Days after serial bomb blasts left 359 people dead and over 500 wounded in the island nation, Sri Lankan Police have issued photographs of six suspects, including three women, in the bombing. Police have sent out a clarion call seeking help from the public while asking them to call hotline …
Read More »Bangladesh minister: Rohingya should move to island to avoid landslides.
Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh are at risk from landslides in the coming monsoon season and should be relocated to a remote island, the country’s foreign minister said on Thursday, a move opposed by many refugees. Bangladesh wants to move 100,000 of the nearly 1 million Rohingya Muslims sheltered in cramped …
Read More »Turkey to get first S-400s in July.
Moscow will start shipping its S-400 air defense missile systems to Turkey this summer, the chief of Russia’s state arms trade agency said. The deal is going through as Ankara ignores pressure from its ally, the US. Aleksandr Mikheyev of Rosoboronexport told Russian media on Wednesday that all issues pertaining …
Read More »Heavy fighting flares between Taliban, Islamic State in Afghanistan.
Afghan Taliban insurgents are battling fighters loyal to Islamic State over control of territory in eastern Afghanistan in some of the heaviest clashes over the past year between the rival militants, officials said on Wednesday. The fighting erupted on Monday in two districts of the eastern Afghan border province of …
Read More »Over 50 believed dead in collapse at Myanmar jade mine.
More than 50 people were feared to have been killed in Myanmar when jade miners and machinery were buried under a mound of tailings late on Monday, a member of parliament and a rescue worker said. Three bodies had been pulled from the debris, Tin Soe, a lawmaker representing the …
Read More »Kim arrives in Russia for a summit with Putin.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has arrived in Russia’s the Far East for the first summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Governor of Primorsky Region Oleg Kozhemyako officially welcomed Kim at the railway station in the Russian city of Vladivostok on Wednesday. Putin and Kim are scheduled to meet in …
Read More »Sri Lanka’s bloody day: Hundreds of casualties in attacks on churches, hotels
Several explosions have hit three churches and three hotels in Sri Lanka, reportedly leaving at least 207 people dead and 450 others wounded, police say. The explosions hit St. Anthony’s Church in Colombo and St. Sebastian’s Church in the nearby city of Negombo as well as Zion Church in the …
Read More »Japan asks US to share military airbase for civilian flights during 2020 Olympics.
Japan has asked the Pentagon for permission to use its own military airstrip, currently shared with US forces, during the 2020 Olympic Games. An Air Force spokesman said the US is “excited” to consider the proposal. Tokyo is seeking to increase its passenger capacity during the competition in July and …
Read More »Afghan official: Blast rocks country’s capital, kills 2.
Afghan authorities declared Saturday the end of an hours-long, multi-pronged assault by suicide bombers and gunmen at the communications ministry in Kabul that destroyed weeks of relative calm in the capital. The attack near the communications ministry occurred one day after planned talks between the Taliban and Afghan representatives were …
Read More »China to ‘reveal’ new warships.
China will showcase new warships, including nuclear submarines and destroyers, at a parade next week, marking the 70th anniversary of it’s navy’s founding, a senior army commander says. The naval parade by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on April 22-25 will feature a total of 32 vessels and 39 aircraft, …
Read More »North Korea’s Kim to meet Putin as tensions rise with US.
North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un will visit Russia for talks with Vladimir Putin this month, the Kremlin said Thursday, as tensions between Washington and Pyongyang spiked higher. The Kremlin announced the talks just hours after North Korea launched a blistering attack on US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, demanding …
Read More »Teenage girl burned to death after reporting sexual harassment against headteacher in Bangladesh.
A Bangladeshi teenage girl has been burned to death for reporting that her headteacher sexually harassed her. Nusrat Jahan Rafi, a 19-year-old from a small town 100 miles south of Dhaka, was killed at her school less than two weeks after she filed the complaint. The saga has gripped Bangladesh …
Read More »Earthquake hits eastern Taiwan, ‘swaying & shaking’ buildings in Taipei.
A 6.1 magnitude earthquake hit eastern Taiwan’s Hualien County, disrupting air traffic and subway services. Witnesses report swaying and shaking buildings and that the tremor was felt in the capital, Taipei. The earthquake struck northeast of Hualian City, a coastal community 162 kilometers from Taipei, according to USGS. Witnesses r …
Read More »China seizes a record of smuggled ivory tusks.
Chinese authorities have seized 7.48 tons of smuggled ivory tusks, the biggest haul in recent years, as Beijing steps up a campaign against illegal wildlife trafficking. The seizures came during the last week operation against an international criminal gang “that has long been specializing in smuggling ivory,” the customs administration …
Read More »Indonesia gears up to vote in the world’s largest single-day election.
Tens of millions of Indonesians will vote in presidential and parliamentary elections this week after campaigns focused on the economy, but with political Islam looming ever larger in the world’s biggest Muslim-majority nation. President Joko Widodo, a former furniture salesman who launched his political career as a small-city mayor, is …
Read More »Iran flood death toll rises to 76; five provinces still at risk.
Iranian officials are warning that even though floodwaters have been receding in most parts of the country, several provinces remain under a flood warning due to renewed heavy precipitation. Vast expanses of the country are experiencing a new spell of rainfall, Ahad Vazifeh, an official with Iran’s Meteorological Organization, was …
Read More »India to mark the 100th anniversary of Amritsar massacre.
Britain’s high commissioner to India laid a wreath on Saturday on the 100th anniversary of the Amritsar massacre, one of the worst atrocities of colonial rule for which London is still to apologies. The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, as it is known in India, saw British troops fire on thousands of …
Read More »Tsunami warning issued after earthquake off Indonesia coast.
A tsunami warning that was issued after an earthquake struck off the east coast of Sulawesi Island, Indonesia, has now been lifted. The quake, which hit at a depth of 43km, had a magnitude of 6.8, the US Geological Survey said. Authorities initially urged people to evacuate to higher ground. …
Read More »Pakistan: Deadly explosion rips through Quetta Hazaras.
A bomb hidden among bags of potatoes at a Pakistani market killed at least 16 people, half of them ethnic Hazaras, officials said, in an attack apparently aimed at minority Shia Muslims. At least 30 people were wounded in the blast in the southwestern city of Quetta, capital of Baluchistan …
Read More »North Korea names man banned by US as head of state.
North Korea has named a new head of state, replacing a senior leader charged with representing Pyongyang in international engagements. Choe Ryong Hae was named President of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly of North Korea during the first session of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly held Thursday, Korean …
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