BANGKOK, Nov 30, 2023 (AFP) – Seventeen Thai hostages kidnapped and held for weeks by Hamas in the Gaza Strip are expected to return home on Thursday to be met by overjoyed relatives at the Bangkok airport. Tens of thousands of Thais were working in Israel, mostly in the agricultural sector, when Palestinian militants poured over the border on October 7, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping about 240, according to Israeli authorities. At […]
Asia
Seven missing after US Osprey crashes off Japan
TOKYO, Nov 30, 2023 (AFP) – Rescuers scoured waters off Japan on Thursday for seven missing US Air Force personnel whose Osprey crashed during a training exercise, in the latest incident involving the tilt-rotor military aircraft. Japan’s defence minister said he had requested that US forces in the country suspend Osprey flights in the wake of the deadly incident. One unconscious person was found in the sea and later declared dead after the aircraft crashed […]
Hong Kong man charged for wearing ‘seditious’ shirt
HONG KONG, Nov 29, 2023 (AFP) – Hong Kong authorities charged a 26-year-old man with sedition on Wednesday after police allegedly found “seditious wording” on a shirt he wore and on flags in his possession. China has tightened its grip on Hong Kong after the finance hub was rocked by huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019. The following year Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on the city to quell dissent. Local […]
One confirmed killed as US Osprey crashes off Japan
By Hiroshi HIYAMA, Tomohiro OSAKI TOKYO, Nov 29, 2023 (AFP) – A US Osprey military aircraft crashed on Wednesday off a Japanese island, killing one crew member and leaving five unaccounted for, the coastguard said, in the latest incident involving the tilt-rotor military aircraft. One unconscious person had been found in the sea near the scene of the crash off the island of Yakushima but was later “confirmed dead in hospital”, the coastguard said in […]
All 41 Indian workers trapped in tunnel for 17 days rescued
By Pitcha DANGPRASITH and Sajjad HUSSAIN Indian workers were greeted with wild cheers and flower garlands Tuesday as rescuers safely brought out all 41 from the collapsed Himalayan road tunnel where they were trapped after a marathon 17-day engineering operation. With beaming smiles, the rescued men were welcomed as heroes after being hauled through 57 metres (187 feet) of steel pipe on stretchers specially fitted with wheels, where they were greeted by state officials before […]
China athletes as young as seven in military training to ‘create iron army’
SHANGHAI, Nov 28, 2023 (AFP) – Hundreds of athletes as young as seven are undergoing military training in Shanghai designed to instill discipline and “good fighting ability”, the Chinese city said. The athletes will “deeply study” the Chinese military’s “sense of standards and combat spirit”, Shanghai’s sports bureau said. Chinese football teams have previously undergone similar training, which is largely performative and part of a wider campaign to promote Communist Party values. President Xi Jinping […]
India rescuers make painstaking progress towards 41 trapped in tunnel
By Pitcha DANGPRASITH Indian rescue teams crept forward Tuesday in a painstaking dig by hand through rock and rubble towards 41 workers who have been trapped in a collapsed road tunnel for 17 days. Soldiers and skilled miners are using a so-called “rat-hole” mining technique to clear the final stretch, digging through some two metres (six feet) of rubble to leave only an estimated seven metres (23 feet) to go. Rajput Rai, a drilling expert, […]
Indian army digs by hand to free 41 trapped tunnel workers
SILKYARA TUNNEL , India, Nov 27, 2023 (AFP) – Indian military engineers were preparing to dig by hand Monday to reach 41 workers trapped in a collapsed road tunnel for 16 days, a rescue operation hit by repeated setbacks. Soldiers plan to use a so-called “rat-hole mining” technique, digging by hand to clear the rocks and rubble over the remaining nine metres (29 feet), with temperatures plummeting in the remote mountain location in the Himalayan […]
Lightning strikes kill 18 people in India
AHMEDABAD, India, Nov 27, 2023 (AFP) – At least 18 people were killed in lightning strikes across western India’s Gujarat state during unseasonably intense storms on Sunday, officials said. Such big rainstorms are not expected in Gujarat during winter months, and fierce downpours caught many off guard. While flash floods and lightning kill dozens of people in India each year, scientists warn that rising global temperatures are unleashing a cascade of extreme weather events. At […]
Myanmar armed group seizes China-Myanmar border crossing
BANGKOK, Nov 26, 2023 (AFP) – An ethnic minority armed group in Myanmar has seized control from the country’s ruling junta of a lucrative border crossing to China, local media and a security source said Sunday. Clashes have raged across Myanmar’s northern Shan state, close to the Chinese border, after an armed alliance of three ethnic minority groups launched an offensive against the military in October. The groups have seized dozens of military positions and […]
Iran says it helped broker release of Thais held in Gaza
TEHRAN, Nov 25, 2023 (AFP) – Iran said Saturday it helped broker the surprise release of Thai nationals who had been held by Palestinian militants in war-ravaged Gaza since their shock attack on Israel last month. On Friday, Hamas unexpectedly released 10 Thais and a Filipino, along with the 13 Israeli women and children that were part of a temporary truce deal with Israel. Israel in turn freed 39 Palestinian women and children from its […]
Indonesian police, fishers start patrols to stop Rohingya boats
LHOKSEUMAWE, Indonesia, Nov 25, 2023 (AFP) – Indonesian police and fishermen said Saturday they have begun patrolling parts of the country’s westernmost province to prevent Rohingya refugees from landing on its shores, after nearly 1,100 members of the persecuted Myanmar minority arrived this month. Thousands from the mostly Muslim minority risk their lives each year making sea journeys from refugee camps in Bangladesh, often in flimsy boats, to try to reach Malaysia or Indonesia. As […]