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BEIJING, China (AFP) — Two people were killed when a shallow earthquake struck southwestern China in the early hours of Thursday, triggering the second-highest level of emergency response by rescuers in Sichuan province, state media said. The US Geological Survey put the magnitude of the quake at 5.4 but the China Earthquake Networks Centre measured it at magnitude 6.0. Both put it at a shallow depth of 10 kilometres (six miles). It struck around 120 […]
by Ahikam Seri and Ben Simon JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israel’s program of booster jabs has proved effective in reducing severe cases of Covid even as new infections hover near record highs, experts said, citing recent data. Since taking office in June, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has insisted he will aim to avoid any new lockdown, a pledge his government has kept even as the country of roughly 9.3 million people regularly records more than 10,000 […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea successfully test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile on Wednesday, the presidential Blue House said, becoming only the seventh country in the world with the advanced technology. A missile was fired underwater from the newly-commissioned submarine Ahn Chang-ho, and flew the planned distance before hitting its target, the Blue House said. President Moon Jae-in supervised the test. South Korea has been advancing its military capabilities as it seeks to counter […]
by Claire LEE SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea fired two ballistic missiles into the sea on Wednesday, according to the South’s military, as China’s foreign minister visited Seoul — Pyongyang’s second launch in less than a week. Analysts said the timing was an unmistakable signal to Beijing, the North’s key diplomatic ally and main partner for trade and aid — although at times their relationship has been deeply strained. Pyongyang is under a […]
PINGTUNG, Taiwan (AFP) — Fighter jets practised landing on a highway in southern Taiwan on Wednesday as part of an annual live-fire military exercise that simulates defending the island against an invasion by China. Democratic Taiwan lives under constant threat of invasion by Beijing, which claims the island as part of its territory and has vowed to one day seize it, by force if necessary. Military tensions have risen to their highest in decades under […]
by Anastasia CLARK MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — President Vladimir Putin will self-isolate after coronavirus cases were detected in his inner circle, the Kremlin said Tuesday, as Russia struggles with stubbornly high Covid infection rates. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Putin was “absolutely healthy” and had taken a coronavirus test, without specifying the result. Putin had been due to travel to Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe for a regional summit later this week but in a […]
by Mohamad Ali Harissi Agence France Presse KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — An international commercial flight left Kabul on Monday, the first since the Taliban retook power last month, offering some hope to Afghans still desperate to leave the country. The Afghan capital’s airport was left trashed after US-led forces finished a chaotic evacuation of more than 120,000 people, and the Taliban have since scrambled to get it operational with technical assistance from Qatar and […]
by Sunghee Hwang Agence France Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea test-fired a new “long-range cruise missile” over the weekend, state media reported Monday, with the United States saying the nuclear-armed country was threatening its neighbours and beyond. Pictures in the Rodong Sinmun newspaper showed a missile exiting one of five tubes on a launch vehicle in a ball of flame, and a missile in horizontal flight. Such a weapon would represent […]
The United States military said Sunday missile tests conducted by North Korea over the weekend posed ‘threats’ to the country’s neighbors and beyond. “This activity highlights DPRK’s continuing focus on developing its military program and the threats that poses to its neighbors and the international community,” the US Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement, using the North’s official name. North Korean state media reported on Monday morning local time the country had test-fired a new […]
China handed over to Cambodia a $150 million stadium in Phnom Penh, with officials saying Sunday it is the result of Beijing’s biggest ever infrastructure grant to the country. The 60,000-capacity venue is the latest project under China’s trillion-dollar Belt and Road initiative, a plan to fund infrastructure projects and increase its sway overseas. The presentation of the arena, intended as the main venue when Cambodia hosts the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in 2023, was […]
Afghan women will be allowed to attend university as long as they study separately from men, the Taliban’s new higher education minister said Sunday. Women’s rights in Afghanistan were sharply curtailed under the Taliban’s 1996-2001 rule, though since returning to power last month the hardline Islamists have claimed they will implement a less extreme rule. But speaking to reporters about the new regime’s plans for the country’s education, Minister Abdul Baqi Haqqani was unapologetic about […]
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Typhoon Chanthu unleashed powerful winds and heavy rain on eastern Taiwan Sunday, disrupting travel links and cutting electricity to some homes but sparing the island a direct hit. Downgraded from a super typhoon since its rapid formation last week, the outer edges of Chanthu pounded the eastern coastline. But the centre of the storm remained out to sea as it moved north, the central weather bureau said. The eastern regions […]
