International

Death toll from Indonesia floods, landslides rises to 21

JAKARTA, March 10, 2024 (AFP) – The death toll from flash flooding and landslides on the Indonesian island of Sumatra has risen to 21, an official said Sunday, with six people still missing. Torrential rains on Thursday triggered the disaster in Pesisir Selatan regency in the West Sumatra province, with more than 75,000 people forced to evacuate. “As of Sunday, 21 people were found dead and six people remained missing,” Fajar Sukma, an official from […]

India raids network sending citizens to fight for Russia

NEW DELHI, March 8, 2024 (AFP) – Indian authorities said they had detained members of a “trafficking” network sending citizens of the country to fight for the Russian army in Ukraine after raiding several travel agents. Two years since Russia’s invasion began, tens of thousands of its soldiers have been killed in Ukraine and Moscow is on a global quest for more troops. At least two Indian soldiers have been killed in the conflict, with […]

For ‘difficult’ creator, ‘Dragon Ball’ success provided acceptance

TOKYO, March 8, 2024 (AFP) – Akira Toriyama was already famous to comic fans in the early 1980s with “Dr. Slump” but he won manga immortality with the global sensation and Japanese success story that is “Dragon Ball”. But as his creation and his fame exploded when his creation won over kids the world over, Toriyama, who has died in Japan aged 68, shunned the limelight and preferred to focus on drawing. “‘Dragon Ball’ is […]

UK PM Sunak’s mother-in-law appointed to Indian parliament

NEW DELHI, March 8, 2024 (AFP) – The mother-in-law of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was on Friday appointed to serve in India’s parliament, capping a career working for the philanthropic arm of her billionaire husband’s tech firm. Sudha Murthy, 73, is the former chair of the Infosys Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the global tech behemoth Infosys her husband N.R. Narayana Murthy co-founded in 1981. The couple’s daughter Akshata married Sunak in 2009. Indian […]

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversees live-fire drills targeting South Korean capital

SEOUL, March 8, 2024 (AFP) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un guided a large-scale live-fire artillery drill involving a unit Pyongyang says is capable of striking the South Korean capital, the North’s state media said Friday. So far this year, Pyongyang has declared South Korea its “principal enemy”, jettisoned agencies dedicated to reunification and outreach, and threatened war over “even 0.001 mm” of territorial infringement. Pyongyang’s latest announcement came after Washington and Seoul started […]

Nigeria: Gunmen kidnap more than 280 students in shocking school raid

  Local government officials in Kaduna State confirmed the kidnapping attack on Kuriga school on Thursday, but gave no figures as they said they were still working out how many children had been abducted. At least one person was shot dead during the attack, local residents said. Sani Abdullahi, one of the teachers at the GSS Kuriga school in the Chikun district, said staff managed to escape with many students when the gunmen attacked the […]

Sweden finally joins NATO, ending non-alignment, in Ukraine war shadow

By Shaun TANDON WASHINGTON, March 8, 2024 (AFP) – Sweden on Thursday became the 32nd member of NATO, turning the page on two centuries of non-alignment and capping two years of tortuous diplomacy after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggered new fears. Days after Hungary followed key holdout Turkey and became the last NATO member to sign off, Sweden ceremonially handed over accession documents to the United States, the leading force of the transatlantic alliance that […]

US lawmakers push for TikTok to cut ByteDance ties or face ban

  US lawmakers moved Wednesday to pressure TikTok to sever ties with its Chinese parent company ByteDance or face a ban, in a broader push to keep social media apps out of foreign adversaries’ control. A bipartisan group of 20 lawmakers have introduced a bill barring platforms controlled by ByteDance from US app store availability or web hosting services — unless they are no longer linked to China. The legislation would also allow the president […]

Ottawa stabbing: family of Sri Lankan origin murdered in their home

OTTAWA, March 7, 2024 (AFP) – A 19-year-old student was arrested after four young children and two adults were found dead at a suburban home near Canada’s capital city Ottawa, police said Thursday. Police said they rushed to a home in the Ottawa suburb of Barrhaven after receiving a call at 11:00 pm Wednesday evening (0400 GMT Thursday). At the scene, police discovered the bodies of four children, their 35-year-old mother and a 40-year-old man, […]

Trump offers lukewarm, glitchy response to Biden criticism

By Frankie TAGGART WASHINGTON, March 8, 2024 (AFP) – He didn’t mention Donald Trump by name in his State of the Union address but there was no mistaking President Joe Biden’s target as he tore into his predecessor from the outset as an enemy of democracy and the liberal world order. Trump’s heavily-promoted live “play-by-play” response to an extended barrage of criticism turned out to be a damp squib — beset by technical gremlins and […]

Malaysia PM warns against attempts to block China’s rise

By Laura CHUNG Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim warned Thursday against attempts by other countries to block China’s military and economic rise in the Asia-Pacific region. As the United States and China jostle for regional influence, Southeast Asian countries should defend the “sanctity” of international law and urge cooperation, he said. Beijing would see attempts to curb its military and economic expansion as a denial of its “legitimate place in history”, Anwar said in a […]