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Russian President Vladimir Putin’s party was set Sunday to retain a majority in parliament on the last day of three-day elections in which most Kremlin critics were barred from running. The vote comes in the wake of an unprecedented crackdown on the opposition this year, with Russian authorities jailing Putin’s best-known domestic foe Alexei Navalny and banning his organisations as “extremist”. In the lead-up to this weekend’s vote, all of his top allies were arrested […]
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Sunday rejected France’s accusations Canberra lied about plans to cancel a contract to buy French submarines, saying he had raised concerns over the deal “some months ago”. Australia’s decision to tear up a deal for the French submarines in favour of American nuclear-powered vessels sparked outrage in Paris, with President Emmanuel Macron recalling France’s ambassadors to Canberra and Washington in an unprecedented move. Canberra has stood firm as […]
Myanmar anti-junta dissidents have carried out a bomb attack on security forces near Yangon, with several killed in an ensuing firefight, the military and media said. The Southeast Asian nation has been in turmoil since the military toppled Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government in February, sparking mass pro-democracy protests and a bloody crackdown by the military. Various townships across Myanmar have formed so-called “people defence forces” to fight back against the junta, although the […]
The first time Chen Shaohua went missing and was picked up by police, the 68-year-old’s family put it down to confusion. When he disappeared a second time, they realised he was deeply unwell — but it was already too late. “We missed the early signs,” daughter Chen Yuanyuan explained, adding: “For several years our mother complained he was lying… but we couldn’t judge because we haven’t lived with them for years.” Doctors diagnosed Chen with […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A top general admitted the United States had made a “mistake” when it launched a drone strike against suspected Islamic State militants in Kabul, killing 10 civilians including children instead during the frenzied final days of the US pullout from Afghanistan last month. The strike, a macabre coda to the 20-year US war in Afghanistan, was meant to target a suspected IS operation that US intelligence had “reasonable certainty” […]
by Suy SE PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AFP) — Cambodia on Friday began inoculating children as young as six against coronavirus, even though the World Health Organisation has yet to approve a vaccine for the under-12s. The southeast Asian country has won praise for its swift vaccination programme, which has seen more than 98 percent of the adult population receive at least one dose, according to the health ministry. The latest phase of the drive began […]
by Katie Forster TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — The campaign to become Japan’s next prime minister kicks off on Friday, with four candidates vying for leadership of the ruling party in an unusually close race. The candidates include two women hoping to lead a country that has never had a female prime minister, though both are considered long shots. The race follows Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s shock announcement last month that he would not run for […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan issued an alert on Friday after a volcano in the southwest of the country erupted, jettisoning large rocks hundreds of metres away from the crater, Kyodo news agency reported. There were no immediate reports of injuries after the eruption of Mount Otake in Kagoshima prefecture, according to Kyodo. The Japan Meteorological Agency set the alert level at three — on a scale of five, where five triggers evacuation — to […]
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — In a landmark victory for Indonesian environment campaigners, a court on Thursday ordered President Joko Widodo to clean up Jakarta’s notorious air pollution, ruling that the leader and other top officials had been negligent in protecting citizens. The capital and its surroundings form a megacity of about 30 million people, which routinely ranks among the most polluted cities in the world. Experts have warned for years about the threat posed by […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China has fully vaccinated more than 1 billion people — 71 per cent of its population — a health official said Thursday. “As of September 15, 2.16 billion vaccine doses have been administered nationwide,” said a National Health Commission spokesman at a press briefing. © Agence France-Presse
LANGKAWI, Malaysia (AFP) — Visitors flocked to the Malaysian island of Langkawi Thursday as it became the country’s first holiday hotspot to reopen after a coronavirus lockdown that has hammered the vital tourism industry. Restrictions on local travel had been in place for months and international borders remain largely closed as Malaysia battles its worst Covid-19 wave. But with the outbreak gradually easing, Langkawi, one of tropical Malaysia’s premier holiday destinations, has been chosen for […]
by Jing Xuan TENG BEIJING, China (AFP) — Three people were killed and dozens injured when a shallow earthquake struck southwestern China on Thursday, triggering the second-highest level of emergency response by rescuers in Sichuan province. The quake struck Luxian county before dawn on Thursday around 120 kilometres southwest of the sprawling megacity of Chongqing, which along with its surrounding area is home to around 30 million people. Rescue workers rushed to lift people from […]
