KATHMANDU, Nepal (AFP) — Swiss climber Ueli Steck, one of the most feted mountaineers of his generation and famed for his speed ascents of iconic Alpine routes, has died on Everest, officials said. “Today morning, he had an accident on the Nuptse wall and died. It seems he slipped,” Ang Tsering Sherpa, head of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, told AFP. Steck, 40, was on Everest to acclimatize before attempting to summit the world’s tallest peak […]
Asia
Bus accident kills 11 in Indonesia
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — At least 11 people were killed Sunday when a bus rammed into several other vehicles in Indonesia’s West Java province after a suspected brake failure, police said. The bus hit four cars and motorbikes before tumbling down a slope. The bus driver and some of the motorists were among the dead. The accident in Cianjur district, 90 kilometers (56 miles) south of Jakarta, also injured nearly 50 people. Transport accidents are […]
French naval ship arrives at Japan port for joint training
NAGASAKI, Japan (Reuters) — The French naval ship Mistral arrived at Japan’s southern city of Nagasaki on Saturday (April 29) to participate in a four-nation military drill by Japan, the U.S., the U.K., and France. A welcoming ceremony was held by Japanese Self Defence force personnel, where the captain of Mistral Stanislas De Chargeres gave a speech. Children performed a traditional Japanese dance called Yosakoi to welcome the French officers. Just hours before the Mistral’s […]
N.Korea fires missile, defying US push for new sanctions
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile Saturday in apparent defiance of a US push for tougher international sanctions to curb the Asian country’s nuclear threat. “North Korea fired an unidentified missile from a site in the vicinity of Bukchang in Pyeongannam-do (South Pyeongan Province) early this morning,” the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported, adding that the missile “is estimated to have failed.” A US defense official confirmed North Korea […]
Trump says he wants South Korea to pay for $1-billion Thaad missile defense system
PYEONGTAEK, South Korea (Reuters) — U.S. President Donald Trump told Reuters on Thursday (April 27) that Seoul should pay for a U.S. anti-missile system that he priced at $1 billion. In an interview with Reuters, Trump said the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile system now being deployed in South Korea to defend against a potential missile attack from North Korea would cost about $1 billion and questioned why the United States was paying for […]
Putin and Abe struggle for progress on island dispute
by Anna MALPAS Agence France-Presse MOSCOW, Russia – President Vladimir Putin on Thursday agreed to start flights for former residents to visit a disputed island chain as he and Japanese premier Shinzo Abe again struggled to make progress on a decades-old territorial dispute. Russia and Japan have been blocked from signing a formal treaty to end World War II hostilities for seven decades over the island disagreement, hampering closer ties. The Soviet Union seized the […]
China says U.S. negotiation remark on North Korea “positive”
BEIJING, China (Reuters) — China said on Thursday (April 27) it was positive that the United States is open to resolving tensions over North Korea through talks. Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang made the comment at a regular news briefing in Beijing. The Trump administration said on Wednesday it aimed to push North Korea into dismantling its nuclear and missile programs through tougher international sanctions and diplomatic pressure, and remained open to negotiations to bring […]
Children pay the price in Afghan conflict: UN
KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — Children account for one-third of civilian casualties in Afghanistan’s grinding conflict in the first three months of 2017, and are paying an increasingly high price in the fighting, a UN report said Thursday in Kabul. From January to March, 210 children were killed — up 17 percent from the same period last year — and 525 injured, out of a total of 2,181 civilian casualties (715 dead and 1,466 injured). The […]
Turkey detains, suspends thousands in new anti-Gulen crackdown
by Fulya OZERKAN / Stuart WILLIAMS Agence France Presse ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) — Turkey on Wednesday detained more than 1,000 people and suspended over 9,100 police in a vast new crackdown against alleged supporters of the US-based preacher accused of orchestrating the coup bid against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Dawn raids across the country — seeking more than 3,000 suspects — were followed by a statement from police that 9,103 police officers were being suspended […]
US missile defence equipment reaches S.Korea site
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) – US troops began delivering a missile defence system that has infuriated China to a deployment site in South Korea Wednesday, amid heightened tensions over the North’s nuclear ambitions. Washington is urging Beijing — Pyongyang’s sole major ally — to do more to rein it in, but the Asian giant has reacted with fury to the planned installation of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. The US and ally […]
Turkey detains 1,000 alleged Gulen supporters: minister
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) — Turkey on Wednesday detained over 1,000 suspects in a massive new crackdown on alleged supporters of US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, the interior minister said, a week after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won a referendum on ramping up his powers. A total of 1,009 suspects have so far been detained in raids in 72 provinces across the country, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu was quoted as saying by the official Anadolu news agency. […]
China says detained Taiwan activist is in good health
BEIJING, China (Reuters) — The Chinese government said on Wednesday (April 26) that a Taiwan rights activist detained on suspicion of endangering national security was in good health, and had reassured his family in a letter. Li’s case is still being investigated and processed, Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, told a regular news briefing. Li’s family and the Taiwan government have been frustrated at not being told where Li is being held, […]