Asia

Powerful typhoon Chaba barrels toward Japan

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Authorities issued storm and heavy rain warnings on Wednesday as powerful typhoon Chaba barrelled toward Japan, after it hit a South Korean resort island causing flight cancellations and flooding streets. The violent storm was moving north-northeast off the Tsushima islets chain near Japan’s southern Kyushu, packing gusts of up to 180 kilometres (110 miles) per hour, Japan’s weather agency said. The Japan Meteorological Agency issued warnings for gusts, heavy rains, high […]

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Russia sends missile system to Syria port

by Karam al-Masri with Ayham al-Mohammad in Hasakeh ALEPPO, Syria (AFP) — Russia said Tuesday it has sent an advanced missile system to the Syrian port of Tartus, as tensions escalate between Moscow and Washington over the five-year conflict. The announcement came after Washington said it was suspending talks with Moscow aimed at reviving a ceasefire deal over Russia’s support for the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. On the ground, Assad’s forces advanced on […]

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Turkey suspends more than 12,000 police officers in coup probe: statement

ANKARA, Turkey (AFP) — Turkish authorities suspended more than 12,000 police officers over alleged links to Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused of masterminding the July failed coup, the police headquarters said on Tuesday. Of the 12,801 suspended from duty as part of the investigation into the coup attempt, 2,523 were police chiefs, the police authorities said in a statement. In total, Turkey has around 270,000 police officers. They were suspended over suspected links to the […]

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Former Qaeda in Syria confirms a leader killed in raid

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A jihadist group that was formerly Al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria on Monday confirmed that an air strike killed a senior leader after the Pentagon said it had targeted him. Ahmed Salama Mabrouk, an Egyptian also known by his nom de guerre Abu Faraj “was martyred after a coalition air strike in the west of Idlib province,” the Fateh al-Sham Front said in a statement on the Telegram app. Born in […]

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Powerful typhoon closing in on southern Japan

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A powerful typhoon was heading for Japan’s southernmost Okinawa island chain on Monday, packing powerful winds that forced flight cancellations. The “very strong” storm is set to hit the subtropical islands later in the day, packing gusts of up to 250 kilometres (155 miles) per hour, Japan’s weather agency said. The storm was some 270 kilometres south of the Okinawan capital Naha early Monday, moving in a north-northeasterly direction, the Japan […]

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Tragic story behind rescued baby in Syria’s Idlib

IDLIB, Syria (AFP) — The frail cries of four-month-old Wahida made the rescue worker who carried her out of the rubble in Syria’s Idlib break down in sobs. The full story is one of tragedy. “I was in the shop when the airplane began carrying out air strikes,” recalls 32-year-old father Yehya Maatouq almost matter-of-factly. He was speaking to AFP on the destroyed rooftop of his home in the northwest city of Idlib, clearing away cement […]

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Southern Philippines rebels free three Indonesian hostages

(Reuters)   Abu Sayyaf rebels linked to Islamic State freed three more Indonesian captives on Sunday after a three-month ordeal, the Philippine government said, taking the number of hostages released to nine in the past two weeks. They were handed over in Sulu to Nur Misuari, founder of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), a Muslim rebel group that has signed a peace deal with the government. It was not clear whether a ransom was paid. […]

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US, UN weigh in on Duterte’s Hitler remarks, call them “troubling”

  (Reuters) — The U.S. State Department on Friday (September 30) called “troubling” Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s comments likening himself to Adolf Hitler and saying he would be happy to exterminate 3 million drug users. “America’s … partnership with the Philippines is … based on a mutual foundation of shared values and that includes our shared belief in human rights and human dignity,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner said. “President Duterte’s comments are a significant departure from […]

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3,800 civilians dead in year of Russian strikes in Syria: monitor

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — More than 3,800 civilians have been killed in one year of Russian air strikes in Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad, a monitoring group said Friday as international outcry mounted. Assad’s regime and its key backer Russia are under growing pressure from world governments to halt a new offensive pounding rebel-held areas of the battleground city of Aleppo. More than 9,300 people have been killed in the Russian raids since September […]

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Obama arrives in Israel for funeral of Nobel laureate Peres

TEL AVIV, Israel (AFP) — US President Barack Obama arrived in Israel on Friday for the funeral of the last of its founding fathers, Nobel Peace Prize winner Shimon Peres. Obama is among leaders from across the world arriving for Peres’s funeral at Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl national cemetery, which begins at 9:00 am (0600 GMT). © 1994-2016 Agence France-Presse

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Saudi warns of ‘disastrous consequences’ over US 9/11 law

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Saudi Arabia on Thursday warned of “disastrous consequences” from a United States law allowing 9/11 victims to sue the kingdom, in a major spike in tension between the longstanding allies. The warning came after the US Congress voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to override President Barack Obama’s veto of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) on relations between states. JASTA allows attack survivors and relatives of terrorism victims to […]

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China warns Japan not to ‘play with fire’ in S. China Sea

BEIJING, China (AFP) — China on Thursday warned Japan against “playing with fire” in the contested waters of the South China Sea, after Tokyo announced it may patrol alongside the US in the region. China also sent fighter planes for the first time over a strait near Japan on Monday as part of a group of more than 40 jets headed to train in the West Pacific. The move followed remarks by Japanese Defence Minister […]

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