BEIJING, China (CCTV) — China on Sunday launched two BeiDou-3 satellites into space via a single carrier rocket to support its global navigation and positioning network. The satellites were aboard a Long March-3B carrier rocket, which took off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern province of Sichuan at 19:45. This is the first duo of BeiDou-3 satellites launched by China, as its self-developed BeiDou Navigation Satellite System officially began to expand into a […]
Asia
IS attack killed at least 75 displaced Syrians
by Rouba El Husseini Agence France Presse BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — A car bombing by the Islamic State group killed at least 75 displaced civilians who had fled fighting in eastern Syria, a monitor said Sunday, as the cornered extremists try to defend their last strongholds. Syrian government troops meanwhile moved closer to the border town of Albu Kamal, the last urban zone still held by IS jihadist holdouts in Syria, the Syrian Observatory for […]
Disrespecting China’s anthem can now cost 3 years jail
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China has passed legislation to punish anyone who disrespects the national anthem with up to three years in prison, state media reported Saturday. The changes to China’s criminal law were approved during a committee meeting of the country’s rubberstamp parliament, the National People’s Congress (NPC), according to the official Xinhua news agency. “Serious cases of disrespecting the country’s national anthem in public would get punishments including deprivation of political rights, […]
27 dead as Typhoon Damrey batters Vietnam
DANANG, Vietnam (AFP) — At least 27 people have died and nearly two dozen are missing after Typhoon Damrey barrelled into Vietnam, authorities said Sunday, damaging tens of thousands of homes and submerging highways days before the country welcomes world leaders to the APEC summit. The storm, which made landfall on Saturday, is the worst in decades to strike the country’s southern coastal region, an area normally spared the typhoons that typically hit further […]
After Pearl Harbor, Trump embarks on Asia tour
by Jim Watson Agence France Presse After stopping in Hawaii to pay his respects at a Pearl Harbor memorial, US President Donald Trump reboarded Air Force One on Saturday for a marathon Asia tour as North Korea’s nuclear threat looms large. Trump and his wife Melania tossed flower petals into the waters of the USS Arizona memorial, later taking part in a wreath-laying ceremony to honor soldiers who died in a Japanese surprise attack in […]
Trump makes Pearl Harbor stop en route to Asia
HONOLULU, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump paid a somber visit to Pearl Harbor ahead of his first official trip to Asia, also meeting with military officials overseeing US operations in the Pacific region. Trump and his wife Melania tossed white pikake flower petals into the waters at the USS Arizona memorial, where hundreds of US service members died when Japan launched a surprise attack in 1941, triggering the US entry into […]
US lawmakers seek to slap new sanctions on Myanmar military
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US lawmakers proposed sanctions Friday against Myanmar’s military, in some of the strongest efforts yet by Washington to pressure the Southeast Asian nation to end abusive treatment of its Rohingya Muslim minority. House Republicans and Democrats introduced legislation that would curtail assistance or cooperation with Myanmar’s military and require the White House to identify senior military officials who would have US visa bans imposed or reimposed against them. A bipartisan group […]
Bomb attack kills 9 in Syria Golan Heights village: state media
DAMASCUS, Syria (AFP) — A suicide car bomb attack killed nine people in a government-held village in Syria’s Golan Heights on Friday, state media said, reporting clashes between government forces and jihadists afterwards. State news agency SANA said the car bomb hit the outskirts of the village of Hader, which lies near the disengagement line that divides the Syrian-controlled part of the Golan from that occupied by Israel. “A suicide bomber from Al-Nusra Front detonated […]
Ex-PM Sharif returns to Pakistan for court hearing
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AFP) — Pakistan’s ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif appeared in court on Friday, a day after returning from overseas to face corruption allegations that saw him ejected from office and targeted with an arrest warrant. In a brief hearing in Islamabad, Sharif paid two surety bonds of five million rupees ($48,000) each before leaving under tight security, his lawyer Khawaja Haris told AFP. The court is set to reconvene on November 7. The […]
Harassment of women ‘can never be tolerated’: Ivanka Trump
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Sexual harassment of women should “never be tolerated”, Ivanka Trump told an audience in Tokyo on Friday, calling for women to be treated with greater respect at work. The speech came as global headlines are dominated by sexual harassment claims against prominent men in entertainment and politics. The new round of claims has revived memories of her father Donald Trump’s boasts about groping women, which emerged during the US presidential campaign. […]
US supersonic bombers conduct exercise in S.Korea region
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US bombers accompanied by Japanese and South Korean warplanes flew a mission in the South Korea region Thursday amid high regional tensions, the US Air Force said. Two supersonic B-1B Lancer bombers took off from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, then flew south of South Korea and west of Japan where they were joined by Japan Air Self-Defense Force fighters, the US Pacific Air Force said in a statement. […]
N. Korea could be preparing missile test: Seoul
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Pyongyang may be preparing for another missile test, South Korea’s spy agency said Thursday according to reports, just days before US President Donald Trump visits the divided peninsula. “There is a possibility that North Korea will launch a missile as active movements of vehicles have been detected at a missile research facility in Pyongyang,” the National Intelligence Service told a closed-door parliamentary audit, the Yonhap news agency reported. In July […]