NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — At least 18 people were killed when a truck packed with laborers overturned on a winding highway in western India on Tuesday, police said. The truck hit a roadside barrier outside Khandala, a hill resort and popular tourist destination 80 kilometers (50 miles) inland from Mumbai. “The truck was definitely speeding and flipped over two, three times and crashed into a highway barrier. We have recovered 18 bodies so far,” […]
Asia
Saudi crown prince wraps up official visit to France
by Adam PLOWRIGHT / Anuj CHOPRA Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Saudi Arabia’s crown prince wraps up his official visit to France Tuesday with a gala dinner hosted by President Emmanuel Macron, as the young leaders seek to shore up cooperation despite lurking differences. Prince Mohammed bin Salman, 32, previously dined with Macron at Paris’s Louvre museum on Sunday night after flying in on his first trip to France as heir to the […]
N. Korea FM in rare Moscow visit amid diplomatic thaw
by Anna MALPAS Agence France Presse MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — North Korea’s foreign minister will hold rare talks with his Russian counterpart in Moscow on Tuesday, as Pyongyang moves to improve strained ties with its neighbors. Ri Yong Ho’s visit comes ahead of planned nuclear summits between the North’s leader Kim Jong Un and the presidents of South Korea and the United States in the coming weeks. “Now it’s particularly important (for North Korea) to […]
Xi vows to further open China economy amid US trade spat
by Ryan MCMORROW Agence France Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged on Tuesday to lower car tariffs this year and take other steps to further open the world’s number two economy, indirectly addressing major complaints by the United States in a simmering trade row. Promising a “new phase of opening up”, Xi told an economic forum on the southern island of Hainan that Beijing “does not seek a trade surplus” and […]
30 dead, mostly children, as India school bus plunges off cliff
SHIMLA, India (AFP) — At least 30 people, including 27 children, were killed Monday in northern India when a school bus plunged into a deep ravine in the Himalayan foothills, police said. The bus carrying young students home in Himachal Pradesh state flew off a cliff near Nurpur, about 325 kilometers (200 miles) from the state capital Shimla, and crashed into a valley. “The bus rolled into 200 feet (60 meters) deep gorge, killing 27 […]
100 injured in major student protests in Bangladesh
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AFP) — Thousands of students across Bangladesh staged protests and sit-ins Monday after clashes at the country’s top university left at least 100 people injured. Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at Dhaka University students fighting what they consider “discriminatory” government job quotas in favor of special groups. It was one of the biggest protests faced by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in her decade in power. A minister was due to meet […]
China bans exports of ‘dual use’ items to North Korea
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China has banned exports to North Korea of 32 “dual-use” items that can be applied in the development of weapons of mass destruction, the commerce ministry said. The list of items, which include radiation monitoring equipment and software that can be used to model fluid dynamics or neutrons, is in line with a UN Security Council resolution adopted in September to curb North Korea’s ballistic missile and nuclear programs. The ban […]
Five injured after quake hits Japan
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A 5.6-magnitude quake hit western Japan early Monday, injuring five people and damaging buildings and roads, as officials warned stronger tremors could come in the days ahead. The shallow tremor was gauged as magnitude 5.6 by the US Geological Survey and 6.1 by Japan’s meteorological agency on the Richter scale. It rocked the west of the main island of Honshu, 96 kilometers (60 miles) north of Hiroshima, at 1:32 am (1632 […]
Trump sees trade deal with ‘friend’ Xi
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump on Sunday said he sees an end to the escalating trade dispute with China, after tit-for-tat retaliatory tariffs and threats that rattled markets. “China will take down its trade barriers because it is the right thing to do,” Trump said in a tweet. “Taxes will become reciprocal & deal will be made on Intellectual Property. Great future for both countries!” He added that he and China’s […]
N. Korea ready to discuss denuclearization with US: report
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — North Korean officials have told their US counterparts that Kim Jong Un is ready to discuss denuclearization, an assurance that could pave the way for a meeting with President Donald Trump, reports said Sunday. It is the first time the offer was made directly to Washington after it was previously conveyed through South Korean national security adviser Chung Eui-yong. “The US has confirmed that Kim Jong Un is willing to […]
Syria ‘chemical attack’: what we know
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — An alleged chemical attack in Syria’s rebel-held Douma has sparked international outrage, with Washington warning Sunday of possible military action, while Damascus and Moscow said the reports were mere “fabrications”. What happened? Syria’s White Helmets, who act as first responders in rebel-held areas of Syria, said the attack took place late on Saturday using “poisonous chlorine gas”. “More than 500 cases — the majority of whom are women and children — […]
Father who allegedly caged son for 20 years arrested in Japan
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A father who allegedly confined his mentally ill son in a small cage for more than two decades was arrested on Saturday in western Japan, police and news reports said. Police arrested 73-year-old Yoshitane Yamasaki on suspicion of imprisoning his son, now aged 42, at their house in the city of Sanda in Hyogo prefecture, a local police spokesman told AFP. Further details of the case were not available as the […]
