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TOKYO, April 30, 2019 (AFP) – Draped in ornate golden-brown robes and wearing a towering black hat, Japan’s Emperor Akihito on Tuesday kicked off ceremonies for his abdication, the first in 200 years for the world’s oldest monarchy. Akihito is handing over the Chrysanthemum Throne to his eldest son, 59-year-old Crown Prince Naruhito, in a series of solemn rituals that also usher in the new imperial era named “Reiwa” — meaning beautiful harmony — that […]
by Hiroshi HIYAMA Japan’s outgoing Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko dramatically modernised the tradition-bound monarchy, bringing themselves closer to the public and boosting popular support for the household. Akihito has broken new ground with everything from his decision to marry for love to his outspoken calls for peace and expressions of regret over Japan’s wartime role. His approach has at times unsettled those who view the emperor as a divine priest meant to inspire awe, […]
by Ali Choukeir and Maya Gebeily BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — The Islamic State group’s elusive supremo Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made his first purported appearance in five years in a propaganda video released Monday, acknowledging IS’s defeat in the Syrian town of Baghouz while threatening “revenge” attacks. The world’s most wanted man was last seen in Mosul in 2014, announcing the birth of IS’s much-feared “caliphate” across swathes of Iraq and Syria, and appears to have […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan on Saturday kicked off an unprecedented 10-day holiday, including celebration days for the imperial transition, as airports were packed with record travellers while people queued at teller machines in the cash-dominated nation. Japan is preparing for the abdication of Emperor Akihito on Tuesday the day before Akihito’s eldest son, 59-year-old Crown Prince Naruhito, takes the throne. The long holiday for the famously hard-working Japanese combines two celebration days with […]
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP) — Suicide bombers cornered by security forces in a hideout in eastern Sri Lanka blew themselves up in a raid which left 15 people dead, including six children, police said Saturday. A civilian was also killed in crossfire during the night-time raid near the predominantly Muslim town of Kalmunai, with hundreds of families later fleeing their homes. Kalmmunai is in the home province of the jihadist suspected of organising the […]
Authorities in Cyprus on Thursday uncovered a body of a woman, the third Filipina murdered by a suspected serial killer who had confessed to seven killings. This came as police widened a probe into the murders which were done by a 35-year old Greek Cypriot army officer who admitted to killing the three Filipinas whom he had reportedly met through an online dating site. The suspect, who is now in police custody, had even identified […]
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP) — Sri Lankan police have been left red-faced after wrongly identifying a female American Muslim activist as a suspect in the deadly Easter bombings. On Thursday, police issued a flyer with the names and photos of six people — three men and three women — wanted in connection with attacks that killed over 250 people. Among those listed was a woman identified as Abdul Cader Fathima Khadhiya, accompanied by a photo […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s President Xi Jinping on Friday called for a “fair and friendly” environment for Chinese companies and citizens overseas, as pushback against its tech giants rises and academics find their visas cancelled. Beijing and Washington have been locked in a bruising trade war — which negotiators have been working to resolve — but there has also been a growing strategic rivalry between the world’s two largest economies. “China’s measures to expand […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China is trying to woo more nations to join a massive network of ports, railways, roads and industrial parks that links dozens of countries in Asia, Europe, and Africa. President Xi Jinping touted the benefits of his signature foreign policy, the Belt and Road Initiative, as he welcomed 37 world leaders at a summit dedicated to it on Friday. Since Xi launched Belt and Road in 2013, China has invested $90 […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s Belt and Road projects need to be transparent and fiscally sustainable, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Friday in apparent acknowledgement of growing concerns about debt linked to his global infrastructure initiative. There will also be “zero tolerance” for corruption, Xi said at a Belt and Road summit, adding that the initiative “is not an exclusive club”. © Agence France-Presse
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says the United States acted in “bad faith” when he met with President Donald Trump in Hanoi, and that the situation on the peninsula has reached a “critical point,” state media said Friday. Kim made the comments during his first summit with Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Thursday in Vladivostok, the Korean Central News Agency reported, describing their talks as “unreserved and friendly.” The North […]
by Amal Jayasinghe in Colombo and Ammu Kannampilly in Batticaloa COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP) — Authorities in Sri Lanka on Thursday lowered the death toll in a spate of Easter bombings by more than 100 to 253, admitting some of the badly mutilated bodies had been erroneously double-counted. The toll revision will boost the pressure on a government already under fire over its apparent failure to act on intelligence about the attacks, and follows the […]
