Asia

China offers Philippines talks if South China Sea court ignored – China Daily

THE official China Daily reported that, China is ready to start negotiations with the Philippines on South China Sea-related issues if Manila ignores an arbitration ruling expected next week on their long-running territorial dispute. The China daily said negotiations between china and the Philippines could cover “issues such as joint development and cooperation in scientific research if the new government puts the tribunal’s ruling aside before returning to the table for talks”. China’s main, government-run […]

Continue Reading →

Iraq mourns after more than 200 killed in Baghdad bombing

by W.G. Dunlop BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — Iraqis on Monday mourned the more than 200 people killed by a jihadist-claimed suicide car bombing that was among the deadliest ever attacks in the country. The blast, which the Islamic State group said it carried out, hit the Karrada district early Sunday as the area was packed with shoppers ahead of this week’s holiday marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. The attack sparked […]

Continue Reading →

Hong Kong officials to visit Beijing for talks over bookseller

HONG KONG, China (AFP) — A senior Hong Kong delegation will head to Beijing for talks following explosive revelations by a bookseller who said he was detained for eight months on the mainland, the city’s leader said Monday. Lam Wing-kee, 61, has said he was seized after crossing the border into the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, taken away blindfolded and then kept in a cell without access to a lawyer for alleged involvement in […]

Continue Reading →

Suicide bombing near US consulate in Saudi: ministry

by Ian Timberlake RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — A suicide bomber blew himself up near the United States consulate in Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea city of Jeddah in the early hours of Monday, the interior ministry said. Security officers became suspicious of a man near the parking lot of Dr Suleiman Faqeeh Hospital, which is directly across from the US diplomatic mission. When they moved in to investigate “he blew himself up with a suicide […]

Continue Reading →

Tears, smoke and loss at site of deadly Baghdad blast

by Ammar Karim BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — A weeping Zainab Mustafa brought a photo of her husband to the still-smoldering site of a bloody bombing in Baghdad Sunday, seeking word of him and their two missing children. The three had gone out the night before to buy clothes for the upcoming holiday marking the end of the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, and Mustafa has not heard from them since. The suicide car bombing […]

Continue Reading →

IS-claimed Baghdad blast kills at least 119

by Ammar Karim and Safa Majeed BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — A suicide car bombing claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through a busy Baghdad shopping district Sunday, killing at least 119 people in the deadliest attack this year in Iraq’s capital. The blast hit the Karrada district early in the day as the area was packed with shoppers ahead of this week’s holiday marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. It […]

Continue Reading →

13 charged over deadly Istanbul aiport bombings: report

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) — Thirteen suspects, including 10 Turks, were charged Sunday over the Istanbul airport suicide bombings, the deadliest of several attacks to strike Turkey’s biggest city this year, the Dogan news agency reported. Turkish officials have pointed blame at the Islamic State jihadist group for Tuesday’s gun and bomb spree at Ataturk airport, which left 45 people dead including 19 foreigners. The suspects, who are in police custody, were charged with belonging to […]

Continue Reading →

Bangladesh in mourning after hostage bloodbath

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AFP) — Bangladesh began observing two days of national mourning Sunday after 20 hostages were slaughtered at a restaurant packed with foreigners in a terrifying escalation of a campaign of attacks by Islamist extremists. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina decreed the mourning period as she vowed to drag Bangladesh back from the brink, warning of a concerted bid to turn one of the world’s most populous nations into a failed state. Amid mass condemnation of […]

Continue Reading →

New Taliban leader tells US to end Afghan ‘occupation’ in first message

KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — New Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada on Saturday called on the US to end its “occupation” of Afghanistan in his first message since being appointed the militant group’s chief in May. “Admit the realities instead of useless use of force and muscle… and put an end to the occupation,” Akhundzada said in a speech on the eve of Eid-al-Fitr, the Muslim festival marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. “Our […]

Continue Reading →

Bangladesh PM ‘determined to root out terrorism’

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AFP) — Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said she was determined to eradicate terrorism in Bangladesh Saturday after security forces stormed a cafe where Islamist extremists had taken dozens of diners hostage. “It was an extremely heinous act. What kind of Muslims are these people? They don’t have any religion,” she said in a televised speech. “People must resist these terrorists. My government is determined to root out terrorism and militancy from Bangladesh.” © […]

Continue Reading →

Bangladesh commandos end hostage siege, kill six gunmen

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AFP) — Bangladesh security forces ended a siege Saturday after storming a cafe in Dhaka where dozens of diners had been held captive through the night and shot dead six of the hostage-takers. Police said at least 13 hostages, including three foreigners, had been rescued after commandos took control of the cafe in the upmarket Gulshan quarter but added that there had been an unknown number of casualties. Two police officers were also […]

Continue Reading →

Bangladesh commandos storm Dhaka hostage cafe

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AFP) — Heavily armed Bangladeshi commandos stormed a Dhaka restaurant Saturday where suspected Islamist militants were holding dozens of people hostage, including foreigners, after a deadly firefight with police, officials said. “The operation has began. Commandos have stormed the restaurant,” a security official said. An AFP photographer at the scene said he could hear a massive gunfight as security forces launched the rescue operation more than 10 hours after militants seized the hostages. […]

Continue Reading →
1 … 711 712 713 714 715 … 843