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BUKIT TINGGI, Indonesia (AFP) – A volcano in western Indonesia erupted on Thursday, spewing an ash cloud two kilometres into the sky as authorities warned residents over potential dangers from cold lava flows. Mount Marapi in West Sumatra province erupted at 1:04 pm (0604 GMT), spewing thick grey clouds of ash two kilometres (1.2 miles) above its peak, the national disaster mitigation agency, or BNPB, said in a statement. The volcano — one of Indonesia’s […]
REYKJAVIK, May 30, 2024 (AFP) – A volcano erupting on the Reykjanes peninsula in southwestern Iceland has decreased significantly in intensity during the first 24 hours, the country’s weather office said Thursday. The eruption around midday on Wednesday prompted the evacuation of the nearby fishing town of Grindavik as well as the Blue Lagoon thermal spa tourist attraction and the Svartsengi power plant, which supplies electricity and water to around 30,000 people on the peninsula. […]
PORT MORESBY, May 29, 2024 (AFP) – Supplies of food and medicine were beginning to arrive at the scene of a deadly landslide in Papua New Guinea Wednesday, with aid workers discovering children rendered mute by the shock of the disaster. Papua New Guinea’s government estimates that 2,000 people may be buried underneath a massive landslide that struck a thriving highland settlement in Enga province in the early hours of May 24. After days of […]
LOS ANGELES, May 29, 2024 (AFP) – Young amateur golfer Hiroshi Tai will be the first Singaporean to play in the US Masters after he won the prestigious national college championship in the United States. The 22-year-old, who studies at Georgia Tech, won the NCAA Individual Men’s Championship in California on Monday by one stroke to earn a place at Augusta in April 2025 and a major debut at next month’s US Open at Pinehurst. […]
By Kang Jin-kyu and Hieun Shin SEOUL, May 29, 2024 (AFP) – A major union representing tens of thousands of people at South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics said Wednesday that workers will go on strike for the first time ever, potentially threatening key global semiconductor supply chains. A spokesperson said union members, around 20 percent of the company workforce, would use annual leave to strike for one day on June 7, leaving the door […]
TAIPEI, May 29, 2024 (AFP) – Taiwan’s parliament passed a package of controversial bills on Tuesday to expand its power as thousands of disapproving protesters rallied outside and chanted “defend democracy”. Proponents say expanded parliamentary powers are needed to curb corruption but critics fear the laws could weaken the self-ruled island’s democracy against the influence of China, which claims it as part of its territory. New Taiwan President Lai Ching-te represents the Democratic Progressive Party […]
BEIJING, May 29, 2024 (AFP) – China on Wednesday vowed military pressure on Taiwan would carry on as long as “independence” provocations continued on the self-ruled island. Last week, China held two days of military drills around Taiwan that saw warships and jets loaded with live munitions practise seizing and isolating the self-ruled island. The exercises were launched three days after Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te took office and made an inauguration speech that China […]
BANGKOK, May 29, 2024 (AFP) – Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra will be prosecuted for insulting the monarchy, the attorney general’s office said Wednesday, over comments he made almost a decade ago. Prayuth Pecharakun, spokesman for the attorney general, said Thaksin would be summoned to court on June 18 to answer charges under the kingdom’s strict lese-majeste laws. The decision comes as a blow to Thaksin, a two-time premier ousted in a 2006 coup […]
PARIS, May 27, 2024 (AFP) – The French navy has seized 2.4 tonnes of cocaine from a Venezuelan fishing boat in the Atlantic, authorities said Monday. Acting on a tipoff from the customs department, a helicopter from the frigate Ventose landed a team on the fishing boat about 1,500 kilometres northeast of the Caribbean island of Martinique, France’s Caribbean Armed Services department said. The boat, the crew and the cocaine were handed over to Venezuelan […]
SEOUL, May 27, 2024 (AFP) – North Korea’s latest attempt to put a spy satellite into orbit ended in a mid-air explosion, Pyongyang said late Monday, hours after its announcement of a planned launch was criticised by Seoul and Tokyo. Putting a spy satellite into orbit has long been a top priority for Kim Jong Un’s regime, and it claimed to have succeeded in November, after two failed attempts last year. Seoul claims Kim received […]
PORT MORESBY, May 28, 2024 (AFP) – Papua New Guinea moved to evacuate an estimated 7,900 people from remote villages near the site of a deadly landslide on Tuesday, as authorities warned of further slips. Some 2,000 people are already feared buried in a landslide that destroyed a remote highland community in the early hours of May 24. With rescue and relief efforts hampered by the remote location, a severed road link, heavy rainfall and […]
TAIPEI, May 27, 2024 (AFP) – A senior US lawmaker affirmed on Monday Washington’s support for Taiwan against Chinese “aggression”, on the first congressional visit to the self-ruled island since it swore in a new president. Sitting down Monday morning with President Lai Ching-te, Representative Michael McCaul — who heads the influential House Foreign Affairs Committee — said he and his colleagues stood in “strong support of this beautiful island”. Three days after Lai was […]
