Asia

Bomb hidden in vegetables kills at least 20 in Pakistan market

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) — At least 20 people were killed and 50 wounded when a bomb hidden in a carton of vegetables ripped through a crowded marketplace in Pakistan’s restive northwestern tribal region Friday, officials said. The attack took place during the regular Friday bazaar in Kalaya, a town in a Shiite-dominated area of Orakzai tribal district, senior local official Khalid Iqbal told AFP. “According to our initial investigation, it was an improvised explosive device hidden […]

Two policemen killed as gunmen attack Chinese consulate in Karachi

KARACHI, Pakistan (AFP) — Two policemen were killed on Friday when gunmen stormed the Chinese consulate in the Pakistani city of Karachi, officials said, with the attack claimed by a separatist group which branded Beijing “an oppressor”. Pakistani authorities said that security forces had secured the area after the attack, the latest in a series of assaults on Chinese nationals, including workers involved in a multi-billion dollar infrastructure project in the country. Multiple gunmen tried […]

Samsung Electronics apologizes for semiconductor cancer cases

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Samsung Electronics apologized Friday to workers who developed cancer after working at its semiconductor factories, ending a decade-long dispute at the world’s top chipmaker. “We sincerely apologize to the workers who suffered from illness and their families,” said Samsung co-president Kim Ki-nam. “We have failed to properly manage health risks at our semiconductor and LCD factories.” Campaign groups say that 320 people have suffered from work-related illnesses after being employed by […]

EU says all responsible for Khashoggi murder must be held ‘accountable’

  ANKARA, Turkey (AFP) — The EU’s top diplomat Federica Mogherini said on Thursday all those “really responsible” for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi have to be held accountable. After Saudi Arabia accepted responsibility and said that 21 people were in custody, with death penalties sought against five men, attention turned to whether the crown prince would be found culpable. “Those responsible, really responsible for this terrible murder have to be accountable,” Mogherini told […]

Two Koreas connect DMZ road across border: Seoul

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North and South Korea have connected a road across their shared border for the first time in 14 years, Seoul’s defense ministry said Thursday in the latest reconciliation gesture between the neighbors. The dirt road, which is wholly within the Demilitarized Zone that divides the peninsula, will be used for joint operations next year to recover remains from the 1950-53 Korean War. The 12-meter-wide construction of the route in Cheorwon, […]

Five dead, 18 hurt as car rams into children in China

BEIJING, China (AFP) — A car rammed into a group of schoolchildren crossing a street in front of an elementary school in northeast China on Thursday, killing five people and injuring another 18, state media said. Police took the driver into custody and are investigating the cause of the incident in Huludao, Liaoning province, the official CCTV broadcaster said on its Weibo social media account. Unverified videos circulating social media show a car veering onto […]

Abu Dhabi prince targeted by French lawsuits over Yemen war

PARIS, France (AFP) — Rights activists filed two complaints in France against a visiting Abu Dhabi prince on Wednesday, accusing him of being complicit in torture as well as in war crimes in Yemen. Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, who is a close ally of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was in Paris for a meeting with President Emmanuel Macron. The October 2 killing of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi loomed large […]

US, South Korea scale back military exercise

by Sylvie LANTEAUME Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States and South Korea have scaled down a joint military exercise scheduled for the spring of 2019 to facilitate nuclear talks with North Korea, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Wednesday. “Foal Eagle is being reorganized a bit to keep it at a level that will not be harmful to diplomacy,” Mattis said, adding that it would be “reduced in scope.” US […]

Crown prince a ‘red line’ in Khashoggi probe: Saudi FM

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Calls for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to be held accountable for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi are a “red line”, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said Wednesday. In a BBC television interview, Jubeir said any disparaging discussion about Prince Mohammed or his father, the Saudi monarch, would not be tolerated. “In Saudi Arabia our leadership is a red line. The custodian of the two holy mosques (King […]

Gunmen kidnap Italian woman in Kenya

NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) — An armed gang abducted an Italian woman from a village in southeast Kenya, shooting and wounding five residents in the raid, police said Wednesday. “The attackers fired indiscriminately at residents” before kidnapping the 23-year-old, who worked as a volunteer at an orphanage, during the attack after dark on Tuesday evening at Chakama, a small village in the coastal Kilifi county, police said in a statement. Three children were among those injured, […]

Starvation leaves Yemeni boy Ghazi too weak to cry

by Marzooq al-Jabiry with Dana Moukhallati in Dubai Agence France Presse TAEZ, Yemen (AFP) — Skin and bones, 10-year-old Ghazi Saleh lies on a hospital bed in the southwestern Yemeni city of Taez barely breathing. He only weighs eight kilograms. Starving and too weak to move or even cry, Ghazi can only look down at his emaciated body as he struggles to keep his eyes open. Some 14 million Yemenis are at risk of famine, […]

Thierry Bollore: The Renault exec temporarily taking Ghosn’s reins

PARIS, France (AFP) — The man chosen to temporarily replace fallen auto star Carlos Ghosn at Renault is an industry insider with many years of experience working in Asia. Thierry Bollore, a 55-year-old father of five, has been declared deputy CEO to ensure day-to-day management following Ghosn’s stunning arrest in Tokyo on charges of under-reporting his pay at Nissan. Before his temporary elevation to the top of Renault, Bollore was the French car giant’s Chief […]