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BEIJING, China (AFP) — China has urged Washington to block the president of Taiwan from passing through the US, after reports saying she may stop in New York next month on her way to Central America. Taiwan has diplomatic relations with 22 states and the island’s leaders make regular visits to its small group of allies in Central America and the Caribbean, often stopping in the US for meetings with sympathetic lawmakers. Taiwan’s Liberty Times […]
ALEPPO, Syria (AFP) — A seven-year-old Syrian girl whose Twitter account from Aleppo gained international attention has fled her home amid heavy fighting, but she and her family are safe for now, her father told AFP Tuesday. With her mother’s help, Bana al-Abed had been posting heart-rending tweets in English on life in the besieged eastern districts of Syria’s Aleppo. But as Syrian government forces edged closer to their home in recent days, the Abed […]
ESSEN, Germany (AFP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday it was a “disgrace” that the international community had been unable to alleviate the suffering in Syria’s besieged city of Aleppo. “Aleppo is a disgrace,” she said in a speech to her conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, slamming Russian and Iranian support for the bombardment by Bashar al-Assad’s regime. “It is a disgrace that we have been unable to establish humanitarian corridors, but we […]
by Chaideer Mahyuddin Agence France Presse BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AFP) — At least 25 people died and dozens were feared trapped in rubble after a strong earthquake struck off Aceh province on Indonesia’s Sumatra island on Wednesday, officials said. The shallow 6.5-magnitude quake struck Pidie Jaya district at dawn, as some in the predominantly Muslim region prepared for morning prayers. Mosques and shops were flattened in the small town of Meureudu, where the force of the […]
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AFP) – by Shafiqul ALAM More than 20,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh in recent weeks, humanitarian officials said on Tuesday, following a bloody crackdown by the army in neighbouring Myanmar. Bangladesh has stepped up patrols on the border to try to stem the tide of refugees since an eruption of unrest in Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine in early October. But Sanjukta Sahany, head of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) office […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea’s scandal-hit President Park Geun-Hye said Tuesday she would accept the result of a looming and possibly lengthy impeachment process, but defied pressure to resign immediately. An opposition-sponsored impeachment motion is almost certain to be adopted by the national assembly on Friday, with some 30 rebel MPs from Park’s Saenuri party saying they will vote in favour. The motion would then require the approval of the Constitutional Court, whose deliberations […]
by Claire COZENS CHENNAI, India (AFP) — Tens of thousands of mourners filed past the coffin of the Indian politician Jayalalithaa Jayaram on Tuesday in an emotional farewell to the former movie star who enjoyed almost god-like status in the state of Tamil Nadu. The 68-year-old Jayalalithaa, described by her party as the Iron Lady of India, died late Monday after suffering a massive cardiac arrest at the weekend following a long period of ill […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Donald Trump is a “diplomatic rookie” who must learn not to cross Beijing on issues like trade and Taiwan, Chinese state media said Tuesday, warning America could pay dearly for his inexperience. A protocol-shattering call with Taiwan’s president followed by a Twitter tirade against Beijing’s policies by the president-elect could risk upending the delicate balance between the world’s two largest economies, Chinese editorials in major media outlets said. “Provoking friction and […]
by Natsuko FUKUE TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is to become the first Japanese leader to visit Pearl Harbor, announcing Monday a trip to the site of his country’s surprise attack that launched World War II in the Pacific. News of the journey comes just two days ahead of the 75th anniversary of the deadly December 7, 1941 assault on the US naval base in Hawaii. The war ended in August 1945 […]
by Shingo ITO OSAKA, Japan (AFP) — Navy aircraft mechanic Kuniyoshi Takimoto watched as Japanese planes roared off the aircraft carrier Hiryu to attack Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The shock assault 75 years ago Wednesday in Hawaii sparked patriotic celebration in Japan but left Takimoto feeling uneasy. “I wondered if such a poor country would be all right fighting such a big one,” the former real-estate agent, now 95 and one of the […]
CHENNAI, India (AFP) — Jayalalithaa Jayaram, the chief minister of south India’s Tamil Nadu state and one of the country’s most popular political leaders, has died after a prolonged illness, hospital authorities announced late Monday night. “It is with indescribable grief, we announce the sad demise of our esteemed honorable chief minister of Tamil Nadu … at 11:30pm (local time) today (December 5),” Chennai’s Apollo Hospital said in a statement released to the media. Doctors […]
by Hwang Sunghee SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un conducted a large-scale artillery drill simulating an attack on the South Korean capital and other targets, as Seoul and Tokyo on Friday unveiled fresh unilateral sanctions against Pyongyang over its nuclear weapons program. The military exercise, involving multiple batteries of frontline heavy artillery units, targeted five border islands, as well as “reactionary ruling organs” in Seoul and other cities, the North’s official […]
