Asia

Extremists may launch more attacks in Iraqi cities in retaliation for military defeats: expert

BAGHDAD, Iraq (Reuters) — Major Iraqi cities are likely to witness a surge in terror attacks as extremist groups retaliate to continued defeats on the frontline, an Iraqi security expert said on Monday. The recent escalation of suicide attacks has killed nearly 100 people in Baghdad and Muqdadiyah. Experts say the attacks show that extremist groups are being pushed from the battlefield to urban areas as Iraqi security forces retake lands from their hands. “The […]

Global charity tracks boats carrying Rohingyas fleeing Myanmar

SAMUTPRAKAN, Thailand (Reuters) — Global charity Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) on Friday (February 26) launched a mission in the Andaman Sea to track and rescue migrant boats in distress in the Southeast Asia region. The migrant boats contain a mix of people from Bangladesh seeking to escape poverty at home as well as Rohingyas, Indonesian and Malay authorities have said. Most of Myanmar’s 1.1 million Rohingya Muslims are stateless and live in apartheid-like conditions […]

North Koreans hold mass rally to affirm party loyalty

PYONGYANG, North Korea (Reuters) — North Korea held a mass rally on Thursday (February 25) in Pyongyang, to affirm party loyalty ahead of a rare ruling party conference. Video provided by North Korea’s official news agency KCNA, which Reuters cannot independently verify, showed thousands of people including senior officials gathering at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang. During the rally, people marched down a street, chanting and holding banners, one of them saying “Let’s safeguard […]

Teenager near Tokyo found to have Zika virus

TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) — Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga on Friday (February 26) said Japan had little to worry about after a male teenager near Tokyo was found to have been infected with the Zika virus. “It is not yet the season for mosquitoes to be active in our nation, so there is little concern that this case will trigger a large scale infectIon. However the government has held meetings to decide supplementary steps […]

China says deployment of S.China Sea defenses is its legitimate right

BEIJING, China (CCTV) — China’s defence ministry said on Thursday (February 25) that his country has the legitimate right to deploy defenses in the South China Sea in the face of a militarization process being pushed by the United States. China and the United States have sparred repeatedly over the past week following reports China is deploying advanced missiles, fighters and radar equipment on islands in the South China Sea, especially on Woody Island in […]

China to secure ‘de facto’ control of S. China Sea: US admiral

 WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — China is on its way to securing “de facto” control of the South China Sea, a top US admiral warned Thursday, amid growing unease over Beijing’s continued military build up in the contested waterway. By building air bases and hardened bunkers on tiny islands, some of which are reclaimed from the sea, and by installing sophisticated radar and missile defense systems, China has shown it is determined to achieve military primacy in […]

UN weighs tough new N. Korea sanctions resolution

UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — The UN Security Council headed toward a vote on a new US-drafted resolution presented Thursday that would impose the toughest sanctions yet on North Korea over its nuclear and ballistic missile tests. The draft text would require countries to take the unprecedented step of inspecting all cargo to and from North Korea, impose new trade restrictions and bar North Korean vessels suspected of carrying illegal goods from ports. The United States, […]

Emergency response workers find bodies of all Nepal plane crash victims

Kathmandu, Nepal (AFP)—Emergency workers have found the bodies of all 23 passengers and crew killed when their plane crashed into a mountainside in western Nepal, the army said Thursday. The police and army returned to the crash site at first light after abandoning recovery efforts late Wednesday due to bad weather in the remote Himalayan district where the Twin Otter turboprop aircraft came down. The site in Myagdi district is around 16,000 feet (4,900 meters) […]

Important progress made on UN resolution to solve DPRK nuclear issue: Chinese FM

WASHINGTON D. C., United States (CCTV/Reuters) — Important progress has been made in talks on a UN resolution on the nuclear issue of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday. Wang made the statement at a joint press briefing after he met with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Washington, D.C. Wang said China does not accept the DPRK’s nuclear missile program and does not recognize the […]

Indian police arrest more students on sedition charge

 NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — Indian police said Wednesday they had arrested two students wanted in a sedition case that has sparked major protests after the pair gave themselves up following nearly two weeks on the run. Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya surrendered to police at midnight on Tuesday after a court refused to grant them protection from arrest over a rally at their university where a group allegedly shouted anti-India slogans. Student union leader Kanhaiya Kumar was […]

Hong Kong official warns of political volatility hurting economy amid protests

HONG KONG, China (Reuters) — Political tensions in Hong Kong are hurting the economy, said the city’s financial secretary in his annual budget speech on Wednesday (February 24), as he rolled out a multi-billion dollar package of sweeteners to bolster growth hit by a slowdown in China. In unusually blunt comments for a budget address, John Tsang said “political volatility” was threatening to undermine the economy and warned disputes would intensify ahead of legislative elections […]

Plane with 21 on board goes missing

Kathmandu, Nepal (AFP)—A passenger plane went missing in a mountainous area of Nepal early Wednesday with 21 people on board, the airline said. Tara Air said rescue helicopters had been deployed to search for the Twin Otter aircraft, which lost contact with air traffic control eight minutes after it left the western town of Pokhara in the morning. “A plane that took off from Pokhara for Jomsom this morning is out of contact,” Tara Air […]