Asia

Typhoon hits South Korea after sparking landslides in Japan

by Sunghee HWANG with Charly TRIBALLEAU in Kagoshima, JAPAN SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — A powerful typhoon lashed South Korea on Monday after smashing into southern Japan with record winds and heavy rains that left four people missing in a landslide. Half a million people were without power after Typhoon Haishen roared past Japan’s southern-most main island of Kyushu, ripping off roofs and dumping half a metre (20 inches) of water in just a day. […]

Typhoon Haishen heads to South Korea after slamming Japan

KAGOSHIMA, Japan (AFP) — Powerful Typhoon Haishen approached South Korea on Monday after slamming southern Japan with record winds and heavy rains that prompted evacuation warnings for millions. On Monday morning, initial assessments suggested the storm had done less damage than feared, though hundreds of thousands of homes were left without power across much of Japan’s southern Kyushu island. At 7 am, the typhoon was 30 kilometres (around 20 miles) north of Tsushima island and […]

Powerful typhoon slams Japan with violent winds, heavy rain

  by Charly Triballeau, with Hiroshi Hiyama in Tokyo Agence France Presse KAGOSHIMA, Japan (AFP) — A powerful typhoon that officials warned could bring record rains and gusts strong enough to flip cars slammed into southern Japan on Sunday, prompting authorities to urge millions to seek shelter. Typhoon Haishen has weakened somewhat as it neared Japan’s mainland, and shifted further west out to sea, but it remained a “large” and “extremely strong” storm. After lashing […]

Powerful typhoon approaches Japan with violent winds, heavy rain

  KAGOSHIMA, Japan (AFP) — A powerful typhoon headed toward southern Japan Sunday, bringing violent winds and heavy rains with officials warning it could be strong enough to snap power poles and flip vehicles. Typhoon Haishen, categorised as “large” and “extremely strong”, was expected to move through the Amami region of small islands near Kyushu that separate the Pacific Ocean and the East China Sea in the afternoon. At 8:00 am (2300 GMT Saturday), Haishen […]

12 killed in Bangladesh mosque gas explosion

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AFP) — A suspected gas explosion tore through a Bangladesh mosque killing at least 12 people while dozens suffered life-threatening burns, police said Saturday. Worshippers were at Friday evening prayers when the blast sent a ball of flames through the mosque in the central district of Narayanganj, emergency services said. Investigators suspected a spark from an air conditioner — which came on after a power cut — set off the gas. “Leaked gas […]

Explosion in western Iran injures more than 200

TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — The explosion of a chlorine gas canister being transported by a truck in western Iran has injured 217 people but caused no deaths, state news agency IRNA reported. The blast struck late Friday in Chardavol county in Ilam province, the news agency said. The head of the province’s medical university, Mohammad Karimian, told IRNA driver “carelessness” was suspected. The incident is the latest in a series of fires and explosions that […]

Filipino crewman killed as oil tanker fire rages off Sri Lanka coast

    COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP) — A Panamanian-registered oil tanker burned out of control for a second day off Sri Lanka on Friday as authorities confirmed a Filipino crew member was killed in an explosion and fears grew of a major new oil spill in the Indian Ocean. Sri Lankan navy and Indian coastguard vessels fired water cannon at the blaze on the New Diamond, which issued a distress call Thursday after its engine […]

‘Pulse’ sparks hunt for survivor one month after Beirut blast

  by Layal Abu Rahal and Dylan Collins Agence France Presse BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — Rescuers resumed a search Friday for a possible survivor under the rubble in Beirut, buoyed by faint hopes of a miracle a month after a monster blast ripped through the city’s port. The cataclysmic August 4 explosion killed 191 people, making it Lebanon’s deadliest peacetime disaster. One month on, Lebanese across the grieving country observed a minute of silence on […]

India becomes third country to pass four million coronavirus cases

  NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — India has become the world’s third country to pass four million coronavirus infections, setting a new record daily surge in cases on Saturday as the crisis shows no sign of peaking. The 86,432 new cases took India to 4,023,179 infections, third behind the United States which has more than 6.3 million and just trailing Brazil on 4.1 million. While the government has eased restrictions in a bid to revive […]

Man found unresponsive after ship sank in typhoon off Japan

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s coast guard said Friday they found a man floating face-down and unresponsive at sea as they searched for survivors from a ship that sank during a typhoon with 43 crew on board. One survivor has so far been rescued from the ship, and early Friday morning, a coast guard vessel “discovered a man face-down adrift at sea,” a statement said. It was unclear if the man, described as “unconscious”, was […]

Desperate search for crew of ship sunk in typhoon off Japan

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japanese coast guard rescuers searched Thursday for the remaining 42 crew of a ship believed to have sunk in a typhoon, after a lone survivor was found bobbing in a lifejacket. The Gulf Livestock 1, which was carrying a cargo of nearly 6,000 cows, issued a distress call in the early hours of Wednesday from a position 185 kilometers (115 miles) west of Japan’s Amami Oshima island. Japan’s coast guard dispatched […]

Thailand records first coronavirus case after 100-day streak

BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — A Thai disc jockey sentenced last week to two years in prison has tested positive for the coronavirus, officials said Thursday, ending the kingdom’s 100-day run without a local transmission. The man, sentenced on August 26 for what local media said was a drugs offense, had been in contact with at least 30 other people before testing positive on Wednesday. Those tested so far have all been negative, officials said. “It […]