Asia

Seoul scrambles jets after detecting 180 N. Korea warplanes

South Korea’s military scrambled stealth jets on Friday after detecting the mobilisation of 180 North Korean warplanes, Seoul said as it conducted large-scale joint air drills with the United States which have infuriated Pyongyang. North Korea has launched a record-breaking blitz of missile launches this week, including a failed intercontinental ballistic missile test on Thursday. Seoul and Washington extended their largest-ever joint air drills through Saturday in response to the North’s flurry of projectiles. “Our […]

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Ex-PM Khan recovers in hospital after assassination bid

  Wazirabad, Pakistan | AFP | by Nasir Jaffry, with Sajjad Tarakzai in Islamabad Pakistani former prime minister Imran Khan was recovering in hospital on Friday after an assassination attempt that left him with a gunshot wound to the leg. The attack on his convoy, apparently by a lone gunman, killed one man and wounded at least 10 others, significantly raising the stakes in political crisis gripping the country since Khan’s ousting in April. Khan […]

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Germany’s Scholz arrives in China to boost economic ties

by Peter WUETHERICH Agence France-Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in Beijing on Friday he was seeking to bolster the vital economic relationship with China on a trip for which he has faced criticism over Berlin’s heavy reliance on a nation growing more authoritarian under President Xi Jinping. Scholz is the first G7 leader to visit China since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, which prompted the world’s number two economy […]

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North Korea fired artillery barrage overnight, Seoul says

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea fired an artillery barrage into a maritime “buffer zone” overnight, Seoul’s military said Friday, after a record-breaking blitz of launches that included a failed intercontinental ballistic missile test. Seoul and Washington, which have warned Pyongyang’s recent launches could culminate in a nuclear test, extended their largest-ever joint air drills through Saturday in response to the flurry of projectiles. Shortly after that decision was announced Thursday, Pyongyang fired three […]

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Germany’s Scholz set to make controversial China visit

by Peter WUETHERICH Agence France-Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is set to arrive in China Friday, seeking to bolster a vital economic relationship but facing growing questions about his country’s heavy reliance on an authoritarian superpower. Scholz will be the first G7 leader to visit China since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, which prompted the world’s number two economy to largely close its borders. Accompanied by top executives, he is […]

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Why is Kim firing so many missiles? US-South Korea drills, experts say

Seoul, South Korea | AFP | by Claire LEE North Korea has fired more missiles in the last 24 hours than it did during the whole of 2017 — the year of “fire and fury” when leader Kim Jong Un traded barbs with then-US president Donald Trump. What has triggered the record-breaking blitz of weapons tests? Analysts say ongoing US-South Korean military exercises are a key factor, and warn that Kim is building up to […]

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‘Hazardous’ smog chokes India’s capital

New Delhi, India | AFP | Smog in New Delhi hit “hazardous” levels on Thursday as smoke from thousands of crop fires in northern India combined with other pollutants to create a noxious grey cocktail enveloping the megacity. Levels of the most dangerous particles — PM2.5, so tiny they can enter the bloodstream — were 588 per cubic metre early on Thursday morning, according to monitoring firm IQAir. That is almost 40 times the daily […]

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Japan warns some to shelter after North Korea missile launch

Tokyo, Japan | AFP | Japan warned residents of three regions to take shelter Thursday morning after a North Korean missile launch, with the government saying the missile flew over the country. The prime minister’s office said a missile flew over Japan at around 7:48 am, but national broadcaster NHK said subsequently that officials were analysing the possibility that the missile did not, in fact, travel over the country. It came after another missile fired […]

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China, Vietnam pledge to ‘manage’ South China Sea dispute

Beijing, China | AFP | China and Vietnam agreed on Tuesday to “properly manage” territorial disputes in the South China Sea, rounding off a leaders’ meeting in Beijing as part of a diplomatic blitz by Chinese President Xi Jinping. The socialist neighbours both maintain sweeping claims to sovereignty in much of the contested waterway, parts of which are also claimed by Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei. Trillions of dollars in ship-borne trade passes through […]

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DEVELOPING STORY: North Korea fires ‘unidentified ballistic missile’, Seoul’s military says

Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korea fired at least one “unidentified ballistic missile” Thursday, Seoul’s military said, with Tokyo saying it appeared to have flown over Japan, as they urged residents in some areas to take shelter. “North Korea fires unidentified ballistic missile towards East Sea,” Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, referring to the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan. The launch comes a day after Pyongyang fired more than […]

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China imposes Covid lockdown on 600,000 people around iPhone plant

  Beijing, China | AFP | by Jing Xuan TENG Chinese authorities imposed lockdowns on 600,000 people in the area surrounding the world’s largest iPhone factory on Wednesday after workers fled to avoid a coronavirus outbreak and the resulting restrictions. All people except Covid-prevention volunteers and essential workers “must not leave their residences except to receive Covid tests and emergency medical treatment”, officials from central China’s Zhengzhou Airport Economy Zone said. The move comes after images […]

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South Korea to hold police accountable for crowd crush failures: PM

  Seoul, South Korea | AFP | South Korea’s prime minister said Wednesday that police must explain failures to respond to multiple emergency calls ahead of a deadly Halloween crowd surge, as investigators raided police stations. At least 156 mostly young people were killed, and scores more injured, in a crush late Saturday at the first post-pandemic Halloween party in Seoul’s popular Itaewon nightlife district. Transcripts of emergency calls obtained by AFP, many made hours […]

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