KUNDUZ, Afghanistan (AFP) — The Taliban killed at least 16 people and kidnapped dozens of others on Tuesday after pulling them from buses in northern Afghanistan, officials said, in the latest assault since the insurgents named a new leader last week. The Taliban have so far not commented on the incident in Aliabad district in the volatile province of Kunduz, where the insurgents briefly overran the provincial capital in a stunning military victory last year. “The […]
International
Fallen Australian soldiers repatriated from Malaysia
(Reuters) — The remains of 32 fallen Australian soldiers, many of whom were casualties of the Vietnam war, were repatriated from Malaysia on Tuesday (May 31) in one of the largest such exercises in Australia’s history. The remains of Australian servicemen buried at Malaysia’s Terendak Military Cemetery were handed over to Australian officials during a repatriation ceremony held at the Royal Malaysian Air Force Base in Subang. According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission […]
6.1 magnitude quake hits Taiwan
(Eagle News) — A 6.1 magnitude quake shook northeast Taiwan, with its epicenter located 57.2 miles or 92 kilometers east northeast of Keelung, Taiwan, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The quake struck 1:23 p.m. Tuesday, May 31, and was felt even in Taipei, the country’s capital, where tremors were felt in buildings. There were no immediate reports of damage. The previous quake that hit Taiwan happened on May 12, measuring 5.6 in […]
17 killed in India army ammunition depot fire: reports
MUMBAI, India (AFP) — India’s military has a history of fires and other accidents that have been blamed on lax safety standards, including a blaze on a submarine that left two officers dead off the Mumbai coast in 2014. Firefighters using ten fire engines worked through the night to contain the depot blaze, Ramesh Barde, a fire officer with the Nagpur fire department, told AFP. “The fire broke out at 1:30 am (2100 GMT Monday) and […]
Pentagon chief heads to Asian summit as nations fret over S. China Sea
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter will depart Tuesday for an Asian security summit in Singapore, where Beijing’s military expansion across the South China Sea likely will once again dominate discussions. Regional neighbors are fretting over what they see as China’s expansionism as it rushes to exert sovereignty over the waterway, a major global shipping route believed to be home to large oil and gas reserves. China is using dredgers and […]
Big airline LATAM suspends flights to Venezuela
SANTIAGO, Chile (AFP) — Latin America’s biggest airline LATAM said Monday it will suspend its flights to crisis-hit Venezuela for an indefinite period, following a similar move by German carrier Lufthansa. Chile-based LATAM Airlines group and its Peruvian and Brazilian subsidiaries decided to cut the flights “due to the complex macroeconomic situation that the region is currently going through,” it said in a statement. It said challenging economic conditions in Latin America were prompting changes […]
Rio police hunt gang rape suspects
by Sebastian Smith RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Rio police arrested two men Monday and hunted four others in the alleged gang rape of an unconscious teenage girl that came to light in an online video that shocked Brazil. Globo television showed footage of heavily armed police in black uniforms outside a house in a favela in the west of Rio de Janeiro, which will host the Olympics in August. They were searching for […]
US zoo defends killing gorilla that grabbed boy
by Thomas WATKINS WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The director of an Ohio zoo on Monday defended the killing of a critically endangered gorilla as it dragged a young boy who had fallen into its enclosure in a horrifying incident captured on video. Harambe, a 17-year-old male western lowland silverback gorilla, was shot after the four-year-old crawled through a barrier and tumbled 15 feet (4.5 meters) into the Cincinnati Zoo enclosure on Saturday. Video footage […]
Chief Syria opposition negotiator quits over failed peace talks
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — The Syrian opposition’s chief negotiator in UN-brokered peace talks has announced his resignation, branding the stalled Geneva negotiations a failure on both the security and humanitarian fronts. “The three rounds of talks were unsuccessful because of the stubbornness of the regime and its continued bombardments and aggression towards the Syrian people,” Mohammed Alloush, a member of the Saudi-backed rebel group Jaish al-Islam (Army of Islam), said late Sunday in a statement […]
Fujimori says ready for presidency in final debate
by Luis Jaime CISNEROS LIMA, Peru (AFP) — Peru presidential hopeful Keiko Fujimori touted her political leadership skills Sunday in a final debate with center-right rival Pedro Pablo Kuczynski one week before a runoff vote. Fujimori, 41, a right-wing populist with the Popular Force party, has 46 percent of public backing going into the June 5 vote, polling firm Ipsos found in a survey also published on Sunday. Her rival, 77 year-old center-right economist Kuczynski, […]
Australian killed fighting IS in Syria: reports
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — An Australian man has been killed in Syria fighting Islamic State jihadists, the country’s third national thought to have died alongside Kurdish forces, reports said Monday. Former Australian soldier Jamie Bright, in his 40s, was named on social media as having been “martyred” in recent days. The Kurdish People’s Protection Unit said on its Facebook page that Bright died alongside three other Kurdish fighters. “He was shot about three or four […]
Five UN peacekeepers killed in Mali attack: UN, police sources
BAMAKO, Mali (AFP) — The family of a Malian civilian who died after being arrested by peacekeepers following a deadly jihadist attack claimed his death was due to abuse in custody as the UN Friday promised to “shed light” on the incident. Five Chadian peacekeepers were killed in the ambush in northeast Mali on May 18 and a sixth died of his wounds on May 24, according to the latest toll from the UN mission […]
