International

Obama banishes Vietnam war era with lifting of arms ban

HANOI, Vietnam (AFP) – by Jérôme CARTILLIER Tran Thi Minh Ha US President Barack Obama on Monday scrapped a Cold War-era ban on weapons sales to Vietnam, as ties between the former foes grow closer thanks to trade and mutual fears of Chinese expansion in disputed seas. The announcement, made at the start of Obama’s three-day visit to Vietnam, ends a decades-old embargo and will likely infuriate Beijing, which has been increasingly assertive in its claims […]

Manhunt after millions stolen in hours-long Japan ATM heist

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) – A manhunt is underway for criminals who looted millions from Japan’s cash machines nationwide in an hours-long heist, officials and reports said Monday. Armed with fake credit card details from South Africa’s Standard Bank, the thieves hit 1,400 convenience store ATMs in a coordinated attack earlier this month. The international gang members, reportedly numbering around 100 people, each made a series of withdrawals in less than three hours, Japanese media said. […]

IS claims deadly Yemen bombings

Aden, Yemen (AFP)—The Islamic State jihadist group has claimed responsibility for twin bombings against the Yemeni army which killed 41 people in second city Aden on Monday. In a statement posted online, IS said one of its militants detonated an explosives belt among “apostate soldiers” at an army recruitment center, followed by a bomb that exploded at the gate of the nearby Badr army base in Aden’s Khormaksar district. © 1994-2016 Agence France-Presse

Yemen bombings kill at least 41: new toll

UPDATES TOLL ADEN, Yemen (AFP) — Twin bombings targeting the Yemeni army in second city Aden on Monday killed at least 41 people, most of them would-be recruits, a military official said. A suicide bomber killed 34 people queueing up to enlist at a recruitment centre near the Badr base in the Khormaksar district, said Brigadier General Nasser al-Sarei, commander of special security forces. A second explosion went off inside the base afterwards, killing seven soldiers, […]

Abu Dhabi giant oil company to lay off thousands of employees

The largest oil company in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates plans to lay-off thousands of employees in order to cut costs as the price of oil continue to go down in the world market. No reports yet regarding how many overseas Filipino workers are affected by the said plan. (Eagle News Service Described by Jay Paul Carlos, Video Editing by Jericho Morales, Uploaded by MRFaith Bonalos)

At least 20 dead in Yemen suicide bombing: military official

ADEN , Yemen (AFP) — A suicide bomber attacked young men queueing up to enlist in the Yemeni army in the southern port city of Aden on Monday, killing at least 20, a military official said. The bomber detonated an explosives belt after joining the queue at the recruitment center near the Badr base in the Khormaksar district of the city, where the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi is based. bur-mou/tm/ak/kir © 1994-2016 Agence […]

Possible Taliban leader successor, Sirajuddin Haqqani, may be even more deadly foe than Mansour

Reuters — Afghan guerrilla commander Sirajuddin Haqqani, a possible successor to Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour, would likely prove an even more implacable foe of beleaguered Afghan government forces and their U.S. allies. The United States killed Mansour in an air strike in a remote border area just inside Pakistan, the Afghanistan government said on Sunday (May 22), in an attack likely to dash any immediate prospect for peace talks. The U.S. has not confirmed […]

Landslide kills 10 in India

NEW DELHI , India (AFP) — A landslide triggered by strong winds killed at least 10 construction workers in northern India on Monday, police said. Five more laborers were injured in the disaster in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, where they were building a road. “We have recovered 10 bodies and shifted injured to the hospital,” said Sadanand Date, chief of police for state capital Dehradun. Landslides are common in the Himalayan region, mostly in […]

India’s mini space shuttle blasts off

BANGALORE , India (AFP) — India successfully launched its first model space shuttle on Monday, a top official said, as New Delhi joined the race to develop a reusable rocket to make space travel easier and cheaper. The winged shuttle blasted off on a rocket from the southeastern spaceport of Sriharikota at about 7:00am (0130 GMT), with television footage showing it streaming through a clear sky. The shuttle, about one sixth the size of a […]

Obama confirms Taliban leader’s death in US strike

HANOI , Vietnam (AFP) — President Barack Obama on Monday confirmed that Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed in a US air strike, hailing his death as an “important milestone” in efforts to bring peace to Afghanistan. “We have removed the leader of an organisation that has continued to plot against and unleash attacks on American and Coalition forces, to wage war against the Afghan people, and align itself with extremist groups like Al-Qaeda,” […]

China mulls new ways to control video websites

BEIJING , China (AFP) — Chinese authorities are exploring new ways of imposing controls on the Internet, state-run media cited experts as saying Monday, after reports said state-owned enterprises may be encouraged to take stakes in video streaming websites. The Communist country restricts access to foreign websites including Google, Facebook and Twitter with a vast control network dubbed the Great Firewall of China, and under President Xi Jinping it has tightened its grip on broadcast, […]

S. Korea rejects North’s military talks offer

SEOUL , South Korea (AFP) — South Korea on Monday rejected the latest proposal by the North to hold military talks, saying Pyongyang first needed to take steps towards abandoning its nuclear arsenal. The North’s leader Kim Jong-Un offered the military dialogue during a speech to a recent congress of the ruling Workers’ Party — the first event of its kind for more than 35 years. North Korean military later urged Seoul to accept the […]