Asia

Amid intense drought, deadly rains lash Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — Torrential rainstorms have lashed drought-stricken Afghanistan in recent days, bringing widespread flooding that has killed at least five people and washed away homes including in the capital Kabul, officials said Tuesday. While some welcomed the wet weather after the punishing dry spell of recent years, residents complained about the lack of infrastructure and government assistance to help them clear up from the deluge. Sixteen of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces were hit in […]

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17 more detained over China blast that killed 78

BEIJING, China (AFP) — Police have detained 17 more suspects connected to a chemical blast in eastern China last month which killed 78 and left hundreds injured, local authorities said Monday. The explosion in eastern Jiangsu province was one of the worst industrial accidents in the country in recent years and led to the closure of the plant. Police have taken “criminal coercive measures” against the 17 suspects, said the Yancheng city government on its […]

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Tiger wins 15th major title with spectacular Masters victory

by Jim SLATER AUGUSTA, United States (AFP) — Tiger Woods completed an epic “full circle” comeback from career-threatening injury and scandal by winning the 83rd Masters on Sunday, capturing his 15th major title with an unprecedented back-nine rally. Ending an 11-year major drought, the 43-year-old American superstar — who underwent spinal fusion surgery in 2017 due to chronic back pain — seized his first major title since the 2008 US Open. “It’s overwhelming just because […]

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Over 120 killed, nearly 600 wounded in Libya fighting: WHO

  TRIPOLI, Libya (AFP) — Fighting near Tripoli has killed 121 people and wounded 561 since strongman Khalifa Haftar launched an offensive earlier this month to take the Libyan capital, the World Health Organization said Sunday. WHO’s Libya account said on Twitter the organisation was sending medical supplies and more staff to Tripoli, and denounced “repeated attacks on health care workers, vehicles” during the fighting which erupted on April 4. Haftar’s forces, which control swathes […]

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Quake-hit Indonesians refuse to leave high ground because of tsunami fears

  LUWUK, Indonesia (AFP) — Some panicked residents of a quake-hit Indonesian island have refused to return home after the tremor triggered a brief tsunami warning and fears there was more to come, the disaster agency said Saturday. Aftershocks rippled across the east coast of Sulawesi — an island where thousands were killed in a quake-tsunami last year — as officials scrambled to assess whether there are any casualties or major damage. While one resident […]

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North Korean leader open to third Trump summit: KCNA

  SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is willing meet with US President Donald Trump a third time if Washington comes to the table with the “right attitude”, state media reported Saturday. Kim also said he would wait until the end of the year “for the US to make a courageous decision” on another meeting, after his most recent summit with Trump in Vietnam broke down and both sides left […]

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Strong 6.8 quake hits off eastern Indonesia, tsunami warning issued

  JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — A strong 6.8 magnitude earthquake rocked eastern Indonesia Friday, the United States Geological Survey said, triggering a tsunami warning and sending panicked residents fleeing from their homes. The quake struck at a relatively shallow depth of 17 kilometres (10 miles) off the east coast of Sulawesi island, the USGS said, where a 7.5-magnitude quake-tsunami around the city of Palu killed more than 4,300 people last year. Indonesia’s geophysics agency issued […]

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Updated: Suicide blast rips through Pakistani fruit market, killing 20

  by Maaz Khan Agence France Presse QUETTA, Pakistan (AFP) — At least 20 people were killed and 48 wounded Friday by a powerful suicide blast apparently targeting the Shia Hazara ethnic minority at a crowded fruit market in Pakistan’s Quetta city, officials said. Body parts littered the scene and injured people screamed for help as black smoke cloaked the market after the explosion. A faction of the Pakistani Taliban claimed the attack, which occurred […]

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Netanyahu looks to form right-wing government after victory

by Mike Smith JERUSALEM, Undefined (AFP) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought to form a right-wing governing coalition on Thursday after securing victory in a high-stakes Israeli election despite a strong challenge from a centrist alliance. The results from Tuesday’s vote came despite corruption allegations against the 69-year-old premier and kept him on course to become Israel’s longest-serving prime minister later this year. The allegations are likely to play an important role in coalition negotiations […]

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Sudan army ousts Bashir, protestors vow further demos

by Jay Deshmukh and Abdelmoneim Abu Idris Ali KHARTOUM, Sudan (AFP) —  Sudan’s army ousted veteran president Omar al-Bashir Thursday, but protestors against his iron-fisted rule denounced a “coup” and thousands rallied outside army headquarters as a night-time curfew kicked in. In a somber televised address, Defence Minister Awad Ibnouf announced “the toppling of the regime” and said Bashir had been detained in “a secure place”, bringing an end to his three decades in power. […]

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Successive quakes hit Mohean, India; strongest tremor recorded at 5.1 magnitude

  (Eagle News) – A succession of moderately strong quakes hit near Mohean, India with the strongest recorded at magnitude 5.1, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). The quakes were located more than a hundred kilometers east southeast of Mohean, India or near Nicobar Islands between 15:09 UTC time or 11:09 p.m. Wednesday, April 10, until 3:55 p.m. UTC time or 11:55 a.m. Thursday, April 11 Philippine time. The first tremor was a 4.7 […]

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N. Korea urges ‘telling blow’ to forces imposing sanctions: KCNA

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has struck a defiant note over his failed summit with US President Donald Trump in Hanoi and insisted Pyongyang would overcome the effect of sanctions, state media reported Thursday. The remarks were Kim’s first official comment on the North’s position since talks on denuclearisation with Washington broke down in Vietnam in February, in part over Pyongyang’s demands for immediate sanctions relief. Trump is set […]

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