JAKARTA, July 29, 2023 (AFP) – Three Bali immigration officers have been arrested for their alleged role in an illegal organ trafficking syndicate that ferried dozens of victims to Cambodia to sell their kidneys, Indonesian police said Saturday. The move comes as authorities crack down on the suspected illegal organ trade ring, arresting 12 members last week — including a police officer and an immigration officer identified as AH — accused of smuggling 122 victims […]
International
Beijing on alert with two killed as heavy rain batters north China
Heavy rains battered northern China on Monday, killing at least two people in Beijing while washing away cars and inundating subway stations, with the capital issuing its highest alerts for flooding and landslides. Storm Doksuri, a former super typhoon, has swept northwards over China since Friday, when it hit southern Fujian province after scything through the Philippines. Emergency personnel recovered two bodies from waterways in Beijing’s Mentougou district on Monday, the state-run People’s Daily said. […]
Possible Chinese malware in US systems a ‘ticking time bomb’: report
WASHINGTON, July 29, 2023 (AFP) – The Biden administration believes China has implanted malware in key US power and communications networks in a “ticking time bomb” that could disrupt the military in event of a conflict, The New York Times reported Saturday. The Times, quoting US military, intelligence and security officials, said the malware potentially gave China’s People’s Liberation Army the ability to disrupt US military operations if Beijing were to move against Taiwan at […]
Eight trapped in illegal Indonesia gold mine feared dead: official
BANYUMAS, Indonesia, July 30, 2023 (AFP) – Eight people trapped in an illegal gold mine on the Indonesian island of Java are feared dead, a local rescue official said Sunday, as search efforts entered a fifth day with little progress. Unlicensed mines — many with disregard for basic safety measures — are common across the mineral-rich Southeast Asian archipelago and accidents are frequent. The workers were digging inside a hole with a depth of 60 […]
Russia says Ukrainian drone struck police station, no casualties
MOSCOW, July 31, 2023 (AFP) – A Ukrainian drone hit a police station overnight in the frontier Russian region of Briansk but there were no victims, the regional governor said Monday. “Ukrainian forces attacked the district of Trubchevsky at night,” Alexander Bogomaz said on Telegram. “A drone hit the police station in this district. No victims” but the windows and roof were damaged, he added. Russia on Sunday said it had downed Ukrainian drones targeting […]
Raging storm washes away cars, swathes of northern China on red alert
By Jing Xuan TENG Agence France-Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — Swathes of northern China were under red alert on Monday as heavy rains battered Beijing and surrounding areas, washing away cars and inundating subway stations. Deadly storm Doksuri has been sweeping northwards over China since Friday, with authorities warning millions of people to stay home. Hundreds of bus services in the capital were suspended, according to state news agency Xinhua, while the city government issued […]
Bangladesh police clash with protesters blockading capital
DHAKA, July 29, 2023 (AFP) – Bangladesh police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse stone-throwing crowds blockading major roads in the capital Dhaka on Saturday in the latest protest demanding the prime minister’s resignation. The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its allies have staged a series of protests since last year demanding Sheikh Hasina step down and allow a caretaker government to oversee elections due next January. Clashes erupted in several locations […]
One dead, 12 wounded in Myanmar bomb blast
BANGKOK, July 31, 2023 (AFP) – A bomb blast in southeastern Myanmar killed one person and wounded 12 others on Monday, an official said. Violent clashes have ramped up since the military deposed Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government in February 2021, unleashing a bloody crackdown on dissent that has left thousands dead. The junta has been battling anti-coup “People’s Defence Force” (PDF) militias, as well as long-established ethnic rebel armies that control large areas […]
Death toll rises to at least 10 in Thai warehouse explosion
BANGKOK, July 30, 2023 (AFP) – The death toll from a powerful explosion that levelled an unlicensed fireworks warehouse in southern Thailand rose to at least 10 on Sunday, the local governor said as police sought the owner on charges of negligence. The blast Saturday afternoon in the town of Sungai Kolok was believed to have been caused by welding during construction work on a building storing fireworks illegally. More than 100 people were injured […]
Africa leaders give Niger junta week to cede power
ABUJA, July 30, 2023 (AFP) – African leaders on Sunday gave the junta in Niger one week to cede power or face the possible use of force, and slapped financial sanctions on the putschists, after the latest coup in the jihadist-plagued Sahel region raised alarm on the continent and in the West. In the third coup in as many years to fell a leader in the Sahel, Niger’s elected president and Western ally, Mohamed Bazoum, […]
American nurse, child kidnapped in Haiti: aid group
WASHINGTON, July 29, 2023 (AFP) – An American nurse and her child have been kidnapped in Haiti, a Christian aid group said Saturday, days after the US government ordered its nonessential personnel out of the impoverished Caribbean country due to spiraling insecurity. Alix Dorsainvil and her child were kidnapped Thursday morning near Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince, El Roi Haiti said in a statement on its website. She is the wife of the group’s director, who is […]
US orders nonessential staff out of Haiti amid gang crisis
WASHINGTON, July 31, 2023 (AFP) – The United States has ordered its nonessential personnel and family of government employees to leave Haiti as the Caribbean nation faces spiraling insecurity, the State Department said. Issuing an updated travel advisory Thursday evening, the State Department also reiterated its warning that Americans should not travel to Haiti. “US citizens in Haiti should depart Haiti as soon as possible by commercial or other privately available transportation options, in light […]
