Asia

Japan politician resigns after attacking aide

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A female Japanese politician has resigned after an audio tape emerged of her violently attacking a male secretary, and reportedly threatening to crush his head with a lead pipe. Mayuko Toyota, a 42-year-old Harvard graduate and up-and-coming member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), can be heard screaming at the unnamed aide, saying he should die as she mocked his thinning hair. Her 55-year-old secretary can be heard repeatedly apologising […]

N. Korea denies torturing US student Warmbier: KCNA

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea on Friday denied it had tortured or mistreated Otto Warmbier, the US student who died after being released in a coma from the North. “Our relevant agencies treat all criminals… thoroughly in accordance with domestic laws and international standards,” a spokesperson of the National Reconciliation Council was quoted as saying by Pyongyang’s KCNA news agency. © Agence France-Presse

Russia warships and sub fire cruise missiles at Syria: Moscow

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Two Russian warships and a submarine in the Mediterranean have fired missiles at Islamic State group targets in Syria, the defense ministry said Friday. It said that Turkish and Israeli military “were informed in a timely manner of the missile launches through communication channels,” but it did not mention the United States. Russia suspended its communication channel with the US about military operations in Syria from Monday after a US jet […]

N.Korea conducts rocket engine test: US official

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea has tested a rocket engine that could be fitted to an intercontinental ballistic missile, a United States official said, in an apparent provocation ahead of a summit between United States President Donald Trump and the leader of South Korea. President Moon Jae-In heads to Washington next week to meet Trump for the first time since taking office in May, as tensions soar on the Korean peninsula over Kim […]

At least five dead in SW Pakistan explosion

QUETTA, Pakistan (AFP) — An explosion targeting a police vehicle in Pakistan’s southwestern Quetta city on Friday killed at least five people and injured 14 others, officials said. The explosion occurred in front of the office of the police chief in Quetta city, which is capital of the mineral-rich southern Balochistan province rife with the separatist and Islamist insurgencies. “We have received five dead bodies from the blast site,” doctor Fareed Ahmed, Medical Superintendent at […]

Former S. Korean leader’s friend Choi gets three years in jail

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — The woman at the center of South Korea’s corruption scandal, Choi Soon-Sil, was handed a three-year jail term Friday for bribery in the first of a string of criminal cases against her. A long-time friend of South Korea’s disgraced ex-president, Choi was found guilty of bribing professors to have her daughter admitted to Seoul’s prestigious Ewha Woman’s University and receive good grades, despite a poor attendance record. “The court sentences […]

Indonesian police arrest nine people linked to Jakarta suicide bombing

JAKARTA, Indonesia (Reuters) — Indonesian police on Thursday (June 22) said they have arrested nine suspects linked to last month’s suicide bombing in the capital Jakarta, and an additional 31 suspects linked to other terrorist networks. At least three police officers were killed and 12 people wounded on May 24 in twin blasts at a bus station in east Jakarta. The attack was claimed by the Islamic State group and was the deadliest in Indonesia since […]

Heavy rain hits multiple cities across north China

XINGTAI CITY, China (CCTV) — Rainstorm swept across north China on Wednesday and Thursday, injuring people and causing havoc in the cities. In Handan city of north China’s Hebei Province, an old tree was uprooted due to the strong winds. Another tree broke apart and fell on to a car, injuring seven pedestrians. In Xianghe County, a fifty-meter long drain was destroyed by the flood. Local middle and primary schools were forced to close on […]

Toothpick crossbow craze has China quivering

SHANGHAI, China (AFP) – Handheld crossbows that can fire out needles and nails are the latest must-have toy in China but anxious parents want them banned before a young child gets blinded or worse. Selling online and in shops for as little as seven yuan ($1), so-called toothpick crossbows were originally designed to shoot out just that — toothpicks. But if swapped out for needles they are potent enough to crack glass, said the Shanghai […]

IS blows up Mosul mosque where Baghdadi became ‘caliph’

by Jean Marc Mojon and Ali Choukeir Agence France Presse BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — Jihadists on Wednesday blew up Mosul’s iconic leaning minaret and the adjacent mosque where their leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2014 declared himself “caliph” in his only public appearance, Iraqi officials said. The Islamic State group swiftly issued a statement via its Amaq propaganda agency blaming a United States strike, but the US-led coalition condemned the destruction as a crime against […]

China opens gates to US beef imports

BEIJING, China (AFP) – China opened its gates to United States beef imports this week, giving American cattle farmers much sought-after access to the country’s massive market following a 14-year ban. Shipments of eligible US beef have been allowed to enter China since Tuesday, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said in a statement. Announced last month, the lifting of the beef embargo was one of the first concrete results of trade […]

South Korea says North Korea drones ‘grave provocation’

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) – A suspected North Korean drone surveillance is a “grave provocation” which violates the Korean War truce, Seoul said Wednesday, demanding a United Nations probe into a drone that crashed near the border. A drone, which had been photographing a controversial US missile defense shield, was discovered early June after it crashed close to a sensitive military installation along the heavily fortified border, Seoul’s military said. “The latest action by the […]