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BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s drug regulator said it has launched a nationwide inspection of vaccine production as authorities step up the response to a fraud case that has re-ignited public fears over the safety of the country’s medicines. The State Drug Administration (SDA) said in an announcement issued late Wednesday that it had dispatched inspection teams “to thoroughly investigate the whole process and entire chain of vaccine production of all vaccine producers”. The […]
by with Thomas Watkins in Washington Agence France Presse KANSAS CITY, United States (AFP) — Praising his “good relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday welcomed reports that Pyongyang has started dismantling a facility seen as a testing ground for intercontinental ballistic missiles. New satellite imagery shows “that North Korea has begun the process of dismantling a key missile site, and we appreciate that,” Trump said at […]
by Yan Zhao Agence France Presse HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Hong Kong’s flag carrier Cathay Pacific and major American airlines moved to comply Wednesday with Beijing’s demand that they list Taiwan as part of China, sparking anger on the self-governed island. Taiwan condemned what it called the “insolent actions” of Beijing which it said was wielding its political and economic clout to pressure international firms. “Taiwan’s existence in the international community is an […]
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — The Islamic State group on Wednesday claimed responsibility for a weekend shooting that killed two people in Canada’s Toronto. The group’s propaganda agency Amaq said the attacker was “one of the soldiers of the Islamic State”. “He carried out the attack in response to calls to target nationals of countries of the coalition” fighting IS in Syria and Iraq since 2014, it said. © Agence France-Presse
QUETTA, Pakistan (AFP) — At least 30 people were killed and dozens more wounded in a suicide attack on a polling station in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta, officials said, as millions voted in a nationwide election Wednesday. “(The bomber) was trying to enter the polling station. When police tried to stop him he blew himself up,” a local administration official in Quetta, Hashim Ghilzai, told AFP. Dr Wasim Baig, spokesman for the Sandeman Provincial […]
CHAMPASAK, Laos (AFP) — The bodies of 17 people have been recovered after flash floods caused by a dam breach in southern Laos, a Thai consular official at the scene told AFP Wednesday. A wall of water was unleashed Monday after parts of the dam were washed away, sending floods surging downstream, sweeping away homes and leaving an unknown number of people missing. “There are 17 bodies recovered so far, but we can not estimate […]
BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) – Hundreds of people are missing and an unknown number believed dead after a partly-constructed hydropower dam in southeast Laos collapsed, sending flash floods surging through six villages, state media reported Tuesday. Communist Laos is traversed by a vast network of rivers and there are several dams being built or are planned in the impoverished and landlocked country, which exports most of its hydropower energy to neighbouring countries like Thailand. Laos […]
by Kyoko Hasegawa Agence France Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — An “unprecedented” heatwave in Japan has killed at least 65 people in one week, government officials said Tuesday, with the weather agency now classifying the record-breaking weather as a “natural disaster.” In the week to Sunday at least 65 people died of heat stroke while 22,647 people were hospitalized, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said in a statement. Both figures are “the worst-ever […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – North Korea appears to have started dismantling key facilities at a rocket-engine test center, a group of experts said Monday, potentially marking a significant step after last month’s summit between Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump. According to the respected 38 North group, commercial satellite imagery of the Sohae satellite launching station indicates Pyongyang has begun taking down a processing building and a rocket-engine test stand that had […]
KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — AFP driver Mohammad Akhtar, a 31-year-old father of four who was among 23 people killed in a suicide attack in Kabul, was a “great friend” known for his kindness and honesty, colleagues said Monday. Sunday’s attack, which was claimed by the Islamic State group, happened as supporters of Afghan Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum were leaving the capital’s international airport after welcoming home the former warlord from exile. Akhtar’s death […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) – Japanese officials issued new warnings Monday as a deadly heatwave blankets the country, producing record high temperatures in Tokyo just two years before the city hosts the 2020 Summer Olympics. Officials said last week that the heatwave had killed at least 15 people and forced the hospitalisation of over 12,000 others in the first two weeks of July. But the death toll may be more than double that, with Kyodo News […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) – A prominent South Korean lawmaker who was being probed over a bribery scandal has committed suicide, police said Monday. Roh Hoe-chan, a three-term lawmaker of the left-leaning Justice Party had been under investigation for allegedly receiving 50 million won ($44,300) from a powerful political blogger linked to many top politicians. The blogger, widely known by his online nickname “Druking”, is currently on trial for using illegal hacking programmes to sway […]
