Asia

Gunmen kill officer, free militant in Kashmir hospital raid: police

SRINAGAR, India (AFP) – Two gunmen opened fire Tuesday in a hospital in India-administered Kashmir where a Pakistani militant was brought for treatment, an official said, escaping with the high-profile prisoner and killing a police officer in the daring assault. A manhunt is underway after the assailants stormed the Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital in Srinagar and opened fire on police guarding Naveed Jutt, a Pakistani rebel imprisoned in the restive province since 2014. “The militants attacked […]

Continue Reading →

Pilot injured as S. Korean jet catches fire at Singapore Airshow

SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — A pilot was slightly injured when a South Korean aircraft taking part in the Singapore Airshow skidded off the runway and caught fire Tuesday while taking off, authorities said. The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said the aircraft from the South Korean air force’s aerobatic team Black Eagles “skidded and crashed into the grass verge” at the side of the runway and caught fire. The accident happened as the plane was taking […]

Continue Reading →

Japan authorities find body part after army helicopter crash

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japanese authorities said Tuesday they had recovered a body part during the search for a crew member missing in a deadly military helicopter crash in the country’s southwest. The Apache helicopter crashed Monday in a residential area in Saga province, killing co-pilot Hiroki Takayama and leaving lead pilot Kenichi Saito missing. “We were informed that a body part was found. But we’re still confirming the identity of the body part,” a […]

Continue Reading →

Maldives chief justice arrested: police

MALE, Maldives (AFP) — Maldives Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed and another Supreme Court judge were arrested at dawn Tuesday, hours after President Abdulla Yameen declared a state of emergency, police said. Justices Saeed and Ali Hameed were arrested along with the court’s top administrator Hassan Saeed after security forces stormed the court complex in Male, with police citing complaints of corruption against them in a brief statement. The high profile arrests followed the arrest Monday […]

Continue Reading →

US, Russia clash at UN over Syria chlorine attacks

by Carole LANDRY Agence France Presse UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — The United States and Russia clashed at the UN Security Council on Monday over a push by Washington to condemn reported chlorine gas attacks in Syria that have left many injured in recent days, including children. US Ambassador Nikki Haley told the council that there was “obvious evidence from dozens of victims” to corroborate the chlorine attacks in rebel-held Eastern Ghouta. “Now we […]

Continue Reading →

Maldives president declares emergency, former leader arrested

MALÉ, Maldives (AFP) – Maldives President Abdulla Yameen declared a 15-day state of emergency in the honeymoon islands on Monday, before heavily armed troops stormed the country’s top court and a former president was arrested in a deepening political crisis. The tiny tourist archipelago has been plunged into chaos recently, with the president pitted against the Supreme Court after he refused to comply with its Thursday order to release nine political dissidents. The tense standoff comes amid a years-long […]

Continue Reading →

Moscow authorities struggle to clear record snowfall

  MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Moscow authorities battled to clear streets and told children they could skip school, and scores of flights were delayed as the city was blanketed by its heaviest snowfall in 100 years. The city hall said that 44 centimeters (17 inches) of snow had fallen between Saturday and Monday morning, or 20 percent more than the average for the whole month. Up to 20 centimetres more was expected to fall on […]

Continue Reading →

Japan protests unified Korea Olympic flag with disputed isles

  TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan said Monday it had lodged a protest with South Korea over the “unacceptable” use of a unified Korean Olympic flag that features a set of disputed islands. The two Koreas have agreed to march together under the unification flag — a pale blue silhouette of the peninsula — at the Games’ opening ceremony on February 9, and to form a combined women’s ice hockey team. The flag shows a […]

Continue Reading →

Singapore to amend law after ‘showbiz pastor’ case

SINGAPORE (AFP) — Singapore will amend a law that allowed a megachurch pastor to escape a harsher prison term for fraud despite funnelling millions in church funds into his wife’s music career, a senior official said Monday, following a public backlash. In a case that fascinated Singapore with a heady mix of religion, showbiz and fraud, Kong Hee and five other church leaders were convicted in 2015 of spending Sg$24 million ($19.8 million) from a […]

Continue Reading →

Maldives opposition urges global community to help end crisis

MALÉ, Maldives (AFP) – Opposition leaders in the Maldives urged the international community Monday to pressure President Abdulla Yameen into obeying a court order to free political prisoners and “restore democracy” to the troubled honeymoon islands. Yameen’s regime has so far refused to release nine jailed dissidents and reinstate opposition lawmakers as ordered by the Maldives’ top court in a shock ruling last week that has deepened turmoil in the atoll nation. The Supreme Court on Sunday […]

Continue Reading →

Azerbaijan calls snap presidential poll

by Elman Mamedov Agence France-Presse BAKU, Azerbaijan (AFP) – Azerbaijan’s strongman Ilham Aliyev on Monday called a snap presidential vote for April, six months ahead of schedule, as opposition politicians slammed the surprise move. “Set the date of the election of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan on April 11,” Aliyev ordered in a decree posted on his website without providing an immediate explanation for the move. The oil-rich country was initially set to hold the […]

Continue Reading →

Two crew feared dead in Japan army helicopter crash

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) – Two crew were feared dead Monday after a Japanese military helicopter crashed in a residential area in the southwest of the country, setting a home on fire. Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera confirmed the crash in the town of Kanzaki and said the two crew on board were retrieved “in a state of cardiac and respiratory arrest,” Jiji news agency reported. The language is often used by Japanese officials before deaths are officially confirmed. […]

Continue Reading →
1 … 562 563 564 565 566 … 843