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TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Iran on Thursday announced 134 new deaths from the novel coronavirus took the overall toll in the Middle East’s deadliest outbreak past 10,000. The Islamic republic has struggled to contain the spread of the virus since it reported its first cases in the Shiite holy city of Qom in late February. Official figures have shown a rising trajectory in new confirmed cases since early May, when Iran hit a near two-month […]
ISALAMABAD, Pakistan (AFP) — Pakistan International Airlines said Thursday it had grounded almost a third of its pilots for holding fake or dubious licences, a month after one of its planes crashed into houses killing 98 people. The move comes after the government released a preliminary report into the May 22 crash in Karachi. Investigators largely blamed the two pilots, who ignored flight protocols and had been discussing the coronavirus outbreak when they first attempted […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Pirates kidnapped five South Koreans and a Ghanaian after boarding their fishing vessel off Benin, Seoul’s foreign ministry and the International Maritime Bureau said Thursday. The Ghanaian-flagged Panofi Frontier with 30 crew onboard was attacked on Wednesday about 60 nautical miles south of the Beninese capital Cotonou, they both said. Seoul’s foreign ministry said five of its nationals were seized along with a Ghanaian, and that the vessel had 24 […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan has scrapped the deployment of a multibillion-dollar US anti-missile system, the government confirmed Thursday, days after saying the program had been suspended. Interceptors for the Aegis Ashore system were to be placed in two regions under the costly and controversial programme. But the government reversed course under pressure from local residents concerned about the risks posed by a missile defence system in their backyard. “The National Security Council discussed this […]
BEIJING, China (AFP ) — The new coronavirus outbreak that has infected 256 people in Beijing since early June is “under control”, officials in the Chinese capital said Wednesday, but fears still remain over the risk of community transmission. Authorities have raced to contain the outbreak linked to the largest wholesale food market in Beijing after the first case was announced on June 11, leading to a partial lockdown of the city. “The Beijing epidemic […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A strong 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck early Thursday off the eastern coast of Japan, the US Geological Survey said, but no tsunami warning was issued. The epicenter of the quake, which struck at a depth of 25.4 kilometers (16 miles), was located offshore about 41 kilometers southeast of Hasaki in Chiba prefecture, east of Tokyo. The Japan Meteorological Agency, which put the magnitude at 6.2, said on its website that the quake […]
TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Police in Iran said they have arrested three people accused of trying to sell babies on Instagram, semi-official news agency ISNA reported Wednesday. “Three people who were seeking to sell two babies have been arrested,” Tehran’s police chief Hossein Rahimi was quoted as saying. One of the babies was 20 days old and the other was two months, Rahimi said. Police had been alerted about “ads on Instagram for selling babies”, […]
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AFP) — A plane crash which killed 97 people in Pakistan last month was because of human error by the pilot and air traffic control, according to an initial report into the disaster released Wednesday. The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane came down among houses on May 22 after both engines failed as it approached Karachi airport, killing all but two people on board. “The pilot as well as the controller didn’t follow […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has suspended plans for military action against the South, state media reported Wednesday in an apparent sudden dialling-down of tensions after Pyongyang blew up a liaison office. In recent weeks, Pyongyang has issued a series of vitriolic condemnations of Seoul over anti-North leaflets, which defectors based in the South send across the border — usually attached to balloons or floated in bottles. Last week […]
MALE, Maldives (AFP) — The Maldives will reopen its tourist resorts from mid-July after a months-long virus-enforced shutdown, the country’s president said Tuesday, adding that international travellers would be welcomed to the Indian Ocean holiday hotspot. Tourism is a major earner for the Maldives, a tropical island paradise popular with honeymooners and celebrities. “The country will reopen its borders for international travel, and the government will allow resorts to welcome visitors from July 15,” President […]
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — The Saudi-led military coalition said Tuesday it had intercepted and destroyed drones and ballistic missiles launched into the kingdom by Yemen’s Huthi rebels, including one fired towards Riyadh. Witnesses told AFP that they heard blasts at dawn from their homes in the capital. Coalition forces “managed… to intercept and destroy a ballistic missile launched by the terrorist Huthi militia from Sanaa towards Riyadh in a deliberate hostile operation,” coalition spokesman […]
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (AFP) — Kyrgyzstan’s former president was sentenced to 11 years in jail Tuesday over the illegal release of a crime boss, in a case that caused a power struggle with his successor to turn violent. The presiding judge at a court in the capital Bishkek handed Almazbek Atambayev the sentence of 11 years and two months and ruled the ex-leader be stripped of all-state honors as well as his homes and businesses. Atambayev, […]
