Asia

North Korea unveils ‘record’ number of ICBMs at military parade

by Cat Barton and Sunghee Hwang Agence France-Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea’s Kim Jong Un oversaw a major military parade showcasing a record number of nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missiles, state media reported Thursday, including what analysts said was possibly a new solid-fueled ICBM. The parade on Wednesday to mark the 75th founding anniversary of North Korea’s armed forces featured fireworks, military bands and uniformed soldiers marching in unison to spell out […]

Continue Reading →

Philippines’ Marcos strikes defense, infrastructure deals in Tokyo

  Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos hailed new defence and other deals signed with Japan in Tokyo on Thursday, as the nations seek to deepen ties, including on security in response to growing Chinese military pressure. The countries agreed on measures to speed up military deployments for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. They also signed several other deals, ranging from infrastructure loans to cooperation on agriculture and technology. “After our meeting, I can confidently say that […]

Continue Reading →

Turkey-Syria quake toll nears 20,000 as hopes dim

  by Omar Haj Kadour with Fulya Ozerkan in Adiyaman, Turkey with Remi Banet in Antakya, Turkey Hopes faded Thursday of finding more survivors after the earthquake that killed nearly 20,000 people in Turkey and Syria, as the first UN aid reached Syrian rebel-held zones. Bitter cold has hampered the four-day search of thousands of flattened buildings and threatened the lives of many quake victims who are without shelter and drinking water. Relatives were left […]

Continue Reading →

Twitter back online in Turkey after block

by Dmitry ZAKS Agence France-Presse Istanbul, Turkey (AFP) — Twitter was blocked for at least 12 hours on major Turkish mobile providers in an outage that ended early Thursday, following a flurry of online criticism of the government’s response to this week’s deadly earthquake. By about 5 am (0200 GMT), the social media site was accessible again. Online monitor netblocks.org on Wednesday showed Twitter becoming throttled and then completely blocked across all major cell phone […]

Continue Reading →

DEVELOPING STORY: Death toll rises above 15,000 in Turkey, Syria quake

The death toll from a massive earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria climbed above 15,000 on Wednesday, as rescuers raced to save survivors trapped under debris in freezing weather. Officials and medics said 12,391 people had died in Turkey and 2,992 in Syria from Monday’s 7.8-magnitude tremor, bringing the confirmed total to 15,383. © Agence France-Presse

Continue Reading →

Deepfake ‘news anchors’ in pro-China footage: research

Washington, United States | AFP | The “news broadcasters” appear stunningly real, but they are AI-generated deepfakes in first-of-their-kind propaganda videos that a research report published Tuesday attributed to Chinese state-aligned actors. The fake anchors — for a fictious news outlet called Wolf News — were created by artificial intelligence software and appeared in footage on social media that seemed to promote the interests of the Chinese Communist Party, US-based research firm Graphika said in […]

Continue Reading →

In Pictures: Children pulled from rubble as Turkey-Syria quake toll tops 9,500

Heartrending scenes of a newborn plucked alive from the rubble and a broken father clutching his dead daughter’s hand have laid bare the human cost of the earthquake in Syria and Turkey that by Wednesday had claimed over 9,500 lives. For two days and nights since the 7.8 magnitude quake an impromptu army of rescuers have worked in freezing temperatures to find those still entombed among ruins in several cities either side of the border. […]

Continue Reading →

No new variants in weeks after China ended zero-Covid: study

PARIS, France (AFP) — No new variants of Covid-19 emerged in Beijing in the weeks after China ended its zero-Covid policy late last year, a new study said on Wednesday. China saw an explosion of infections after starting to lift its strict pandemic measures from early December, sparking fears the world’s most populous country could become a fertile breeding ground for new, more transmissible or severe strains. More than a dozen countries promptly imposed fresh […]

Continue Reading →

Why was the Turkey-Syria earthquake so deadly?

by Daniel Lawler Agence France- Presse Paris, France (AFP) — A combination of factors made the powerful earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria early Monday particularly deadly, including its timing, location, relatively quiet fault line and the weak construction of the collapsed buildings, experts said. More than 2,300 people have been killed by the 7.8-magnitude quake near Turkey’s Syrian border, with the toll expected to grow as aftershocks reverberate throughout the day. The earthquake caused […]

Continue Reading →

North Korea pledges ‘expanded, intensified’ military drills

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea’s top army officials have said they will expand and intensify military drills to ensure their readiness for war, state media reported Tuesday, ahead of a massive parade. The pledge came at a Monday meeting overseen by leader Kim Jong Un and follows last week’s staging of joint air drills by South Korea and the United States. The agenda was topped by “the issue of constantly expanding and intensifying […]

Continue Reading →
1 … 122 123 124 125 126 … 843