KABUL – A suicide attack at a tutoring centre in the Afghan capital Kabul killed at least 19 people and wounded dozens, police said on Friday, but there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast. Many of those living in the western area where the blast occurred are Hazara, an ethnic mostly Shi’ite Muslim […]
HANOI – Seven bodies have been found washed ashore on a beach in southern Vietnam, authorities said on Friday, a week after a boat with more than 40 people on board sank off the neighbouring Cambodian coastal town of Sihanoukville. The bodies found on a beach on Phu Quoc Island, which straddles the border area […]
SEOUL – South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol called on Friday for more urgency in dealing with turbulent markets as the won currency’s fall to a 13.5-year low heightened fears of capital flight. He made the remarks at a meeting of top economic officials as a weekly opinion poll published on Friday found his approval rate […]
Eric Emeraux, head of the Gendarmerie's Central Office for Combating Crimes Against Humanity, Genocides and War Crimes, displays documents with a wanted poster depicting a photograph of Felicien Kabuga during an interview with Reuters at his office, about the arrest of Rwandan genocide fugitive suspect Felicien Kabuga, in Paris, France, May 19, 2020. (BENOIT TESSIER […]
(From left to right) Brazilian presidential candidates Jair Bolsonaro (PL), Padre Kelmon (PTB), Luiz Felipe D'Avila (Novo), Soraya Thronike (Uniao), Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT), Simone Tebet (MDB) and Ciro Gomes (PDT) pose before a presidential debate ahead of the October 2 general election, at the Globo television network in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, […]
A photo taken on Sept 28, 2022 from an aircraft of the Swedish Coast Guard (Kustbevakningen) shows the release of gas emanating from a leak on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, in the Swedish economic zone in the Baltic Sea. (PHOTO / SWEDISH COAST GUARD VIA AP) Russia and European nations have launched investigations […]
In this photo taken by a drone, boats lie scattered amid mobile homes after the passage of Hurricane Ian, on San Carlos Island, in Fort Myers Beach, Florida, Sept 29, 2022. (REBECCA BLACKWELL / AP) Fort MYERS, Florida – Emergency crews tried on Thursday to reach stranded Florida residents as a resurgent Hurricane Ian veered […]
SYDNEY – Women working at Australia’s isolated research stations in Antarctica face a “predatory” culture and widespread sexual harassment, according to an inquiry report published Friday. Problematic behaviour ranged from sexual jokes and taunts to unwelcome requests for sex, and even the display of pornographic material on the bases, the report said. Expeditioners described the […]
SYDNEY – Australia will end the mandatory five-day home quarantine for Covid-infected people on Oct 14, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Friday, as the country scrapped one of the last remaining restrictions from the pandemic era. “We want a policy that promotes resilience and capacity-building and reduces a reliance on government intervention,” Mr Albanese said […]
BANGKOK – Thailand respects that cannabis is banned in countries like Singapore, and has no plans to promote its use to citizens of such countries, said Thai Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul. “It is not our intention to change their mindset,” he said.
HONG KONG – Hong Kong will stick with its push to reopen to the world unless a dangerous new variant emerges, said the city’s top health official, while stressing the financial hub has an obligation to protect mainland China from major Covid-19 outbreaks. “We have to be prepared. Emerging diseases may come anytime,” Secretary for […]
Members of an election commission count ballots after voting during a referendum at a polling station in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, Sept 27, 2022. (PHOTO / AP) MOSCOW/KYIV — The Kremlin on Tuesday announced the results of referendums held in four regions to determine whether they want to become part of Russia. Authorities in Zaporizhzhia said […]
A health worker receives a dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in Francistown, Botswana, on March 26, 2021. (MONIRUL BHUIYAN / AFP) GABORONE / MOSCOW – Wearing masks is no longer mandatory in Botswana, announced an official press release on Wednesday. All other remaining COVID-19 protocols, like social distancing in schools and requirements for vaccination […]
YANGON – For Mr Zaw Myint Thein, a farmer in north-western Myanmar, having no Internet in the area for more than a year causes many inconveniences – his son is unable to study, he can no longer sell his watermelon crops online, and he feels cut off. “It’s like my eyes and ears are closed,” […]
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen arrives for the second day meeting of the European Union special summit in Brussels, Belgium, on Oct 2, 2020. (EUROPEAN UNION / HANDOUT VIA XINHUA) BRUSSELS / COPENHAGEN – The EU on Wednesday rushed to ramp up security safeguarding the bloc's energy infrastructure in response to what it called acts […]
KABUL – Afghanistan has signed a provisional deal with Russia to supply gasoline, diesel, gas and wheat to Afghanistan, Acting Afghan Commerce and Industry Minister Haji Nooruddin Azizi told Reuters. Azizi said his ministry was working to diversify its trading partners and that Russia had offered the Taliban administration a discount to average global commodity […]
JAKARTA – Indonesia has approved its first domestically-produced Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use for people over 18, the chief of the country’s food and drugs agency (BPOM) was quoted by news media as saying on Wednesday. The Indovac vaccine has been developed by Indonesia’s state-owned pharmaceutical company Bio Farma and the Baylor College of Medicine […]
YOKOSUKA, JAPAN – US Vice-President Kamala Harris condemned on Wednesday “disturbing” actions by China in the Pacific while pledging to deepen “unofficial ties” with Taiwan, days after the US administration pledged its forces would defend the island. Ms Harris made her remarks on the deck on the USS Howard destroyer during a visit to […]
ISLAMABAD – Pakistan’s new finance minister, Mr Ishaq Dar, will work to rein in inflation and cut interest rates, he said on Wednesday, calling the rupee currency undervalued and promising a strong response to resolve the South Asian nation’s worst economic crisis. In his fourth time in the role, the chartered accountant must tackle a […]
KATHMANDU – Rescuers were scouring the Himalayas by helicopter on Wednesday as they resumed the search for missing US ski mountaineer Hilaree Nelson on the slopes of Nepal’s Manaslu peak. Ms Nelson slipped and disappeared while skiing down the world’s eighth-highest mountain, after a successful summit with her partner Jim Morrison on Monday. “Jim and […]