KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — At least 32 people were killed and 53 wounded when explosions hit a Shiite mosque in the Afghan city of Kandahar on Friday, a hospital spokesman told AFP. “Thirty-two bodies and 53 wounded people have been brought to our hospital so far,” the medic in the southern city’s central hospital said. The cause of the blasts was not immediately identified, but it came exactly a week after a suicide bomb attack […]
Asia
Anguish and anger after Taiwan building blaze kills 46
KAOSHIUNG, Taiwan (AFP) — Taiwanese residents voiced anguish and outrage on Friday after 46 people perished in an inferno that tore through a dilapidated housing block as investigators searched for what sparked the island’s deadliest fire in decades. The blaze is the latest tragedy to highlight concerns over lax safety standards in Taiwan and has exposed the poor living conditions of many elderly in a society that is rapidly ageing. The fire broke out in […]
Russia reports record daily virus cases, deaths
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia on Thursday reported a pandemic high for both new coronavirus infections and fatalities over 24 hours, with the country’s vaccination drive at a snail’s pace and few restrictions in place. Officials registered 31,299 new infections and 986 deaths from Covid-19 over 24 hours, bringing Russia’s total fatalities to 220,315 — the highest toll in Europe. The surging outbreak has come with just 31 percent of Russians fully inoculated, according to […]
Gunfire kills six, wounds 30 at Beirut protest
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — Gunfire killed six people and wounded 30 at a Beirut rally organised by the Shiite Hezbollah and Amal movements Thursday to demand the dismissal of the lead investigator into last year’s port blast. Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi told a press conference that the death toll had climbed to six. He said that some of the victims where shot in the head. The deaths include a 24-year-old woman who was hit in […]
Taiwan building inferno kills 46, dozens injured
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — An overnight fire tore through a building in the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung on Thursday, killing 46 people and injuring dozens of others in the island’s deadliest blaze in decades. The fire broke out in the 13-storey, mixed-use building in the small hours of Thursday morning, according to officials, raging through multiple floors before firefighters finally got it under control. Pictures published by Taiwan’s official Central News Agency showed […]
Death toll in Philippines storm rises to 19
MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — The death toll from a storm that triggered landslides and flash floods across the Philippines has risen to at least 19, authorities said Thursday, linking the extreme rainfall to climate change. Severe Tropical Storm Kompasu dumped more than a month’s worth of rain in two days as it swept across the archipelago nation this week, national disaster agency spokesman Mark Timbal told AFP. Kompasu — named after the Japanese pronunciation of […]
Indian cobra killer gets life for murdering wife
NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — An Indian man who used a cobra and a viper to murder his wife was sentenced to life in jail on Wednesday in what prosecutors called the “rarest of rare” cases. Sooraj Kumar set loose a highly venomous Russell’s viper snake on his wife Uthra that left her in hospital for almost two months, prosecutors said. While she recovered at her parents’ house, the 28-year-old husband obtained a cobra from […]
Putin says, ‘very important’ to ‘stabilize’ gas market
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday it was “very important” to stabilize the gas market, as Europe faces a gas crisis ahead of winter due to a surge in prices and a drop in reserves. Speaking at an energy forum in Moscow, Putin said it was “very important” to “suggest a long-term mechanism to stabilizRuse the energy market” in what he called a “difficult situation.” © Agence France-Presse
UN rights report warns of N. Korea ‘starvation risk’
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea’s most vulnerable are “at risk of starvation” with the economy worsening due to a self-imposed coronavirus blockade, and UN sanctions imposed over the country’s nuclear programmes should be eased, a UN human rights expert said Wednesday. The impoverished nation has been behind a rigid blockade since early last year to protect itself from the pandemic, with the economy suffering and trade with key partner China dwindling to a […]
Storms force Hong Kong to shutter twice in a week
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Hong Kong battened down on Tuesday evening for the second time in less than a week as an approaching tropical storm prompted forecasters to raise their alert level and trigger safety measures. Tropical Cyclone Kompasu — named after the Japanese pronunciation of “compass” — is the second major storm to threaten the international business hub with torrential rain and high winds in five days. As of 0900 GMT it was […]
Samsung boss goes on trial on drugs charges
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — The de-facto leader of the sprawling Samsung group Lee Jae-yong went on trial Tuesday on charges of illegally using the anaesthetic propofol, the latest legal travail to beset the multi-billionaire. Lee — the vice-chairman of the world’s biggest smartphone maker Samsung Electronics and according to Forbes the world’s 297th richest person — is accused of having repeatedly taken it at a plastic surgery clinic in Seoul in 2017 and 2018. […]
Japan ruling party seeks defence spending boost
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s ruling conservatives unveiled their campaign platform Tuesday, saying they would aim to boost defense spending, possibly even doubling it, to counter threats from China and North Korea. The long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party, led by new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, is campaigning to maintain its majority in parliament in October 31 elections. It announced pledges on Tuesday including tackling the pandemic and working to boost the middle class. The party, while […]
