Asia

North Korea says ballistic missile test a success: media

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea confirmed it had “successfully” tested a ballistic missile, the state-run news agency KCNA reported Monday. “A surface-to-surface medium long-range ballistic missile Pukguksong-2… was successfully test-fired on Sunday,” the report said. The missile was launched from Banghyon air base in the western province of North Pyongan, and flew east towards the Sea of Japan (East Sea), South Korea’s defence ministry said earlier. North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un “guided” the […]

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Hong Kong subway fire suspect: Man who doused flammable liquid on pants now in hot seat

  (Eagle News) — This man caught on camera by an Eagle News Service correspondent in Hong Kong trying to douse off the fire off his pants is now in the hot seat.  Police is now investigating him as the suspect who started the fire in the Hong Kong subway. Witnesses interviewed by Eagle News Service in Hong Kong said this man in the photo was the one who threw a molotov bomb inside one of […]

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Trump welcomes Abe with warm White House embrace

  by Andrew Beatty Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – President Donald Trump welcomed Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with a brotherly hug and warm words of admiration Friday, as he ditched previously hard-charging rhetoric toward Tokyo during a White House summit. Trump praised his guest’s “strong hands,” the pair’s “very, very good chemistry” and rolled out a White House military honor guard in a remarkable public display of diplomatic affection. “When I […]

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Chinese, US aircraft in ‘unsafe’ encounter over South China Sea: US

  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP)– A Chinese military aircraft had an “unsafe” encounter with a US Navy surveillance aircraft near a contested reef in the South China Sea, according to the US Pacific Command. The two planes came within 1,000 feet (300 meters) of each other during Wednesday’s incident near the Scarborough Shoal, which is claimed by both the Philippines and China, according to Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis. The close encounter comes amid heightened tensions […]

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Featured video: Chaos in Hong Kong subway station after man starts fire inside train

    Chaos on the platform of the packed Tsim Sha Tsui station is captured in this video taken by a correspondent of Eagle News Service in Hong Kong after a man said to be mentally unstable reportedly set himself on fire accidentally. A train carriage on fire and one man lying on the floor can be seen with his clothes ablaze as bystanders tried to help him. Police have ruled out the possibility of […]

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Updated: 18 injured as man starts fire in Hong Kong subway station

    Police arrested a man over a suspected arson attack on Friday (February 10) after fire broke out inside a train at a busy Hong Kong subway stations during rush hour. At least 17 people were injured, including two who are in a critical condition. A 60-year-old man surnamed Cheung, who was seriously injured in the incident, admitted he started the fire while the train was headed to the busy Tsim Sha Tsui shopping […]

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Xi ‘appreciates’ Trump affirmation of One China policy

BEIJING, China (AFP) — Chinese president Xi Jinping said he “appreciates” new US leader Donald Trump’s affirmation of the One-China policy during their first phone call since Trump’s inauguration, state media said Friday. “Xi Jinping appreciates Trump’s emphasis on the American government’s commitment to the One China policy and pointed out that the One China principle is the political foundation of US-China relations,” the official broadcaster CCTV said in a report on the conversation. © […]

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Iran’s Rouhani says military power ‘purely defensive’

TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — President Hassan Rouhani said Thursday Iran’s military power was “purely defensive”, after tensions with the United States over its missile program and a nuclear deal soared following Donald Trump’s inauguration. “The Islamic Republic of Iran has showed that it doesn’t intend to interfere with the internal affairs of other countries,” Rouhani told foreign diplomats in Tehran, according to the ISNA news agency. “Our military power is purely defensive,” he was quoted […]

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Russia air strike ‘accidentally’ kills 3 Turkish troops in Syria

by Stuart WILLIAMS Agence France Presse ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) — Three Turkish soldiers were “accidentally” killed and 11 wounded on Thursday when a Russian air strike targeting jihadists in Syria hit a building where the troops were deployed, the Turkish army said. With Moscow and Ankara cooperating ever more closely on Syria, President Vladimir Putin quickly reached out to Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to express condolences and promise better future coordination. The Russian plane […]

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South Korean artists sue president, aides for damages over blacklist

SEOUL, South Korea (Reuters) — Hundreds of South Korean artists sued President Park Geun-hye and former aides on Thursday (February 9) for trying to silence them with a blacklist of writers, actors and others critical of the scandal-plagued administration. Park’s former presidential chief of staff and her culture minister have been charged with abuse of power for their role in drafting the blacklist in a corruption scandal that has gripped the country and led to […]

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China says both sides will lose from conflict with US

by Martin PARRY Agence France-Presse SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Beijing has played down the prospects of conflict with the United States over the South China Sea in the wake of aggressive rhetoric by Donald Trump’s administration, saying both sides would lose. China asserts sovereignty over almost all of the resource-rich region despite rival claims from Southeast Asian neighbours and has rapidly built reefs into artificial islands capable of hosting military planes. The islands are considered […]

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Strong 6.3 quake strikes off coast of Pakistan: US monitors

  ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AFP) — A strong 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck near the coast of Pakistan early Wednesday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said. The shallow quake struck at 3:03 am (2203 GMT), with an epicenter just 23 kilometers (14 miles) southwest of Pakistan’s coastal city of Pasni, the USGS said. Last April, a large 6.6-magnitude quake struck neighboring northeastern Afghanistan, rattling parts of South Asia and killing at least six Pakistanis. In October 2015, a […]

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