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HANOI, Vietnam (AFP) — Vietnam said Saturday that it “strongly condemns” human trafficking, after British police confirmed 39 people found dead in a truck last week are believed to be Vietnamese. Most of the victims are thought to come from central Vietnam, where easy-to-find brokers help to arrange trips to Europe — often via Russia — for migrants hoping to earn money overseas. The extreme risks of the journeys were laid bare after eight […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China warned Friday it would not tolerate any challenge to Hong Kong’s governing system, as it laid out plans to boost patriotism in the city and change how its leader is chosen or removed after months of pro-democracy protests. The unrest in the semi-autonomous city was an important topic at a major, four-day meeting of the Communist Party chaired by President Xi Jinping this week in Beijing, said Shen Chunyao, […]
by Ashraf KHAN MIRPUR KHAS, Pakistan (AFP) — Distraught relatives gathered Friday for the first funerals of some of the 74 people killed when fire ripped through a crowded train in Pakistan, with many of the victim’s residents of a single town. The sobbing family crowded an official building in Mirpurkhas overnight as the first bodies covered in white cloth began arriving by ambulance from the scene of the disaster. After morning prayers, with women […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Seven South Koreans were missing Friday after their helicopter took off from islets disputed with Japan and crashed into the sea moments later, Seoul officials said. The aircraft had just picked an injured fisherman up from Dokdo, which is known as Takeshima in Japan, when it went down on Thursday night. The South’s coast guard, members of the National Fire Agency and civilian boats were searching for survivors, while the […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea has carried out a “successful” new test of its “super-large multiple rocket launcher” system, state media said Friday — the latest in a series of provocations by Pyongyang. South Korea’s military said Thursday that the North had launched two short-range projectiles from South Pyongan province. They each flew approximately 370 kilometers (230 miles). It was the latest in a series of launches by the North but the first […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent a message of sympathy to the South’s President Moon Jae-in over the death of his mother, officials said Thursday, the pair’s first contact in months with inter-Korean ties at a standstill. Kang Han-ok, who was born and grew up in the North but was evacuated by US forces during the Korean War, died from a chronic illness on Tuesday. She was 92. […]
by Kang Jin-kyu Agence France Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea fired two short-range projectiles on Thursday, the South’s military said, with nuclear talks between Pyongyang and Washington at a deadlock. The weapons were launched from South Pyongan province in an easterly direction over the sea, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. They flew 370 kilometers (230 miles) at a maximum altitude of 90 kilometers, they said, adding: “We […]
by Maya Gebeily BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — Iraq’s leaders were intense talks on Wednesday over the ouster of the country’s embattled premier, as a rights commission said the latest week of anti-government demonstrations has left 100 dead. As night fell, the government faced the mounting pressure of swelling protests, pro-Iran figures defending the prime minister and deadly rockets slamming into Baghdad’s Green Zone. The missiles hit a checkpoint near the US embassy, killing one Iraqi […]
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 […]
