(REUTERS) China will offer its first regular civilian cruises to the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea by 2020, state media said on Wednesday, a move likely to irk other claimants to the disputed waters. China’s activities in the contested area, such as building artificial islands, airfields and other military facilities, have fueled tension in Southeast Asia, although it says most of the construction is for civilian purposes. The island province of Hainan […]
Asia
China to launch cruises to disputed Spratly islands
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Chinese cruise ships will regularly bring tourists to the contested Spratly Islands in the South China Sea by 2020, reports said Wednesday, as tensions mount in the region. Beijing asserts sovereignty over almost all of the strategically vital South China Sea, despite rival claims from Southeast Asian neighbours, and has rapidly built reefs into artificial islands capable of hosting military planes. Chinese companies already operate cruises — for Chinese nationals only […]
Lightning kills at least 67 as monsoon sweeps India
NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — At least 67 people have been killed by lightning in India over the past two days, disaster management officials said Wednesday, as the annual monsoon rains sweep the country. Lightning strikes are relatively common in India during the June-October monsoon, which hit the southern coast earlier this month, but this week’s toll is particularly high. An overnight storm in the eastern state of Bihar killed at least 47 people and […]
South Korea denounces the North’s missile launch
South Korea on Wednesday (June 22) denounced North Korea’s ballistic missile launch, saying it is clearly an act of provocation. North Korea launched what appeared to be a second intermediate-range Musudan missile on Wednesday that flew about 400 km (250 miles), in what seemed to be its most effective test yet, hours after another launch failed, South Korea’s military said. “A launch of a projectile using ballistic missile technology violates U.N. resolutions. And it is […]
Japan landslides, floods death toll rises to six
TOKYO, United States (AFP) — The death toll from landslides and floods in an earthquake-battered region of southern Japan has risen to six, an official said Wednesday, with all missing now accounted for. A man in his 80s and a 53-year-old woman were confirmed dead after being found Tuesday by rescuers where landslides hit in the southern prefecture of Kumamoto. “We found the last person who had been missing yesterday… the woman was confirmed dead,” […]
Abe pledges to boost economy as upper house poll campaign begins
(REUTERS) Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe began an upper house election campaign on Wednesday with a pledge to rev-up the economy as surveys showed his ruling bloc ahead, despite doubts over Abe’s economic growth recipe. Abe’s coalition is in no danger of losing power in the election but he needs a solid win to keep his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lawmakers in line and perhaps stay on another three years after his tenure as […]
North Korea fires second missile after first launch fails – South Korea
(REUTERS) North Korea launched what appeared to be a second intermediate-range Musudan missile on Wednesday morning after another launch hours earlier failed, South Korea’s military said. It was not immediately clear if the second launch, about two hours after the first, was successful. The first missile was launched from the east coast city of Wonsan, a South Korean official said, the same area where previous tests of intermediate-range missiles were conducted, possibly using mobile launchers. […]
At least three dead in Japan landslides, floods
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — At least three people have died and three are missing after landslides and floods hit an area of Japan that was recently battered by major earthquakes, officials said Tuesday. Rescue workers are searching for three people in southern Kumamoto prefecture, where nearly 2,000 residents were already forced to evacuate their homes after two huge earthquakes in April. The 6.2-magnitude and 7.0-magnitude tremors were followed by more than 1,700 aftershocks, which broke […]
Myanmar’s Suu Kyi reiterates stance on not using term ‘Rohingya’
(Reuters) Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has told the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights that the government will avoid using the term “Rohingya” to describe a persecuted Muslim minority in the country’s northwest, an official told Reuters on Monday. Members of the 1.1 million group, who identify themselves by the term “Rohingya” and live in apartheid-like conditions, are seen by many Myanmar Buddhists as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. The term is […]
Suicide bomber hits minibus in Kabul: police
KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — A suicide bomber hit a minibus carrying foreign security guards and caused several casualties early Monday in Kabul along the main road to the eastern city of Jalalabad, police said. The attacker was on foot, according to police, who refused to give a toll but said there were “multiple casualties” among the bus passengers who were “employees of a foreign compound”. The bus was carrying Nepalese guards, according to an AFP […]
Explosion hits minibus in Kabul: police
KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — An explosion hit a minibus in Kabul early Monday on the main road to the eastern city of Jalalabad, police said. There were fears of numerous casualties with more than two dozen ambulances at the scene, according to an AFP journalist. 1994-2016 Agence France-Presse
14 children drown in Russia lake tragedy
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — At least 14 children on a summer camp in northeast Russia drowned when their boats capsized in a storm on a lake, investigators said Sunday. The accident happened overnight on Lake Syamozero, close to the border with Finland, according to Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for Russia’s investigative committee. “The investigators have finished examining the bodies of the 14 victims. They said that they were all born between 2002 and 2004. There […]
