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HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Anti-government protesters in Hong Kong kicked off a new mass rally on Saturday as they defy increasingly stern warnings from China over weeks-long unrest that has plunged the city into crisis. The semi-autonomous southern Chinese financial hub has seen two months of protests and clashes triggered by opposition to a planned extradition law that quickly evolved into a wider movement for democratic reforms. Authorities in Hong Kong and Beijing […]
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — At least one person died and several were injured after a powerful undersea earthquake rocked Indonesia’s heavily populated Java island, triggering a brief tsunami warning, officials said Saturday. The 6.9 magnitude quake on Friday evening sent residents fleeing to higher ground, while many in the capital Jakarta ran into the streets. Officials from Indonesia’s national disaster agency warned the quake could generate a tsunami as high as three metres (10 […]
by Sebastian Smith / with Anna Smolchenko in Moscow and Francesco Fontemaggi in Bangkok Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States vowed to upgrade its cruise and ballistic missile capability as the collapse Friday of a Cold War nuclear pact with Russia triggered fears of a new arms race. As Washington placed the blame firmly on Moscow over the demise of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, President Donald Trump […]
by Ganis Bungsu Agence France Presse BANTEN, Indonesia (AFP) — Indonesian authorities lifted a tsunami warning late Friday after a powerful earthquake earlier struck off the southern coast of heavily populated Java island. The 6.9 magnitude quake registered at a depth 52.8 kilometres (33 miles), some 150 kilometres (90 miles) from Labuan, southwest of the capital Jakarta, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Panicked residents fled their homes as the quake hit, […]
(Eagle News)–The Philippine Embassy in Bangkok on Friday, Aug. 2, urged Filipinos there to take extra precautions following the “bombings” that ripped across the capital as it hosted a regional summit. In a statement, the embassy also urged Filipinos to cooperate with authorities “as they implement heightened security measures.” Earlier in the day, several small bombs exploded across Bangkok, while the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Foreign Ministers meeting also attended by US Secretary of […]
by Miwa SUZUKI Agence France Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan and South Korea Friday rescinded each other’s favoured export partner status in an escalating row as relations between the US allies hit a new low. The two countries — both of them democracies and market economies — are mired in long-running disputes over the use of forced labour during World War II. But Tokyo, which made the first move despite US calls for […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea will remove Japan from its “white list” of trusted trading partners, Seoul’s finance minister said Friday, reciprocating just hours after a similar move by Tokyo. The Japanese government’s decision “fundamentally destroys the relations of trust and cooperation that the two countries established” in the past, said Hong Nam-ki. “For this, we express our strong protest and deep regret, and urge Tokyo to immediately withdraw its vengeful trade measures.” […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan on Friday hanged two men convicted of murder, the justice ministry said, the first executions this year after 15 death row inmates were executed in 2018. With more than 100 inmates on death row, Japan is one of the few developed nations to retain the death penalty, and public support for it remains high despite international criticism, including from rights groups. “I ordered the executions after very careful consideration,” Justice […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Friday condemned Japan’s decision to remove his country from a “white list” of favored trading partners, calling it a “reckless” move and threatening unspecified countermeasures. Tokyo’s “selfish act will inflict tremendous damage on the world economy by disrupting global supply chains”, he said in remarks to a cabinet meeting called at short notice and televised live. “Japan should withdraw its unilateral and unfair measures as […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan on Friday said it will remove South Korea from a “white list” of favored export partners, a move that Seoul has warned will have “grave consequences” for security ties between the US allies. “The government at a cabinet meeting today approved a revision to the export control law… South Korea, the only Asian nation on the list, will be removed,” Japan’s Trade Minister Hiroshige Seko told reporters. The measure, which […]
by Sebastien BERGER / with Chris Stein in Washington SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea carried out its third missile test in eight days Friday, according to the South’s military, but US President Donald Trump said he had “no problem” with the spate of launches by Pyongyang. The nuclear-armed North is barred from ballistic missile tests under UN resolutions and its actions have drawn condemnation from European members of the Security Council but a […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — A North Korean soldier crossed the Demilitarised Zone that divides the peninsula, Seoul’s military said Thursday, in a rare direct defection across the heavily fortified frontier. More than 30,000 North Koreans have escaped to the South since the two were separated by war more than 65 years ago, according to Seoul government data, many of them driven by prolonged economic hardship. But the vast majority have gone first to […]
