Asia

China hits back after US tariffs

BEIJING, China (AFP) — China has launched an anti-dumping investigation into sorghum imports from the United States, spurring worries of a brewing tit-for-tat trade war between the world’s top two economies. The commerce ministry announced the self-initiated probe on Sunday, just weeks after President Donald Trump’s administration slapped its latest batch of tariffs on Chinese goods. The ministry did not immediately announce any new tariffs on the grain, though, and the results of the dumping […]

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N. Korea’s ceremonial head of state to visit South

by Jung Ha-Won Agence France Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea’s ceremonial head of state will visit the South this week in connection with the Winter Olympics, Seoul said late Sunday. Kim Yong-Nam will be the highest-level official from the North for years to travel to the other side of the Demilitarized Zone that divides the peninsula. His trip will be the diplomatic high point of the rapprochement between the two Koreas triggered […]

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Russian pilot killed after plane downed over Syria

  by Omar Haj Kadour with Maya Gebeily in Beirut Agence France Presse SARAQIB, Syria — A Russian pilot was killed Saturday in fighting with Islamists after his warplane was downed over northwest Syria, Russia’s defence ministry and a monitor said. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a powerful jihadist-dominated alliance said, on an affiliated media channel it had shot down the plane but made no mention of the pilot. “We were able to bring down the […]

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Myanmar turns down UN Security Council visit

UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — Myanmar’s government has told the Security Council that this month was “not the right time” for a visit by the top UN body to see first-hand the Rohingya refugee crisis, the council president said Thursday. Kuwait’s Ambassador Mansour al-Otaibi said Myanmar authorities were not opposed to such a visit, which could take place in March or April. “They just think that this is not the right time for a visit,” Otaibi, […]

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WWII bomb defused in Hong Kong after thousands evacuated

HONG KONG, China (AFP) – A wartime bomb was defused in Hong Kong on Thursday after forcing a busy commercial district into lock-down, with roads closed and thousands evacuated from surrounding shops, hotels and offices. It was the second time within a week that an American bomb dropped during WWII had been discovered at a harborfront construction site in Wan Chai. Police sealed off parts of the district after a worker found the device on Wednesday morning, […]

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Government appeals to rural India in last budget before election

NEW DELHI, India (AFP) – India’s government promised hundreds of billions of dollars to develop poor rural areas and help struggling farmers in its annual budget Thursday, looking to win over voters ahead of the next general election. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the government would spend $220 billion on rural infrastructure, including building new roads and toilets and bringing electricity to millions of rural households. Jaitley also announced a national healthcare scheme that will enable half […]

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Nepal losing out to China as Everest operators cross mountain

by Annabel Symington Agence France-Presse KATHMANDU, Nepal (AFP) — Poor regulation and overcrowding are pushing Everest climbers away from Nepal to China, which is investing millions to boost a rival path to the top of the world. Veteran climbing outfits, fed up with what they regard as a lax attitude to safety on Nepal’s southern flank of the 8,848-meter (29,029-foot) peak, are starting to shift operations to Everest’s north side in Tibet. “The south side […]

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Japan fire kills 11 at home for elderly people

by Kyoko Hasegawa Agence France-Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Eleven people died after a fire broke out at a residence for elderly people with financial difficulties in northern Japan, police said on Thursday. Television footage showed the three-storey building engulfed in flames and dozens of firefighters battling the blaze in snowy conditions. Pictures of the aftermath showed the blackened husk of the building, whose roof had apparently collapsed due to the fire. The victims — […]

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North Korea slams US as ‘gross violator of human rights’

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea has denounced US President Donald Trump’s administration as a “gross violator of human rights,” its state media reported Wednesday. The official Korean Central News Agency released its English-language report on Pyongyang’s annual white paper on US human rights violations as Trump began his State of the Union speech, in which he condemned the North. North Korea’s human rights record is heavily criticized by both the United States and […]

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May arrives in China eyeing post-Brexit trade links

by Ben Dooley Agence France-Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — British Prime Minister Theresa May arrived in China on Wednesday as she seeks to bolster her country’s global trade links ahead of its contentious divorce with the European Union. May began her visit in the central industrial city of Wuhan and will be in China until Friday in what the Chinese foreign ministry has touted as a “historic visit.” Later on Wednesday, May will head to […]

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Wife of Taiwan activist jailed in China barred from visiting

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) – The wife of a Taiwanese democracy activist who was jailed in China in a case which further strained relations was Tuesday barred from boarding a flight to visit him in prison. Lee Ming-cheh — an NGO worker  arrested during a trip to the mainland last March — was sentenced in November to five years in prison by a court in the central province of Hunan on charges of subverting state power. Human rights […]

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Yemen govt warns of coup as separatists take over headquarters

ADEN, Yemen (AFP) — Yemen’s government accused southern separatists of an attempted coup on Sunday after they took over its headquarters amid fierce clashes in the city of Aden. The fighting, which killed at least 15 people, threw war-torn Yemen into further chaos and threatened to undermine President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, who ordered his forces to stand down. Security sources and residents said clashes appeared to have spread to most of the city. The government […]

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