by Sebastien Berger Agence France Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea has developed a hydrogen bomb which can be loaded into the country’s new intercontinental ballistic missile, the official Korean Central News Agency claimed Sunday. Questions remain over whether nuclear-armed Pyongyang has successfully miniaturised its weapons, and whether it has a working H-bomb, but KCNA said that leader Kim Jong-Un had inspected such a device at the Nuclear Weapons Institute. It was […]
Asia
Russia, France warn of explosive Korea situation
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — President Vladimir Putin warned Friday of a “major conflict” looming on the Korean Peninsula, calling for crisis talks as France’s foreign minister warned of a possible threat to Europe. Nuclear-armed North Korea on Tuesday fired a ballistic missile over Japan into the Pacific, escalating tensions over its atomic program which have led to bellicose exchanges between Washington and Pyongyang. Putin warned that the region was “on the brink of a major conflict”. “The problems […]
British PM meets Japanese Emperor on final day of visit
TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) — British Prime Minister Theresa May met with Japanese emperor Akihito at the imperial palace on Friday (September 1) on the last day of her three-day visit to Japan. Akihito is expected to abdicate at the end of 2018 after he said last August he feared age would make it hard to fulfill his duties. May, on her first official visit to Japan as prime minster held bilateral talks with her counterpart […]
Mumbai building collapse death toll jumps to 33
MUMBAI, India (AFP) — The death toll from a building collapse in India’s commercial capital Mumbai jumped to 33 Friday after rescuers pulled more than a dozen bodies from the rubble overnight. Officials said 22 men, eight women and three children died when the residential building gave way on Thursday morning in the densely populated area of Bhendi Bazaar following heavy rains. The 117-year-old building had been declared unsafe and was due to be demolished […]
US heavy bombers, jets in show of force against N. Korea
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — United States heavy bombers and stealth jet fighters delivered a show of force directed at North Korea in a live-fire drill Thursday, two days after Pyongyang’s provocative test-launch of a ballistic missile that flew over northern Japan. Two B-1B “Lancer” bombers from Guam and four F-35B stealth jet fighters from the Marine Corps’ Iwakuni airbase in Japan joined four South Korean jet fighters and two from Japan in the exercise […]
Islamic State chief Baghdadi likely still alive: US general
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Elusive Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is probably still alive and likely hiding in the Middle Euphrates River Valley, a senior United States general said Thursday. “We’re looking for him every day. I don’t think he’s dead,” Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, commander of the counter-IS coalition in Iraq and Syria, told reporters in a conference call. Townsend admitted he didn’t “have a clue” where Baghdad is precisely, but believes […]
6.2-magnitude quake hits western Indonesia
PADANG, Indonesia (AFP) — A strong 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of western Indonesia early Friday, US seismologists said, but no tsunami warning was issued and there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. The quake hit the Mentawai islands in West Sumatra province about 75 kilometers (46 miles) southwest of the provincial capital Padang at 00:06 am (1706 GMT), at a depth of 49 kilometers, according to the US Geological Survey. The […]
UK, Japan to hike pace of sanctions against N. Korea: May
by Kyoko Hasegawa TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Britain and Japan will step up the pace of sanctions against nuclear-armed North Korea after its “outrageous” firing of a missile over Japan, British Prime Minister Theresa May said Thursday. “We condemn North Korea in the strongest words possible for a reckless act which was a clear violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions,” May told a press briefing during an official visit to Japan. “In response to […]
N. Korea warns Japan of ‘imminent self-destruction’ for siding with US
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Nuclear-armed North Korea has warned Tokyo against “imminent self-destruction” for siding with Washington, as tensions soar after Pyongyang fired a missile over Japan. The North set off global alarm Tuesday when it fired an intermediate-range missile over the Asian island nation, triggering condemnation from world leaders including the US and Japan. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe denounced the launch as an “unprecedented, serious and grave threat” and agreed with […]
May, Abe board Japanese ‘Bullet Train’
KYOTO, Japan (Reuters) — British Prime Minister Theresa May and her Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe boarded a Shinkansen ‘Bullet Train’ from Kyoto to the capital Tokyo on Wednesday (August 30), during May’s visit to the country for trade talks. On Wednesday, May said that Britain is looking at ways to replicate the trade deals that the European Union has with countries outside the bloc when it exits the EU in March 2019. The freedom to […]
Mattis: Still room for diplomatic solution with N.Korea
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — United States Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said Wednesday that there was still room for diplomacy in dealing with North Korea’s provocative ballistic missile launches, after President Donald Trump said negotiations were “not the answer.” “We’re never out of diplomatic solutions,” Mattis said as he went into a meeting with South Korea Defense Minister Song Young-Moo. “We continue to work together and the minister and I share responsibility to provide for […]
At least 18,500 Rohingya flee to Bangladesh as Rakhine unrest rages
MAUNGDAW , Myanmar (AFP) — At least 18,500 Rohingya have crossed into Bangladesh since fighting erupted in Myanmar’s neighboring Rakhine state six days ago, the International Organization for Migration said Wednesday. Plumes of smoke billowed from several burning villages in the worst-hit section of the state, according to an AFP reporter on a government-led trip to the area, as the violence showed little sign of abating despite security sweeps by Myanmar’s police and troops. The clashes began on […]