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[ad_1] The commander of Ukraine's navy has told the BBC that his country has not lost control of the the strategically important Sea of Azov - saying there would not be a repeat of what happened four years ago in Crimea. The Sea of Azov borders the conflict area in eastern Ukraine and in 2003 Russia and Ukraine agreed to give each other's ships free movement throughout its waters. In recent months Russia has increased its military presence and inspections, with some calling its actions an "economic blockade" of Ukraine's Azov ports. Jonah Fisher reports. [ad_2]

[ad_1] BUCHAREST: NATO member Romania voiced concern on Wednesday over increased Russian military activity in the Black Sea which it borders and said strengthening European defence would be a major theme when it assumes the rotating European Union presidency in January. "The Russian Federation is using the Black Sea to project force in the eastern Mediterranean," defence minister Mihai Fifor told an international conference hosted by the Aspen Institute think tank. "The situation has changed dramatically in the last year," he said. Romania is one of the European NATO states along with Poland that has ramped up defence spending, as the alliance seeks to deter Russia and undergo modernisation. Foreign minister Teodor Melescanu told the conference that strengthening cybersecurity and addressing hybrid warfare threats from Russia would also be an additional focal point during Romania's presidency of the EU. Speaking to Reuters later, Fifor said the Bucharest governm...

[ad_1] WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday slammed his predecessor Barack Obama for being "impotent" and not stopping China from expanding its influence in the South China Sea, saying the Chinese Navy was now posing a confrontational challenge for America in the disputed region. President Trump's remarks came hours after he was briefed at the White House by secretary of state Mike Pompeo on his meetings with the top Chinese leadership in Beijing this week. "The Obama administration was impotent about the South China Sea," Trump said during an interaction with reporters Abroad Air Force One . He said the Chinese Navy was now posing a confrontational challenge for America in the disputed region. China is engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in the South China Sea , and with Japan in the East China Sea . Both the areas are stated to be rich in minerals, oil and other natural resources. They are also vital to global trade. China claims al...

[ad_1] WASHINGTON: US Vice President Mike Pence , sharpening US criticism of Chinese policies around the globe, will give China a blunt warning on Thursday that the United States will not back down from what Washington sees as Chinese intimidation in the South China Sea . Pence will deliver an 11am (1500 GMT) address at the Hudson Institute think tank in Washington likely to increase tensions between the United States and China beyond trade disputes that have dominated President Donald Trump's time in office. In excerpts of his speech seen by Reuters, Pence will call attention to an incident in which a destroyer, the USS Decatur, traveled within 12 nautical miles of Gaven and Johnson Reefs in the Spratly Islands on Sunday. Pence will say a Chinese naval vessel came within 45 yards (metres) of the USS Decatur "as it conducted freedom-of-navigation operations in the South China Sea, forcing our ship to quickly maneuver to avoid collision." "Despite such reckless harass...

[ad_1] COPENHAGEN, DENMARK : A ferry with around 300 people on board was stranded in the Baltic Sea on Tuesday after the ship experienced engine failure, the Danish operator said. No injuries were reported and an evacuation wasn't immediately necessary. The breakdown aboard the Regina Seaways produced smoke, which triggered the ship's fire extinguishing system in the engine room, Copenhagen-based DFDS Seaways said. The vessel was in international waters off Kaliningrad, Russia's Baltic Sea exclave between Poland and Lithuania. "We are talking about a malfunction in the engine room that caused a lot of smoke," DFDS spokesman Gert Jakobsen told The Associated Press. "Right now we are inspecting the engine room to find out whether the ship can sail on its own or needs to be tugged." He said passengers had assembled at muster stations in preparation for a possible evacuation, but the "situation is under control." The ferry, which also had cars a...

[ad_1] A Lithuanian ferry with 335 people on board has caught fire, officials say. The fire began while the Regina Seaways vessel was in Russia's exclusive economic zone off Kaliningrad. The ship was en route from the German port of Kiel to Lithuania's Klaipeda. Unconfirmed reports suggest there was an explosion in the engine room. All the passengers are safe, and a rescue operation is under way, the officials say. The ferry will be towed to Klaipeda. [ad_2]

[ad_1] VILNIUS: A ferry carrying 335 people is on fire in the Baltic Sea after an explosion in the engine room, Lithuania 's military said on Tuesday. The ferry sent out a distress call at 10.45 GMT and the Lithuanian military has sent a helicopter to the ferry and has two more on standby if needed, a spokesman for the Lithuanian air force said. The ferry was heading to the Lithuanian port town of Klaipeda from Kiel, Germany. [ad_2]

[ad_1] BEIJING: The US has accused a Chinese naval ship of conducting "unsafe and unprofessional" manoeuvres when one of its warships entered the waters of the disputed South China Sea . China on Tuesday expressed its strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to the US warship sailing near the islands and reefs claimed by it in the South China Sea (SCS). "On September 30, without permission of the Chinese government, the US destroyer Decatur entered neighbouring waters of islands and reefs of China's Nansha Islands," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said in a statement on Tuesday. The Chinese naval ship identified the US vessel, warned and expelled it, Hua said, stressing that China has indisputable sovereignty of the Nansha islands (Spratly Islands) and its adjacent waters. An official US statement described the move by the Chinese destroyer as "unsafe" because it moved within 41 metres of the US warship. US Pacific Fleet deputy s...

[ad_1] Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption In August, a BBC team flew over the disputed South China Sea islands in a US military plane A Chinese warship has forced an American destroyer to change course in the South China Sea by sailing close to it in an "unsafe and unprofessional" manner, the US Navy says. The USS Decatur was sailing past the Gaven and Johnson reefs in the disputed Spratly Islands, which China claims. The Luyang destroyer "approached within 45 yards [41m] of Decatur's bow", Commander Nat Christensen said. The US routinely angers Beijing with "freedom of navigation" missions. The sea, home to vital shipping lanes, has in recent years become a flashpoint for tensions between China and several regional nations which have overlapping claims over islands and reefs. Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam all make claims to parts of the sea. Why is the South China Sea co...

[ad_1] Image copyright AFP Image caption Aymara priests performed a ritual to send their "energy" to the judges in The Hague The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ruled against Bolivia in its dispute with neighbouring Chile over access to the Pacific Ocean- a feud dating back to the late 19th Century. Landlocked Bolivia lost access to the sea in 1884 after a war with Chile and has tried to regain it ever since. The court said Chile was not obliged to negotiate granting Bolivia access. The ruling, which comes after five years of deliberations, is final and binding. Background to the dispute: After its defeat by Chile in the War of the Pacific, Bolivia lost 120,000 sq km of land and became a...