Asia

Once dominant, Israel’s Labour party struggles ahead of elections

by Jonah Mandel Agence France-Presse MOTZA ILLIT, Israel (AFP) – Eyal Vardi has voted for Israel’s Labour party for most of his adult life, but the 60-year-old wants to support a winner in April 9 elections. Attending a recent open house for a candidate for another party in an affluent community west of Jerusalem, Vardi points out that Labour has all but abandoned its left-wing roots anyway. He’ll vote for the centrist Blue and White party […]

The three women hoping to upset India’s Modi at the polls

by Abhaya SRIVASTAVA Agence France-Presse NEW DELHI, India (AFP) – India’s alpha-male Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces three formidable women looking to spoil his chances of winning a new term in elections beginning next week. AFP profiles them here: ‘Big sis’ Feisty and fiery Mamata Banerjee is the first female chief minister of the eastern state of West Bengal — home to more people than Germany — where Modi’s right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) needs to […]

One dead in South Korea blaze: Yonhap

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — An enormous fire erupted Thursday in the South Korean border town of Goseong, leaving at least one dead, destroying dozens of homes and forcing more than 3,000 people to evacuate, the Yonhap news agency reported. Strong winds fanned the flames in the town, located in mountainous northeastern Gangwon province near the frontier with North Korea, the report said, citing fire officials. The National Fire Agency mobilised about 2,700 emergency personnel, […]

China’s Xi calls for early conclusion of US trade talks: Xinhua

BEIJING, China (AFP) –Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for the “early conclusion of negotiations” on the text of a trade deal with the United States, state media reported Friday. The comments, carried by the Xinhua news agency, came as speculation mounted that the two sides were close to finalising an agreement to resolve their nine month-trade war. The remarks were part of a message conveyed by Chinese vice premier Liu He at a meeting […]

‘I have names’: Ghosn vows to clear his name in Japan trial

PARIS, France (AFP) — Former auto tycoon Carlos Ghosn vowed to prove his innocence of alleged financial misdeeds but raised doubts about receiving a fair trial in Japan, in an interview with French television just before he was re-arrested on Thursday. The ousted boss of Nissan and Renault, whose case has gripped Japan and the rest of the business world, said in the interview that if his trial was fair he was “not worried”. But […]

South Korean ship detained over sanctions on North: Seoul

  SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — A South Korean ship has been detained for more than six months on suspicion of violating UN sanctions against the nuclear-armed North, Seoul’s foreign ministry said Wednesday. Pyongyang is sanctioned over its weapons programme under multiple UN Security Council resolutions, which include curbs on shipments of oil and fuel to the isolated regime. But the North has been seeking to get around the measures, with a recent UN report […]

Ex-Nissan chief Ghosn rearrested in Tokyo: media

by Karyn Nishimura Agence France-Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) – Former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn was rearrested early Thursday in Tokyo while out on bail, local media said, as prosecutors investigate a fresh charge against the auto tycoon. Authorities arrested the 65-year-old less than a month after he was dramatically freed on bail following more than 100 days in detention. Public broadcaster NHK and other media said prosecutors had entered Ghosn’s temporary accommodation in central Tokyo early […]

South Korean police apologize for 70-year-old island massacre

  SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korean police apologized for the first time Wednesday over massacres that killed 10,000 people decades ago and the military expressed deep regret as President Moon Jae-in seeks to re-examine history. On April 3, 1948 members of the communist Workers’ Party of Southern Korea — an ally of the organization that still rules the North — launched an armed uprising on the southern island of Jeju, attacking a dozen […]

Erdogan party appeals Istanbul, Ankara results after Turkey vote

by Gokan GUNES ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AKP on Tuesday appealed against results in Istanbul and Ankara following a weekend election after tallies showed the ruling party lost both key cities. Erdogan’s AKP and coalition partner won more than 50 percent of votes nationwide in Sunday’s local ballot, but defeat in both Turkey’s capital and its economic hub would be a setback after the party’s decade and a half in […]

Diplomats, activists decry Chinese ‘threats’ at UN rights council

  by Nina Larson Agence France Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Diplomats and activists on Monday denounced intense Chinese lobbying, pressure and even threats to rein in criticism of Beijing during last month’s session of the UN Human Rights Council. Human Rights Watch (HRW) charged that the Chinese mission in Geneva had sent a letter to a number of missions urging them to stay away from a US-organised event on March 13 about China’s treatment […]

Chinese firefighters contain forest fire after 30 dead

  BEIJING, China (AFP) — Firefighters in southwest China contained a forest blaze on Tuesday after it claimed the lives of 27 firefighters and three others, local officials said. Nearly 700 firefighters were deployed to battle the fire, which broke out on Saturday on steep, remote terrain at an altitude of around 4,000 metres (13,000 feet) in Muli County, Sichuan province. The blaze was contained around midday on Tuesday, though some areas are still burning, […]

Stunning upset as President Erdogan’s AKP party suffers defeat in Turkey’s two main cities

  by Raziye Akkoc / Luana Sarmini-Buonaccorsi Agence France Presse ANKARA, Turkey (AFP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party suffered a major upset on Monday after local election results showed it lost the capital Ankara and Istanbul after a decade and half in power. Losing the country’s two major cities would be a stunning defeat for Erdogan, a former Istanbul mayor himself, whose ability to win at the ballot box has been unparalleled […]