Asia

Nepal fines solo Everest climber without permit $22,000

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AFP) — A South African attempting to climb Mount Everest alone and without a permit has been ordered off the mountain, had his passport confiscated and will be fined $22,000, an official said Monday. Ryan Sean Davy, 43, told officials at base camp that he had climbed alone as far as camp two — 6,400 meters (21,000 feet) — to acclimatize ahead of a summit push before he was caught. Foreigners have to […]

North Korea detains another US citizen: state media

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea has detained another US citizen for committing “hostile acts,” it said Sunday, its second arrest of an American in a fortnight with tensions high between Pyongyang and Washington. The arrest of Kim Hak-Song means that the North now is holding four US citizens, with the two countries at loggerheads over Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile ambitions. Kim was detained on Saturday, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. […]

Myanmar migrants abandoned by smuggler in Thai south: police

BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Thai police said Saturday they were hunting for suspected human smugglers who deserted 35 Myanmar nationals in southern Thailand, a key stop on a regional trafficking route. The 28 men and 7 women were found in Thailand’s Nakhon Si Thammarat province on Friday without passports or proper visas, provincial police commander Wancha Akepornpich told AFP. They were bound for Malaysia where they had been promised work on rubber and palm plantations. […]

20 sentenced to prison for deadly 2015 China landslide

BEIJING, China (AFP) — Chinese courts have sentenced 19 government officials and one business leader to prison for up to 20 years for their roles in a landslide which killed more than 70 people. The disaster occurred in Shenzhen, a southern boom town bordering Hong Kong, at the end of 2015 when soil illegally piled some 160 meters (500 feet) high at an old quarry site turned to mud during heavy rains. Three local courts […]

N. Korea accuses CIA of plot to assassinate Kim Jong-Un

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea on Friday accused the Central Intelligence Agency of plotting with South Korea to assassinate leader Kim Jong-Un, amid soaring tensions in the flashpoint region. The CIA and Seoul’s Intelligence Services have “hatched a vicious plot” involving unspecified “biochemical substances” to kill the hermit state’s young leader during public ceremonial events in Pyongyang, the Ministry of State Security said. For the CIA “assassination by use of biochemical substances including radioactive […]

China’s homemade passenger jet aces first flight

by Albee ZHANG Agence France-Presse SHANGHAI, China (AFP) — The first large made-in-China passenger plane successfully completed its maiden test flight Friday, marking a key milestone on the country’s ambitious journey to compete with the world’s leading aircraft makers. The narrow-body C919 jet — white with green and blue stripes — disappeared into the clouds after taking off from Pudong international airport in the commercial hub Shanghai as a crowd of thousands cheered, including top […]

Bangladesh coal plant could cause 6,000 early deaths: Greenpeace

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AFP) — A giant coal-fired power plant approved by Bangladesh could drastically worsen air pollution for millions and cause the early deaths of 6,000 people over its lifetime, Greenpeace said Friday. Bangladesh is constructing the 1,320-megawatt power plant on the edge of the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest, despite warnings the controversial project threatens the fragile ecosystem and human health. The United Nations has already urged Bangladesh to halt construction, warning it […]

N.Korea leader revisits island strike site: media

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un inspected a military unit that was responsible for bombarding a southern island, state media said Friday ahead of a presidential election in the South. Pyongyang fired a barrage of 170 artillery shells onto Yeonpyeong island in November 2010, killing four people including two civilians in the first North Korean attack on a civilian area since the 1950-53 Korean War. Tensions have soared on the Korean […]

China vows friendship despite N. Korean media attack

by Julien Girault, with Hwang Sunghee Agence France Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — China vowed to remain a good neighbor to North Korea on Thursday, despite a rare and stinging critique in Pyongyang’s state media of its main diplomatic protector and economic benefactor. Beijing offered a measured response to a signed commentary carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), which lashed out at China and said it should be grateful to Pyongyang for its […]

Toddler and a blind man rescued from two different wells in China

SHANXI PROVINCE, China (CCTV) — A toddler and an elderly blind man were rescued from two different wells in China earlier this week. The toddler fell into a well in Shanxi province on Monday (May 1). Stuck down a hole roughly just 30 centimeters wide, rescue workers called to the scene chose the member with the slightest build to go headfirst into the hole and tie a rope around the child to bring them out. […]

Crane collapses in South Korea, kills five

GEOJE, South Korea (Reuters) – At least five people were killed in Geoje, South Korea on Monday (May 1) after a crane collapsed and fell onto a construction site, fire station authorities said. Samsung Heavy Industries’ 32-tonne crane toppled at around 2:50 p.m. (0550 GMT) injured 20 people. Six of them are in serious condition, authorities added. Geoje is a coastal city located about 400 km (250 miles) southeast of Seoul South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries […]

China tunnel collapse kills 12

BIJIE, GUIZHOU PROVINCE, China (CCTV) — A tunnel collapse in Southern China’s Guizhou Province killed 12 and injured a further 12 state media reported on Wednesday (May 3). The tunnel, under construction, was intended for a new highspeed rail line, CCTV reported. It collapsed on Tuesday afternoon (May 2) following an explosion. The dead and injured were construction workers, CCTV added. Search and rescue operations concluded on Wednesday morning.