by Thanaporn Promyamyai and Richard Sargent Agence France Presse MAE SAI, Thailand (AFP) — A treacherous rescue bid to free a youth football team trapped in a flooded Thai cave entered its second day Monday, with nine of the “Wild Boars” still inside after elite divers guided four out. Looming rain was one of the main enemies of the operation, threatening to flood the cave complex in mountainous northern Thailand, although a bewildering array of […]
Asia
UPDATED: Turkey train disaster leaves 24 dead, hundreds hurt
by Stuart WILLIAMS Agence France Presse ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) –Twenty-four people were killed and hundreds injured when a train packed with weekend passengers derailed in northwest Turkey due to ground erosion afer heavy rains, officials said Monday. The train, with over 360 people on board, was traveling from the Edirne region on the Greek and Bulgarian borders to Istanbul’s Halkali station on Sunday when six carriages derailed in the Tekirdag region. Deputy Prime Minister Recep […]
Official death toll from record Japan rains rises to 75
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — The toll in record rains that have devastated parts of Japan rose to 75 on Monday, according to an official tally, as rescue operations continued. The toll could rise further with dozens of people still missing after the days of torrential rains that have caused flash floods and landslides. © Agence France-Presse
Six boys rescued from flooded Thai cave: defense official
MAE SAI, Thailand (AFP)–A total of six boys among a group of 13 trapped inside a flooded Thai cave have been rescued, a defence ministry official said on Sunday. “Six of them came out,” the official, who asked not to be named, told AFP.
30 dead as record rains devastate parts of Japan
by Shingo Ito and Sara Hussein Agence France Presse TOKYO, Japan — Record rainfall devastated parts of Japan on Saturday, killing at least 30 people, as homes disappeared beneath floodwaters and landslides, and authorities ordered over 1.9 million evacuations. The unprecedented downpours have wreaked havoc primarily in the west of the country, with flash floods and landslides leaving dozens more missing in addition to those killed. A local official in Ehime, in western Japan, said […]
Pompeo in North Korea to seek ‘details’ on denuclearization
PYONGYANG, North Korea (AFP) — US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Pyongyang Friday to press Kim Jong Un for a more detailed commitment to denuclearization following the North Korean leader’s historic summit with President Donald Trump. Pompeo was greeted in the North Korean capital by Kim’s right hand man Kim Yong Chol and Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho. Since meeting Kim in Singapore last month Trump has been bullish about hopes for […]
Boys trapped in Thailand cave not yet ready to dive to freedom as rescuer perishes
by Thanaporn PROMYAMYAI / Joe Freeman Agence France Presse The Thai boys trapped inside a flooded cave for two weeks are not yet ready to attempt a dangerous dive to freedom, rescuers said Saturday, after the death of a military diver underscored the huge risks they face. The diver’s death on Friday brought heartache for rescuers and anxious relatives waiting outside the Tham Luang cave in the country’s mountainous north — and raised serious doubts […]
Seven bodies found as hopes dim for Chinese tourist boat sunk off Thai coast
by Elizabeth Law Agence France-Presse PHUKET, Thailand (AFP) — Thailand’s navy pulled seven bodies from waters off the coast of the holiday island of Phuket on Friday after a tourist boat went down in heavy seas with dozens of Chinese passengers on board. The grim find takes the death toll so far to eight, with 49 other passengers unaccounted for but believed to have been trapped on the Phoenix as it sank in the Andaman […]
Ex-Navy Seal dies in Thai cave rescue: official
Mae Sai, Thailand (AFP) — A former military diver has died after running out of oxygen while assisting in the rescue of 12 boys and their football coach trapped inside a cave in Thailand, an official said Friday. His death highlights the perils of the operation to extract the team from deep inside the waterlogged cave, raising questions about the feasibility of bringing youngsters out the same way. “A former Seal who volunteered to help […]
Divers to check sunken Thai boat for Chinese tourists: Phuket governor
PHUKET, Thailand (AFP) – The search for scores of missing Chinese tourists whose boat capsized off Thailand’s Phuket island resumed early Friday, with divers poised to scour the sunken hull, the island’s governor told reporters. The Phoenix ran into trouble on Thursday afternoon, when it was hammered by five-meter high waves whipped up by a storm. The boat, which had left the popular snorkelling spot of Koh Racha to return to Phuket, was carrying 105 […]
Japan’s emperor resumes duties after illness
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s ageing Emperor Akihito resumed his official duties on Thursday after three days of treatment for insufficient blood supply to the brain, a palace spokesman told AFP. The 84-year-old had cancelled engagements from Monday after suffering dizziness and nausea caused by the condition, known as cerebral anemia. A palace spokesman said the monarch on Thursday was “doing his official duties as usual,” declining to comment further. On Wednesday the palace had […]
‘Race against water’ as rain threatens Thai boys in the cave
by Thanaporn Promyamyai Agence France Presse MAE SAI, Thailand (AFP) — Thai rescuers on Thursday said they may be prodded into a complex extraction of 12 boys and their football coach from a flooded cave if forecast rains hammer the mountainside and jeopardize the rescue mission. Thirteen sets of diving equipment have been prepared for the team, who have endured 12 nights underground in the Tham Luang cave complex in northern Thailand. Water is […]





