NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — At least 17 people from four families in India were buried alive as they were sleeping on Monday when heavy rains caused a large wall to collapse on their homes, police said. The dead included two children in the village in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, which was being pounded by torrential rain, a police official told AFP. The 20-foot (six-meter) high wall crumbled at around 5:30 am some […]
Asia
Protests send Hong Kongers to Taiwan in search of new lives
by Amber Wang, with Yan Zhao in Hong Kong KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan (AFP) — Protests that have paralyzed Hong Kong for nearly six months is pushing residents to seek new lives abroad, with many turning to nearby democratic Taiwan to escape the uncertainty at home. Taiwan has long attracted Hong Kongers seeking an alternative to their city’s frenetic pace and sky-high rents. But the number granted short-term and permanent residency in Taiwan rose nearly 30 percent […]
Iraq’s embattled PM bows out as protesters mourn dead
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — The government of Iraq’s Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi ended Sunday after two months of violent unrest that has left more than 420 people dead and thousands mourning them in nationwide marches. As anti-government demonstrators across the strife-torn country massed to honor the fallen activists, parliament met to accept the resignation which the 77-year-old had offered two days before. While Abdel Mahdi stays on initially to lead a caretaker government, President […]
‘Frozen 2’ holds top spot at N.American box office
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Disney blockbuster “Frozen 2” held top spot at the North American box office over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, taking in an estimated $85.2 million, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations said Sunday. The animation adventure movie follows beloved characters from 2013 hit “Frozen” as they travel to an ancient, autumn-bound forest in search of the origin of the magical ice powers of Queen Elsa (voiced by Idina Menzel). “Frozen 2,” which […]
Facebook corrects post under Singapore disinformation law
SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — Facebook published a correction on a user’s post-Saturday following demand from Singapore, the first time a tech giant has complied with the city-state’s law against misinformation. Authorities had ordered the social media giant to correct a post promoting an article on a fringe news site containing “scurrilous accusations” of election rigging, ramping up their use of a controversial law against misinformation. The law gives ministers powers to tell platforms to put […]
‘Still angry’: Hong Kong protesters return to the streets
by Jerome TAYLOR / Su Xinqi HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Police fired tear gas and pepper spray in Hong Kong on Sunday as tens of thousands of black-clad protesters flooded into the streets, a week after pro-democracy candidates scored a landslide local election victory. The rally heralded an end to a rare lull and a return to the large-scale demonstrations that Hong Kongers have staged for nearly six months, fuelled by growing fears that […]
Hong Kong Airlines delays salaries as protests hit tourism
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Low-cost carrier Hong Kong Airlines said Friday it will delay salary payments to some staff, warning its business has been “severely affected” by the political unrest in the city. Nearly six months of protests in the international finance hub have dealt its tourism sector a massive blow, and airlines serving the city have struggled. “Hong Kong Airlines’ business is severely affected by the social unrest in Hong Kong and […]
Former Japanese PM Nakasone dies at 101
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, an ardent conservative who worked to forge a stronger military alliance with the United States, has died at the age of 101, local media said Friday. In-office for five years from November 1982 to November 1987, Nakasone was known for trying to integrate the nation defeated in World War II as a full-fledged member of the West during the Cold War era. He poured his […]
Assad approves $9.2 billon budget
DAMASCUS, Syria (AFP) — Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad on Thursday approved a $9.2-billion budget for his war-torn country, official media reported. The 2020 budget, approved by Syria’s parliament before being signed off by Assad, sees the country’s deficit rise by 54 percent compared to the current budget, according to the pro-government newspaper Al-Watan. The country’s devastating eight-year war has inflicted damage estimated by the United Nations last year at some $400 billion. The Syrian pound […]
Former Maldives leader jailed for money laundering
MALE, Maldives (AFP) — Disgraced Maldives ex-president Abdulla Yameen was sentenced to five years in prison for money laundering on Thursday after a corruption probe into the former strongman’s rule of the luxury tourist destination. Yameen, who ran the Indian Ocean archipelago with an iron fist before his shock election loss in 2018, was accused of illegally transferring one million dollars from one of his bank accounts during an ongoing graft investigation. The 60-year-old was […]
North Korea fires two ‘unidentified projectiles’
by Sunghee Hwang Agence France Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea fired two “unidentified projectiles” on Thursday, Seoul said, as nuclear talks between Pyongyang and Washington remain deadlocked. The projectiles were fired eastwards from South Hamgyong province and came down in the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said. They added that the launch, the latest in a series by Pyongyang, was […]
China threatens ‘countermeasures’ after Trump signs Hong Kong bill
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China warned Thursday that it was ready to take “firm countermeasures” against the United States after President Donald Trump signed a law supporting pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong. “The nature of this is extremely abominable, and harbors absolutely sinister intentions,” the foreign ministry said in a statement, without specifying what measures Beijing might take. Trump signed the law on Wednesday after it received almost unanimous US congressional support. In a statement, […]
