PATTANI, Thailand (AFP) – Six Thai soldiers were killed and four injured when a roadside bomb ripped their patrol truck apart in the insurgency-plagued south on Monday, police said. The bomb hit the pick-up as it was carrying ten soldiers along a dirt road in Pattani province, leaving a pile of rubble and twisted car parts. “The roadside bomb exploded before noon, killing six and injuring four,” said Preuk Liengsuk, the police chief of Thung […]
Asia
Four foreign inmates escape Bali jail using tunnel
BALI, Indonesia (Reuters) – Four foreign and three local inmates escaped from Kerobokan prison on the Indonesian resort island of Bali using a tunnel, the head of the prison said on Monday (June 19) and a search has been launched to find them. Kerobokan Prison head Tony Nainggolan named the four foreigners as Australian Shaun Edward Davidson, Bulgarian Dimitar Nikolov, Indian Sayed Muhammad and Malaysian Tee Kok King and said they escaped through a 12m […]
U.S.-led coalition downs Syrian warplane over Raqqa: Syrian government
RAQQA, Syria (CCTV) — The Syrian government has blamed the U.S.-led coalition for bringing down a Syrian Su-22 warplane from over the country’s northern city of Raqqa on Sunday. The pilot is reported as missing, according to the Syrian state news agency. The Syrian government forces have blamed the downing of its warplane as overt infringement upon the country’s sovereignty. The downed warplane was on a combat mission against the Islamic State (IS) group. The general […]
Japan offers condolences to victims of the deadly USS Fitzgerald collision
TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) – Japanese Chief Cabinet Suga Yoshihide on Monday (June 19) offered condolences to seven sailors found dead in flooded compartments of the USS Fitzgerald, which collided with a container ship off Japan on Saturday (June 17). A significant portion of the crew was asleep when the collision occurred, tearing a gash under the warship’s waterline and flooding two berthing compartments, the radio room and the auxiliary machine room. The U.S. Navy on […]
US Navy identifies all seven sailors killed in Japan collision with PHL container ship
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — The United States Navy on Monday identified all seven sailors killed after their destroyer was partially flooded following a collision with a container ship off Japan’s coast at the weekend, confirming their deaths for the first time. The crew were reported missing after Saturday’s predawn collision, triggering a major US-Japanese search operation, with divers scouring damaged areas of the destroyer. On Sunday, US authorities tacitly acknowledged there were no survivors as […]
Missing US sailors found dead in ship that collided with PHL-flagged vessel off Japan
YOKOSUKA, Japan (AFP) — A number of missing American sailors have been found dead in flooded areas of a destroyer that collided with a container ship off Japan’s coast, the US Navy said Sunday. Seven sailors had been missing for more than 24 hours after the accident that caused heavy damage to the USS Fitzgerald, caving in part of its right side and flooding berthing spaces and the radio room. “A number of […]
One hurt, 7 missing in crash between US Navy destroyer, Philippine-flagged vessel off Japan
by Harumi Ozawa and Shingo Ito Agence France Presse YOKOSUKA, Japan (AFP) — The United States and Japan were conducting a major search operation Saturday to find seven missing American sailors after their navy destroyer collided with a Philippine-flagged container ship, crushing the side of the military vessel. Planes, boats and helicopters scoured the seas off Japan’s Pacific coast in a bid to find the crew who disappeared in the predawn accident, which also left […]
Turkey FM in ‘positive’ Saudi talks on Qatar
MECCA, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu held talks in Saudi Arabia on Friday with King Salman, continuing efforts to resolve the Gulf’s biggest diplomatic crisis in years. Diplomatic sources told AFP that “the meeting was positive,” but there were no specifics. Riyadh, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and others severed diplomatic and economic ties with Qatar almost two weeks ago, accusing Doha of supporting groups, including some backed by Iran, “that […]
7 US destroyer crew missing after ship collides with Philippine-flagged container vessel off Japan
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A United States Navy destroyer collided with a Philippine-flagged container ship off the coast of Japan early Saturday, leaving seven crew members from the American vessel unaccounted for, the Japanese Coast Guard said. The collision between the guided missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald and the ACX Crystal took place southwest of Yokosuka, Japan at about 2:30 am Saturday (1730 GMT Friday), the US Navy and Japan’s coastguard said. The Navy also […]
100,000 civilians held by IS in Mosul Old City as ‘human shields’: UN
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The United Nations said Friday that Islamic State group jihadists may be holding more than 100,000 Iraqi civilians as human shields in the Old City of Mosul. Iraqi forces are fighting to retake Mosul from IS, after the jihadist group overran the city in 2014, imposing its brutal rule on its inhabitants. The United Nations refugee agency’s representative in Iraq Bruno Geddo said IS had been capturing civilians in battles outside of […]
US-led coalition ‘cannot confirm’ IS chief death
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — The United States-led coalition battling the Islamic State group said Friday it could not confirm the death of the jihadists’ leader following reports by the Russian army that he might have been killed. “We cannot confirm these reports at this time,” said US Army Colonel Ryan S. Dillon, spokesman for the coalition’s Operation Inherent Resolve in Syria and Iraq. The Russian army said earlier that it hit IS leaders in an air […]
China kindergarten blast suspect used homemade explosive device – authorities
XUZHOU CITY, China (Reuters) — Authorities in the eastern Chinese city of Xuzhou said on Friday (June 16) that the chief suspect in a blast outside a kindergarten that killed eight people and wounded more than 60 others used a “homemade” explosive device, state media reported. The suspect was identified by authorities as 22-year-old “Mr. Xu”, Vice Chief of Jiangsu’s Provincial Department of Public Security, Pei Jun, said at a news conference aired by state […]