MANILA, Dec 6, 2023 (AFP) – Philippine police named two Filipino members of a pro-Islamic State militant group on Wednesday as suspects in the deadly bombing of a Catholic mass in the country’s insurgency-plagued south. Four people were killed and 50 were wounded in Sunday’s attack on worshippers gathered inside a university gym in Marawi, the country’s largest Muslim city, which was besieged by militants in 2017. The Islamic State group claimed the bombing, which […]
Asia
23 Dead in Indonesian volcano eruption, search and rescue mission ends
JAKARTA, Dec 7, 2023 (AFP) – Indonesian authorities on Thursday said they had ended a search and rescue mission for any hikers missing or killed after a volcano eruption over the weekend that left 23 people dead. Mount Marapi on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia’s west spewed an ash tower 3,000 metres (9,800 feet) — taller than the volcano itself — into the sky on Sunday as 75 people hiked in the area. Scores […]
Japanese prosecutors seek death penalty for Kyoto Animation arsonist
By Natsuko FUKUE TOKYO, Dec 7, 2023 (AFP) – Prosecutors on Thursday sought the death penalty for a man charged over a 2019 arson attack on an anime studio that killed 36 people in Japan’s deadliest crime in decades, reports said. Shinji Aoba, who nearly died from burns he sustained, has admitted to starting the fire at Kyoto Animation and faces five charges including murder, attempted murder, and arson. He is accused of breaking […]
Japan crash prompts grounding of US marine Ospreys
WASHINGTON, Dec 7, 2023 (AFP) – The US military announced Wednesday it was grounding its fleet of V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft following a deadly crash last week off the coast of Japan. The Air Force Special Operations Command said in a statement the move was to “mitigate risk while the investigation continues” on the November 29 crash which killed eight US airmen. The Naval Air Systems Command said later Wednesday it was following suit. The […]
Nissan hit by ‘cyber incident’ in Australia, New Zealand
WELLINGTON, Dec 7, 2023 (AFP) – Japanese car giant Nissan warned customers Thursday that its operations in Australia and New Zealand had been hit by a “cyber incident”. Nissan said it had notified the national cyber security centres in both countries, while the company’s global response team assessed the scale of the attack. It was unclear whether any personal information had been accessed, the company said in a statement. “While the extent of the incident […]
4 Rohingya killed in Bangladesh refugee camp shootout
COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh, Dec 6, 2023 (AFP) – Four Rohingya refugees were killed during a gunfight between two insurgent groups in Bangladesh, police said Wednesday, in the latest sign of deteriorating security in the country’s overcrowded relief camps. Bangladesh is home to around a million members of the stateless and mainly Muslim minority, most of whom fled a 2017 military crackdown in Myanmar that is now subject to a UN genocide probe. The dozens of […]
UPDATE: 17 Dead, 11 injured as bus plunges off “killer curve” in Philippine mountain crash
MANILA, Dec 6, 2023 (AFP) – Seventeen people died and 11 were injured when a passenger bus careered off a road on a “killer curve” and plunged down a mountain in the central Philippines, officials said Wednesday. The bus was travelling in Hamtic municipality in Antique province when the crash happened Tuesday afternoon, provincial disaster agency head Roderick Train told AFP. Seven people were in critical condition in hospital and four others were stable, Train […]
“Mountain of Fire” claims 22 lives: grim search for last survivor continues in Indonesia
By Irwanda Saputra AGAM, Indonesia, Dec 6, 2023 (AFP) – Indonesian rescuers were searching on Wednesday for the final hiker who went missing after a volcano eruption that left 22 other people dead, but hopes were fading three days after the disaster. Mount Marapi on the island of Sumatra spewed an ash tower 3,000 metres (9,800 feet) — taller than the volcano itself — into the sky on Sunday as 75 people hiked […]
14 dead as Thai bus smashes into tree
BANGKOK, Dec 5, 2023 (AFP) – A double-decker coach smashed into a tree in southern Thailand, killing at least 14 people and injuring 32, police said Tuesday. The long-distance bus was travelling from Bangkok to the kingdom’s far south when it collided with the tree in coastal Prachuap Khiri Khan province on Monday night. Photos published in local media showed the front part of the bus split in two by the force of the crash, […]
17 killed in Philippines bus crash
MANILA, Dec 5, 2023 (AFP) – Seventeen people were killed when a passenger bus careered off a road and plunged down a mountain in the central Philippines, an official said Wednesday. The bus was travelling on an “accident-prone” section of road in Hamtic municipality in Antique province when the crash happened Tuesday afternoon, said Roderick Train, head of the provincial disaster agency. Seven people were in critical condition in hospital and four others were stable, […]
EU chief warns China on trade gap ahead of summit
BRUSSELS, Dec 5, 2023 (AFP) – European Union member states won’t tolerate their growing trade imbalance with China forever, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen warned Tuesday, ahead of a key summit. “We have tools to protect our market,” von der Leyen told an AFP reporter in an interview for the European Newsroom, while adding: “But we prefer to have negotiated solutions.” Von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, and Charles Michel, who […]
China accuses US of ‘stirring up’ South China Sea tensions
BEIJING, Dec 4, 2023 (AFP) – China on Monday said the United States was responsible for “deliberate stirring up” of tensions in the South China Sea, after a US warship navigated through waters claimed by Beijing. “On December 4, littoral combat ship USS Gabrielle Giffords illegally entered the waters adjacent to Ren’ai Reef in the Nansha region of China without the approval of the Chinese government,” Southern Theatre Command spokesman Tian Junli said. The Second […]