SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea warned Wednesday it was prepared to launch intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) at any time, as the United States successfully tested a system designed to intercept them. The fresh saber-rattling from Pyongyang appeared to up the stakes as the Pentagon announced Tuesday it had intercepted a mock-up of an ICMB in a first-of-its-kind test. The success of the test is a watershed moment for the US military’s effort to […]
Asia
At least 40 people killed or wounded in Kabul blast: interior ministry
KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — At least 40 people were killed or wounded Wednesday as a massive blast ripped through Kabul’s diplomatic quarter, shattering the morning rush hour and bringing carnage to the streets of the Afghan capital. Bodies littered the scene and a huge plume of smoke rose from the area which houses foreign embassies. However, it was not immediately clear what the target was. Witnesses described dozens of cars choking the roads as wounded survivors […]
Baghdad blasts kill 27 as Iraq forces battle IS in Mosul
by Salam Faraj and W.G. Dunlop with Simon Valmary in Mosul Agence France Presse BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — Suicide bombings claimed by the Islamic State group killed at least 27 people in Baghdad, officials said on Tuesday, as Iraqi forces fight to retake the last jihadist-held areas in Mosul. In the deadlier of the two attacks, a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-rigged vehicle at a popular ice cream shop around midnight (2100 GMT Monday), killing […]
“Shocked” South Korea leader Moon orders probe into US THAAD additions
SEOUL, South Korea (Reuters) – South Korean President Moon Jae-in has ordered a probe into the introduction of four additional anti-missile launchers to the two deployed by the United States military before his election, his spokesperson said on Tuesday (May 30). Moon was “shocked” to hear that the four additional Terminal High Altitude Area Defense launchers deployed to counter the North Korean missile threat, were brought in without this being reported to the new government […]
British journalist carrying flak jacket plates charged with arms possession in Bangkok
SEMUTPRAKAN, Thailand – A British journalist was charged with arms possession on Tuesday (May 30) after he was arrested at an airport in the Thai capital for checking in body armor plates and gas masks as load luggage. Anthony Cheng, 46, had been detained at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport on Monday (May 29) night for carrying three gas masks and four plates for safety vests, said Somchart Maneerat, a police investigator at the airport. Thailand’s Arms Control […]
North Korea leader Kim supervises missile test of new guidance system
(Reuters) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised the test of a ballistic missile controlled by a precision guidance system, and ordered the development of more powerful strategic weapons, the North’s state-run television KRT reported on Tuesday (May 30). Video and still photographs aired by KRT showed Kim watching the missile being launched with his top military aides and soldiers cheering. He expressed conviction that the country “would make a greater leap forward in this […]
South Korea says it conducted joint drills with US B-1B strategic bomber
SEOUL, South Korea (Reuters) — South Korea said on Tuesday (May 30) it had conducted a joint drill with a United States supersonic B-1B Lancer bomber after North Korea’s state media earlier accused the US of staging a drill to practise dropping nuclear bombs on the Korean peninsula. Moon Sang-gyun, a spokesperson for the South Korean defense ministry, said the exercise took place on Monday (May 29) but declined to give further details. Earlier on […]
Cyclone Mora hits Bangladesh coast: weather office
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AFP) — Severe Cyclone Mora hit Bangladesh Tuesday packing winds of up to 117 kilometers per hour (73mph) after authorities evacuated hundreds of thousands of people from low-lying coastal villages. The storm made landfall on the coast between Cox’s Bazar and the main port city of Chittagong at 6:00 am (0000 GMT), the Bangladesh Meteorological Department said in a special weather bulletin. © Agence France-Presse
Suicide bomber kills eight at Baghdad ice cream shop: officials
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-rigged vehicle at a popular Baghdad ice cream shop, killing at least eight people, security officials said on Tuesday. The overnight attack in the Karrada district in central Baghdad also wounded at least 30 people, officials said. The Islamic State group-linked Amaq propaganda agency said the suicide bomber targeted a “gathering of Shiites.” IS considers members of Iraq’s Shiite Muslim majority to be heretics and frequently carries […]
IS shelling kills 14 civilians in east Syria city: monitor
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — Fourteen civilians were killed late Monday when Islamic State group jihadists shelled a government-controlled neighborhood of Syria’s eastern Deir Ezzor city, a monitor said. Three children were among the dead in the regime-held Al-Joura district, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. “The shelling hit just before families were gathering to break the Ramadan fast,” said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman. Besieged by IS since early 2015, the regime-controlled third […]
N. Korea says ballistic missile test successful: media
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea confirmed its test-firing of a precision-guided ballistic missile was “successful,” the state-run news agency KCNA reported Tuesday, a day after the projectile landed in waters provocatively close to Japan. North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un supervised the launch of the “new-type precision guided ballistic rocket” — the third missile test by the nuclear-armed regime in less than three weeks and carried out in defiance of United Nations sanctions warnings […]
6.6-magnitude quake hits Indonesia’s Sulawesi
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) – A shallow, 6.6-magnitude earthquake hit inland on the central Indonesian island of Sulawesi Monday, United States seismologists said, causing people to panic but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. The quake hit at a depth of nine kilometers (six miles) at 10:35 pm (1435 GMT), west of the town of Poso, according to the US Geological Survey. Muhammad Guntur, who lives on the outskirts of the town, said […]