Asia

New York bomber not on Bangladesh terror list: Dhaka police

by Shafiqul Alam Agence France Presse Bangladesh police scrambled Tuesday for details about alleged New York subway bomber Akayed Ullah, but uncovered few early leads that might shed light on what might have driven him to try and kill commuters with a homemade bomb. US police say the 27-year-old immigrant from Bangladesh set off a crude bomb strapped to his body in a crowded New York subway passage on Monday but the device failed to […]

Magnitude 6.2 quake hits southeastern Iran: seismological center

  TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — A 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck Iran’s southeastern province of Kerman on Tuesday, the Iranian seismological centre reported, though media said there were no immediate reports of damage. “The rescue teams present in the region have not reported any casualties or damage yet,” the head of rescue operations for the Red Crescent, Morteza Salimi, told state broadcaster IRINN half an hour after the quake. The quake struck at 12:13 pm (0843 GMT) […]

US, S. Korea, Japan start missile-tracking drill, irking China

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) – The US, South Korea and Japan carried out joint exercises Monday to track missiles from North Korea, as China warned that such manoeuvres fuel tensions following nuclear-armed Pyongyang’s longest-range test launch to date. The trilateral drill comes less than two weeks after Pyongyang test-fired a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and declared it had achieved nuclear statehood, escalating global alarm over its weapons push. The two-day exercise — the sixth since […]

Dubai 2018 budget foresees $15.5 bn expenditure ahead of Expo

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AFP) — Dubai on Sunday adopted its 2018 budget foreseing expenditure of 56.6 million dirhams (around $15.5 billion), a 19.5 percent increase over last year, as it prepares to host Expo 2020. But the 2018 budget of Dubai, one of seven emirates in the United Arab Emirates, also forecasts a deficit of $1.7 billion — the highest since the 2009 financial crisis, a government statement said. “Dubai’s commitment to Expo excellence, […]

India’s PM Modi faces test as his home state votes

AHMEDABAD, India (AFP) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat began voting on Saturday, in a key electoral test of his popularity after a series of controversial economic reforms. Voters, with their election cards in hand, started lining up at polling booths early in the morning in Gujarat where Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has held power for 22 years. “Urging all those voting today to turnout in record numbers and vote. […]

Israel strike kills 2 Palestinians, says Gaza officials

  GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) — An Israeli air strike on a Gaza base of Hamas’s military wing killed two people on Saturday, health officials of the territory’s Palestinian Islamist rulers said. The strike on a base in Nusseirat in the central Gaza Strip, one of several in the early hours, came amid protests across the Palestinian territories against US President Donald Trump’s deeply controversial recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. The Hamas health […]

Three dead in samurai sword attack at Tokyo shrine

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A former priest wielding a samurai sword killed his Shinto priestess sister and another woman in an apparent family vendetta at a historic Tokyo shrine, before turning the blade on himself, police told AFP Friday. Shigenaga Tomioka, 56, set upon his older sister Nagako, chief priestess at Tomioka Hachimangu shrine, with a samurai sword late Thursday in a rare violent assault in the Japanese capital. The 58-year-old Nagako was later pronounced […]

Japan plans long-range missiles amid N. Korea threat: minister

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan plans to purchase offensive air-to-surface missiles to counter North Korea’s rising military threat, its defense minister said Friday, a move likely to stir debate over its decades-long pacifist policy. Itsunori Onodera said the ministry intends to request a special budget for the fiscal year starting April 2018 to purchase long-range cruise missiles deployed on fighter jets. According to local media, the ministry plans to buy JASSM and LRASM long-range, air-to-ground […]

Putin ‘deeply concerned’ at US Jerusalem move

  MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russian president Vladimir Putin is “deeply concerned” by Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, the Kremlin said in a statement Thursday. In a telephone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Putin called for the Palestinians and Israel to “hold back” and renew negotiations. “This kind of measure can block possible paths to peace in the Middle East,” the Kremlin said of US President Trump’s move. […]

S. Korea voices regret over Russia Winter Olympics ban

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea on Thursday voiced regret over the decision to ban Russia from the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, saying the participation of the country’s athletes was crucial to the success of the event. The South Korean sports ministry urged Russian athletes to compete as neutrals following the International Olympic Committee’s unprecedented ban, saying in a statement it had “worked hard over the past seven years to make meticulous preparations” for a […]

China says Indian drone entered its airspace, crashed: Xinhua

by Joanna Chiu Agence France Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — An Indian drone has “invaded” China’s airspace and crashed, Chinese state media said Thursday, months after the neighbours ended one of their worst border standoffs in decades. “The Indian move violated China’s territorial sovereignty. We strongly express our dissatisfaction and opposition,” Xinhua news agency cited the deputy director of the army’s western theatre combat bureau, Zhang Shuili, as saying. Zhang did not give details about […]

South Korea’s Moon to visit China for talks on N. Korea

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korean President Moon Jae-In will visit China next week for talks on North Korea and other issues, his office said Wednesday, amid tentative signs of diplomatic movement after months of high tensions over Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile threats. The announcement came as a high-level United Nations representative held talks with a senior North Korean official during a rare trip to Pyongyang. Jeffrey Feltman, UN undersecretary general for political affairs, […]