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by Park Chan-Kyong SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea conducted an apparently successful submarine-launched missile test on Wednesday, days after threatening a nuclear strike in retaliation at the start of large-scale South Korea-US military exercises. A statement from South Korea’s military Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile, launched in the early morning from a submarine in the East Sea (Sea of Japan), flew around 500 kilometers (310 miles) — a substantial improvement on […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday condemned a ballistic missile launch by North Korea earlier in the day as a “reckless act”, Jiji Press reported. “It is a grave threat to Japan’s security environment,” Abe told reporters, according to the news agency. “It is an unforgivable, reckless act.” © 1994-2016 Agence France-Presse
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A Japanese father stabbed his 12-year-old son to death after complaining the boy was failing to study for a school entrance exam, media said Tuesday. Kengo Satake, the boy’s 48-year-old father, told police that he “argued with his son for not studying” before a test to enter a private junior high school, public broadcaster NHK reported. Competition for entry to the best schools in Japan is intense. Admission to a prestigious one […]
NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — An Indian policeman who spent two months swallowing knives and had 40 of them surgically removed said Tuesday that “spiritual powers” made him do it. The father of two underwent a successful five-hour operation to remove the knives from his stomach in the northern city of Amritsar after complaining to doctors of severe abdomen pain. “I don’t know why I did it but there was some spiritual power behind it,” […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A strong typhoon dumped heavy rain that caused flooding on Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido on Tuesday after killing one person near Tokyo and injuring dozens. Typhoon Mindulle, which made landfall near Japan’s capital on Monday, flooded rivers, submerged roads and damaged farms in Hokkaido, TV footage showed. A woman in Sagamihara city outside Tokyo died on Monday as a result of the storm, according to the Kanagawa prefecture government. Neither […]
by Raziye AKKOC with Stuart WILLIAMS in Istanbul ANKARA, Turkey (AFP) — Turkey on Monday went back on claims that a child bomber linked to Islamic State (IS) jihadists carried out a deadly suicide bombing close to Syria, saying it had no clue who was behind the attack. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Ankara could not confirm who was the perpetrator of the attack on a Kurdish wedding in the city of Gaziantep which […]
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Taiwanese shouting anti-communist slogans staged an airport protest Monday against a visit by a top Shanghai official which they see as intended to promote China’s unification with Taiwan. Sha Hailin, a standing committee member of the Communist Party in the city and head of the United Front Work Department there, is the highest-level mainlander to visit since cross-strait ties worsened under Taiwan’s new government. He arrived in Taipei for an annual […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s state broadcaster has questioned the authenticity of the video of Syrian boy Omran which went viral worldwide, alleging it may have been faked as part of a Western “propaganda war”. The video showed the stunned-looking four-year-old covered in blood and dust after an air strike in Aleppo last week, with the US State Department calling the child “the real face” of the Syrian war. Beijing supports the Syrian government led […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan on Monday lodged a diplomatic protest with Russia over the detention of a Japanese citizen visiting an island disputed by the two countries. Tokyo and Moscow are working to resolve decades of tensions over four islands occupied by the Soviet Union in the closing days of World War II and now controlled by Russia. The man, who has not been identified, was detained following baggage checks conducted ahead of his […]
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Taiwan is investigating a bank linked to the so-called Panama Papers scandal, in the wake of a $180 million fine levied by US authorities for “flagrant disregard” of anti-money laundering laws. American regulators last week said Taiwan’s Mega International Commercial Bank showed indifference towards transactions carried out through Panama, which it calls a “high-risk jurisdiction for money-laundering”. The US Department of Financial Services (DFS) said it had identified “suspicious transactions” between […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A powerful typhoon was on course for a direct hit on Tokyo Monday, with nearly 400 flights grounded due to heavy rain and strong winds. Strong typhoon Mindulle was expected to make landfall around noon, moving upwards from the Japanese capital to the northern Tohoku region, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. Packing gusts up to 180 kilometers (110 miles) per hour, the storm was heading north at a speed of 25 […]
by Giles HEWITT SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Tens of thousands of South Korean and US troops began a military exercise simulating an all-out North Korean attack Monday, as Pyongyang threatened a pre-emptive strike on forces participating in the drill. The two-week annual Ulchi Freedom exercise is largely computer-simulated, but still involves 50,000 Korean and 30,000 US soldiers. The drill always triggers a spike in tensions on the divided Korean peninsula, and this year it […]
