnam and the Philippines.

Being “dragged into a US-China conflict over Taiwan is pretty high on the list of anxieties for most US allies and partners,” says Gregory Poling with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Pelosi’s visit, he says “will be seen as, at best, unnecessarily risky to most regional governments.”

That said, countries of the region “do not want the US to seem a paper tiger” — which he says would only embolden further “bullying” by China.

But Batongbacal believes Pelosi’s visit was neither reckless nor deserving of China’s threat of military action, which he called “excessive” and “disproportional.” Beijing, he says, is “hyping what should be a minor event.”

Pelosi provided China “an opportunity to instigate” a confrontation, he says, and China’s rhetoric sounded like “it was spoiling for a fight.”

That’s an outcome no one wants.

“There will be no winners in a military conflict,” Anwar says. “We are much too integrated now. If you disrupt trade in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, the whole economy of Southeast Asia will be destroyed.”

Categories
Business

How to save money on groceries: the best value fresh produce in Australia this August | Australian food and drinks

As Australia enters the final month of winter, traditional root vegetables remain some of the best buys on the shelves, along with a plentiful supply of citrus.

“Potatoes and pumpkin are always good buys,” says Luke Bartlett from Luke’s Potatoes and Pumpkin in Brayton near Goulburn, about 180km south-west of Sydney.

“We do one variety that covers everything – Sebago, which is a good all-rounder, are currently sitting at about $2 a kilo.”

Australia’s inflation rate reached 6.1% in the June quarter and fruit and vegetable prices suffered a 5.8% price increase as a result of bad weather in recent months.

Even though the wet weather has played havoc on harvests, and the costs of farming have increased with rising fuel and fertilizer prices, Bartlett is selling three pumpkins for $10, which equates to roughly 50 cents a kilo. Kent and butternut varieties in major supermarkets range from $2 to $6 for half a pumpkin.

Pumpkins are a roasting dish staple perfect for cooking in bulk for salads and leftover lunches, and also make a great classic winter soup. Sweet potato is another star of the root vegetable category and costs around $1.50 a kilo in supermarkets.

Soft, starchy sweet potatoes are easily transformed into everything from mash to fries, but can also be the star of the meal when stuffed and baked. For a more adventurous dish, try Yotam Ottolenghi’s winter spiced sweet potato cheesecake with an amaretti biscuit crust.

leafy greens

After challenging wet weather, some green vegetables are beginning to thrive again, says Teck Wong, a vendor at Goodwill Projects’ Milton Markets in Brisbane.

“The weather is being much kinder to most of your greens like baby spinach, kale, broccoli… with steady supply meaning prices are coming down slowly,” says Wong.

Meng Sun from Sun’s Fresh Farm in Horsley Park in western Sydney recommends sticking to hardy vegetables such as fennel, leeks and celery, and leaving herbs to garnish dishes behind.

“Forget about dill, coriander, mint and parsley. They’re all very scarce because they’re the hardest to grow,” says Sun.

While beans, snow peas and sugar snaps are usually good buys at the end of winter, Sun says the rain has meant their usual crop – two to three fields worth of beans – all have blemishes, which also drives up the price.

“Usually during this season, they would be $6 to $8 a kilo,” says Sun. “At the moment they are at least $10 to $12 a kilo.”

One customer told Sun that at a nearby supermarket, beans were fetching a price of $30 a kilogram.

Prices such as these are a good reminder that frozen vegetables are a thrifty alternative to fresh produce and can be easily added to fritters and pasta dishes. Staples such as broccoli remain at about $9 a kilo in supermarkets, but that price drops to around $6.40 per 1kg when frozen.

Supply of cabbage and lettuce continues to be limited, with prices upwards of $6 each for savoy, green cabbage and iceberg lettuce in supermarkets. But Asian greens such as bok choy, choy sum and Chinese broccoli remain more affordable at about $2.50 a bunch.

For fruit: make it citrus

Navel oranges are good value for money at the moment, especially if you buy in bulk.
Navel oranges are good value for money at the moment, especially if you buy in bulk. Photograph: GomezDavid/Getty Images

The best produce to buy in August is citrus, according to Sun, with oranges selling for under $2 a kilo. “We were selling a big box of navel oranges for $10 a box which weighed about 18 kilos.”

In major supermarkets, oranges are priced around $2.50 a kilo and are the perfect sweet pairing with fennel in salads.

Other fruit can be hit and miss, according to Wong in Brisbane. Avoid out-of-season fruits such as berries if you’re looking for a product in premium condition. “With the cooler weather, bananas, pineapple, tomatoes and pawpaw are taking longer to ripen … therefore reducing the amount available, causing a spike in price.”

Avocados continue to be plentiful and as consumers are being asked to indulge to help relieve Australia’s current glut of the fruit. They are versatile and cheap, and can be used in everything from ice-cream to quiche.

buy
potatoes
pumpkins
carrots
asian greens
fennell
Leek
Celery
oranges
avocado

Watch
Prices are expected to ease on these over the coming month.
silverbeet
kale
broccoli
baby spinach

Avoid
beans: have been damaged by the rain and are in short supply, driving prices up.
Berries: are out of season and not of premium quality.
Fresh herbs: a luxury unless you’re growing your own.
Lettuce: remains expensive.

Categories
Technology

Ivory Coat launches bespoke pet magazine via The Royals

Ivory Coat launches bespoke pet magazine via The Royals

Natural pet food company Real Pet Food’s Ivory Coat brand has launched a new magazine, Pet Health Australia, produced by the brand’s creative agency of record, The Royals.

The magazine builds on the strategy of showing the benefits of diet for pets in a way pet owners can relate to, following the agency’s first work for the brand, which likened active people to active brands in a series of 15-second spots launched in May .

Pet Health Australia is set to be filled with tips, tricks and articles that show pet owners how to make their pets as healthy as them. All content produced for the 64-page pet lifestyle magazine was produced, photographed and designed by The Royals Content Engineering Studio, the independent agency’s content arm, in partnership with the Pet Care experts at Real Pet Food.

Connie MacLulich, brand manager at Real Pet Food Company, said: “Pet Health is the perfect encapsulation of Ivory Coat’s mission to deliver better nutrition and a healthier lifestyle for Australia’s pets. The Royals have done a phenomenal job of creating an entire magazine from scratch in what is a bold new phase for the Ivory Coat brand. We couldn’t be more pleased with the end result.”

ADVERTISEMENT

With a print run of 10,000 and articles including the golden rules of pet exercise, what to ask your vet, and entering the pet tech world with the latest technology from the Petaverse, Pet Health magazine is being distributed through selected specialty retailers and this month’s Dog LoversShow. The magazine will also be available for digital download on Ivory Coat’s website.

This is the first edition of many set to go to print in the coming months, the first issue focuses on how to keep your pet healthy and fit with an in-depth analysis of the diets and nutrients needed and the prime exercises to lead an active life with a specialized Fur Intensity Training program.

The Royals executive creative director Sebastian Vizor said: “Ivory Coat has gone to unusual lengths to ensure its food is naturally nutritious with all the ingredients to fuel health and wellbeing. But we found that people didn’t appreciate what that actually means. With humans, many sources of information support men’s and women’s health. Yet, surprisingly none specifically expressed the benefits of our furry friends leading a healthy, active lifestyle, and so the first wellbeing publication for pets was born.”

Credits

Client: Real Pet Food Company
Brand: Ivory Coat
Brand Manager, Real Pet Food Company: Connie MacLulich
Agency: The Royals
Printer: Special T
Photographer: Chloe Lambert

Categories
Australia

Gold Coast family of five forced to share single motel room amid Australia’s rental crisis

Alexi Bennett and her children have been rejected from rentals more than 200 times after their previous landlord didn’t resign their lease.

It’s been three months since the family have lived comfortably and Bennett said she struggles daily with guilt.

The family of five were forced to seek alternative accommodation after their landlord refused to resign their lease.
The family of five were forced to seek alternative accommodation after their landlord refused to resign their lease. (Supplied)
It's been three months since the family have lived comfortably, with Alexi Bennett admitting there's not a lot of options left for them.
It’s been three months since the family have lived comfortably, with Alexi Bennett admitting there’s not a lot of options left for them. (Supplied)

It’s costing the family $850 a week to share the single room amid a lack of available rental properties.

“You’re supposed to be providing for your children and, when you can’t, the guilt – it really hits, it really hits hard to be honest,” she told Todayholding her six-week-old baby.

“It’s meant to be the happiest time of your life and, you know, at this point in time it’s one of the hardest and yeah, pretty sad, to be honest.”

Bennett said there’s “not many options” left for her family.

Alexi Bennett said she wasn't really given a reason as to why her lease wasn't continued.
Alexi Bennett said she hasn’t been provided with reasons as to why her rental applications are being rejected. (Today)

“The competition is crazy at the moment,” she said.

“I’ve got to do what’s best for my kids and, yeah, this is it at the moment.

“You just got to stay positive and hope for the best and just keep trying, every day is a new day.

“That’s all I can keep telling myself and just stay positive.”

This week, major real estate agency Ray White broke down renting costs, and showed there’s a mismatch between inflationary rental price rises compared to advertised ones, which were much more “aggressive”.
Renters are could soon be facing rent hikes as landlord seek to pass on the costs of interest rate rises, experts say.
Renters are facing two pressures: advertised rents are ‘aggressive’ and there’s a lack of properties on the market. (Domain: Peter Rae)

The inflation rental price has increased 1.6 per cent, Ray White chief economist Nerida Conisbee said in the report.

But advertised rents are reflecting a 13.6 per cent price increase.

The report also showed a substantial decrease in listings for both metro and regional addresses between 2018 and 2022.

Categories
US

China expected to begin live-fire military exercises near Taiwan coast in wake of Pelosi visit – live | taiwan

Key events

South Korean President won’t be meeting Pelosi in Seoul, on holiday

Following US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi‘s high-profile visit to Taiwan, the senior US official arrived in Seoul on Wednesday night as part of her Asian tour.

The congresswoman, who is second in line to the US presidency, will on Thursday meet South Korea’s National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo and leaders of the ruling conservative People Power Party, as well as the opposition Democratic Party of Korea.

However, South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol has no plans to meet Pelosi as he is currently on a summer holiday, an official at the presidential office told SCMP.

The official denied earlier press reports that Yoon, who is taking a break at his home in Seoul, may head out to receive Pelosi.

In the first place, there was no such a plan (for Yoon’s meeting with Pelosi) as the president’s vacation schedule coincides with her visit here.”

The presidential office “welcomes” Pelosi’s visit to South Korea and it hopes her talks with National Assembly Speaker Kim will be productive, the official said.

Asked about Pelosi’s controversial visit to Taiwan, she said: “Our government’s stance is that we will maintain close communication with the nations concerned on all issues under the banner of the need for peace and stability in the region through dialogue and cooperation.”

Speculation mounted on social media.

“Because of vacation? No way. Yoon is not meeting Pelosi as he is nunchi-ing around China,” one post read. Had this happened to Yoon’s predecessor – liberal former president Moon Jae-in – conservatives and news media would have “raised hell with it” and accused Moon of nunchi-ing around Beijing, the post added.

China claiming Taiwan’s territory a ‘historical inevitability’, former ambassador to UK says

The former Chinese ambassador to the UK issued a scathing statement overnight, warning the US to stop obstructing China’s “great cause of reunification” and describing the process as a “historical inevitability”.

Liu Xiao Ming said:

The United States should not fantasize about obstructing China’s great cause of reunification. Taiwan is part of China.

Realizing complete national reunification is the general trend and a historical inevitability. We will never leave any space for ‘Taiwan independence’ split and interference from external forces.

No matter what way the US supports and condoms ‘Taiwan independence’, it will ultimately be a sham, and it will only leave more ugly records of the US grossly interfering in other countries’ internal affairs in history.

The Taiwan issue was born out of the country’s weakness and chaos, and it will surely end with the rejuvenation of the nation in the future.”

美国 不 幻想 阻挠 中国 的 统一 大业。 是 中国 的 一 部分 实现 国家 完全 统一 是 趋 ， ， 历史 必然。 我们 我们 绝 不 会 为 “台独 台独 台独 分裂 和 势力 干涉 留下 任何 空间。 美方 不论 以 以 什么 什么 什么 什么 什么 什么 什么 什么 什么 什么 什么 什么 什么 什么 什么 什么 什么纵容“台独”，最终都将是竹篮打水一场空，只会在历史上留下更多美国粗暴干涉别国内政的记㽕陋

— 刘晓明Liu Xiaoming (@AmbLiuXiaoMing) August 3, 2022

Summary and welcome

Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of tensions between China and Taiwan.

I’m Samantha Lock and I will be bringing you all the latest developments.

It is approaching 7am in Beijing. Here is everything you might have missed:

  • China is to begin a series of unprecedented live-fire drills that would effectively blockade the island of Taiwan, just hours after the departure of US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, whose controversial visit this week has sparked fears of a crisis in the Taiwan strait.
  • Taiwan has characterized the drills as a violation of international law. The drills will last until Sunday afternoon – and will include missile tests and other “military operations” as close as nine miles to Taiwan’s coastline.
  • Ahead of the drill, Taiwan said 27 Chinese warplanes had entered its air defense zone.
  • Pelosi arrived in Taipei on Tuesday night under intense global scrutinyand was met by the foreign minister Joseph Wu and the US representative in Taiwan, Sandra Oudkirk.
  • Pelosi addressed Taiwan’s parliament on Wednesday before having public and private meetings with the president, Tsai Ing-wen. “Our delegation came to Taiwan to make unequivocally clear we will not abandon Taiwan, and we are proud of our enduring friendship,” she said, adding that US solidarity with Taiwan was “crucial” in facing an increasingly authoritarian China.
  • In a later statement, she said China could not prevent world leaders from traveling to Taiwan “to pay respect to its flourishing democracy”.
  • Pelosi’s trip generated condemnation from Beijing and sparked fears of a new Taiwan strait crisis.
  • China vowed “consequences” and military exercises announced in waters around the island on Thursday to show their dissatisfaction.
  • Taiwan’s defense ministry accused Beijing of planning to violate the international convention on the law of the sea, by breaching Taiwan’s sovereign territory.
  • Taiwanese authorities have said the proximity to some major ports combined with orders for all aircraft and sea vessels to steer clear of the area amount to a blockade.
  • While China’s military often holds live-fire exercises in the strait and surrounding seas, those planned for this week encircle Taiwan’s main island and target areas within its territorial sea.

China to conduct a series of live-fire military drills in waters surrounding Taiwan
China to conduct a series of live-fire military drills in waters surrounding Taiwan