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TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A major fire ripped through a historic Japanese castle on the southern island of Okinawa early on Thursday morning, spreading throughout the World Heritage site’s complex, local authorities said. Shuri Castle is a key part of a complex dating back to the Ryukyu Kingdom, and is believed to have been in use from around the 1400s. The current structure is a reconstruction based on original plans and photos of the […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Beijing will use facial recognition tools to speed up security checks in the city’s overcrowded metro, using a ‘credit system’ to sort passengers into different channels, state-run media reported on Wednesday. Long queues and commuters arguing with staff over slow security procedures are common sites during rush hour in the metro system of the 20 million-strong metropolis. The city plans to install cameras that will scan the faces of passengers […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China on Tuesday blasted as “economic bullying” a US proposal to block telecom carriers buying from Chinese tech companies Huawei and ZTE. The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said on Monday that the proposed rules — which also require carriers to remove any existing Huawei and ZTE equipment — were part of an initiative to “safeguard the nation’s communications networks”. The two Chinese firms have been accused of posing a […]
by Paul HANDLEY Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US officials have said the body of Islamic State group chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was buried at sea, as fresh details surfaced about the US special forces operation that led to his death over the weekend. Syrian Kurds claimed to be a key source of the intelligence that led Americans to Baghdadi after years of tracking the man behind a five-year reign of […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Rescuers worked by hand to clear debris from a landslide triggered by heavy rains in central Japan on Saturday, as the toll from the storms rose to 10 dead with a further three people reportedly missing. Aerial footage showed emergency workers removing wreckage from two houses that were swept away in Chiba, southeast of Tokyo, just two weeks after a deadly typhoon barrelled through the area. Nine people were killed by […]
JERUSALEM, Undefined (AFP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said US President Donald Trump’s announcement of the death of Islamic State group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in neighboring Syria was “an important milestone”. “I want to congratulate President Trump on the impressive achievement of bringing about the elimination of al-Baghdadi,” Netanyahu said on a visit to an Israeli air force base in remarks broadcast by army radio. “This reflects the united resolve of […]
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — Iraqi students joined anti-government protests in Baghdad on Sunday, ramping up the street pressure on Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi who also faced a sit-in and the first resignations from parliament. The capital and country’s south have been rocked by a second wave of demonstrations since Thursday, with protesters digging in despite tear gas, curfews, and violence that has left more than 70 dead. About a dozen schools and universities decided […]
AIN AL-BAYDAH, Syria (AFP) — The Islamic State group’s spokesman was killed Sunday in northern Syria, a top Kurdish official said, hours after the jihadists’ leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was announced dead. The official with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces — who asked not to be named because he is not authorized to speak on the issue — said IS spokesman Abu Hassan al-Muhajir had been killed after SDF chief Mazloum Abdi said he had […]
by Omar Haj Kadour with Paul Handley in Washington Agence France Presse NEAR BARISHA, Syria (AFP) — Jihadist supremo Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the world’s most wanted man, was believed Sunday to have been killed in a US special operation in northwest Syria. The elusive chief of the Islamic State group was thought to be dead after a US military raid in the Idlib region, US media reported early Sunday. The White House announced President […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Rescuers worked by hand to clear debris from a landslide triggered by heavy rains in central Japan on Saturday, as the toll from the storms rose to 10 dead with a further three people reportedly missing. Aerial footage showed emergency workers removing wreckage from two houses that were swept away in Chiba, southeast of Tokyo, just two weeks after a deadly typhoon barrelled through the area. Nine people were […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s new trade minister has submitted his resignation after being accused of violating election law by offering voters money and gifts, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Friday. Isshu Sugawara had been in the hot seat after a magazine reported he was suspected of paying 20,000 yen ($185) to a bereaved family in his constituency. He was also reported to have given gifts to other voters, including pricey melons and […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japanese police were on the hunt Friday for a stolen diamond worth more than $1.8 million after the pricey piece was discovered missing from a jewelry trade show outside Tokyo. “The diamond stolen on Thursday was valued at 200 million yen. We believe it was stolen from a display case,” a police spokesman told AFP. The 50-carat loose diamond was on display at a three-day show in Yokohama city where companies […]
