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SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea said Thursday it will terminate its military intelligence-sharing pact with Japan amid intensifying trade and diplomatic disputes with Tokyo. The decision comes as Seoul and Tokyo are locked in a tit-for-tat trade and diplomatic dispute following a series of South Korean court rulings against Japanese firms, requiring them to pay for forced labor during World War II. Japan had removed South Korea from a so-called white list of […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Nine people have died and 35 are still missing after a series of mudslides in an autonomous region of China’s southwestern Sichuan province, local authorities said Thursday. A 33-year-old firefighter was among those killed by a flash flood that tipped over an emergency response vehicle as they went to help people affected by a mudslide in Wenchuan county, according to local officials. State news agency Xinhua said another firefighter was […]
MANOKWARI, Indonesia (AFP) — Indonesia’s Papua was hit by fresh unrest Wednesday as more than 1,000 security personnel were sent to the restive region after violent protests that saw buildings torched and street battles between police and demonstrators. Jakarta has called for calm in its easternmost territory — where an insurgency against Indonesian rule has simmered for decades — following riots triggered by the detention of dozens of Papuan students at the weekend. On […]
by John Biers NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — The latest lurches in President Donald Trump’s trade war with China set the stage for a potential repeat of late 2018 when goods flooded into America’s ports to beat new tariffs. US importers, retailers and shippers are bracing for a new round of punitive duties on Chinese goods set to hit in two steps, September 1 and December 15, likely to drive a rush […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — The United States is ready to sit down with North Korea to resume long-awaited working-level nuclear talks, a US envoy said Wednesday. Nuclear discussions between Washington and Pyongyang have stalled since a second summit in Hanoi in February ended without an agreement over differences on the extent of denuclearization and a sanctions relief in return. But anticipation for renewed dialogue has been on the rise after the US and […]
SINGAPORE (AFP) — Singapore will next week begin a public trial of driverless buses that can be booked with an app, part of ambitions to roll out autonomous vehicles across the city-state. Well-organised and high-tech, Singapore has become a testbed for self-driving vehicles, developing home-grown technology and inviting foreign companies to trial their own. Four driverless mini-buses will follow a 5.7 kilometre (3.5-mile) route on the resort island of Sentosa from August 26 to November […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Huawei on Tuesday dismissed Washington’s three-month delay to a ban on US firms selling to the Chinese tech giant and said the decision would not change the fact it had been “treated unjustly”. The US Commerce Department effectively suspended for a second time tough rules stopping the sale of components and services to the telecoms titan and a prohibition on buying equipment from it. However, it also said it would add […]
BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — At least 13 Chinese tourists were killed and dozens injured when their bus skidded off the road and plunged 30 meters into a ravine in Laos, a police officer said Tuesday. The bus was carrying more than 40 Chinese nationals heading towards the tourist town of Luang Prabang when the accident occurred late on Monday. “At this moment, 13 bodies have been recovered… while two are still missing,” police officer Xaiyaphon […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un once again supervised a “new weapon” launch, state media said Saturday, complicating efforts at denuclearisation ahead of next week’s visit to Seoul by the US envoy to Pyongyang. Friday’s launch was the North’s sixth test in recent weeks as it protests the annual US-South Korea military exercises which Pyongyang considers rehearsals for invasion. Defense officials in Seoul said Pyongyang fired what appeared to be […]
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AFP) — At least 10,000 people are homeless after a massive fire swept through a crowded slum in the Bangladesh capital and destroyed thousands of shanties, officials said Sunday. The fire broke out at in Dhaka’s Mirpur neighbourhood late on Friday and razed around 2,000 mostly tin shacks, fire services official Ershad Hossain told AFP. “I could not salvage a single thing. I don’t know what will I do,” 58-year-old Abdul Hamid, who […]
by Yan ZHAO / Catherine LAI HONG KONG, China (AFP) — A sea of democracy activists flooded the streets of Hong Kong Sunday under torrential rains in a peaceful demonstration to city leaders that their movement still draws wide public support, despite mounting violence and increasingly stark warnings from Beijing. Hundreds of thousands of umbrella-carrying protesters poured across the heart of Hong Kong island, defying both the downpour and a police order not to march […]
by Jerome TAYLOR / Elaine YU / Yan ZHAO Agence France Presse HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Hong Kong democracy activists kicked off a weekend of fresh rallies on Saturday in a major test for the movement following criticism over an airport protest earlier this week — and as concerns mount over Beijing’s next move. The new marches came as thousands of pro-government supporters — many waving Chinese flags — gathered in a park […]
