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by Shafiqul ALAM DHAKA, Bangladesh (AFP) — At least 30 people died and a dozen are missing after a ferry capsized and sank Monday in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka following a collision with another vessel, rescue officials said. The Morning Bird vessel was hit from behind by another ferry around 9:30 am local time (0330 GMT) during the morning rush hour, when the country’s largest river port is packed with vessels. “We have collected 30 […]
KARACHI, Pakistan (AFP) — At least six people were killed when gunmen attacked the Pakistan Stock Exchange in Karachi on Monday, with a policeman among the dead after the assailants opened fire and hurled a grenade at the trading floor, police said. The assault was claimed by ethnic Baloch separatists who have hit a string of high-profile targets across the country in recent years, including in the southern port city. Four security guards, a police […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Torrential weekend rains killed at least 12 people in China’s southwestern Sichuan province, state media reported Monday, as rising waters sparked mass evacuations during the annual flood season. The toll from the heavy rainstorm in Mianning county included two people who died when several vehicles plunged into a river after flooding damaged a highway. Ten others were missing and more than 7,000 had been evacuated from their homes, the official Xinhua […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China imposed a strict lockdown on nearly half a million people in a province surrounding the capital to contain a fresh coronavirus cluster on Sunday, as authorities warned the outbreak was still “severe and complicated.” After China largely brought the virus under control, hundreds have been infected in Beijing and cases have emerged in neighbouring Hebei province in recent weeks. Health officials said Sunday that Anxin county — about 150 […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US Senate on Thursday unanimously approved a bill that would lay out sanctions on Chinese officials who undermine Hong Kong’s autonomy as Beijing pushes forward with a controversial security law. The House of Representatives still needs to pass the bill, which would allow sanctions in the United States against Chinese officials and the Hong Kong police as well as banks that conduct “significant transactions” with them. The vote […]
PATNA, India (AFP) — At least 107 people died from lightning strikes in northern and eastern India Thursday, officials said, during the early stages of the annual monsoon season. Some 83 people were killed in the impoverished eastern state of Bihar after being struck by lightning, and another 24 died in northern Uttar Pradesh state. Dozens more were injured, officials said. Lightning strikes during the June-September annual monsoon are fairly common in India. But Bihar’s […]
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 […]
