Thursday, 05 Dec, 2024

International

Philippine typhoon death toll rises to 111

MANILA - The death toll from a typhoon that struck the Philippines last week has risen to 111, with another 45 people still missing, the government said Friday.The confirmed death toll jumped from 79 after 32 bodies, mainly those of fishermen, were found in recent days, said Benito Ramos,

Nepal parliament makes fresh attempt to elect leader

KATHMANDU:  Nepal`s parliament is set to meet Friday for another attempt at electing a prime minister to fill a three-week political void in the country.After several missed deadlines and an inconclusive session on Wednesday, lawmakers will try to decide on either Maoist leader Pushpa

N.Korea vows `physical response` to US moves

HANOI - North Korea on Friday vowed a "physical response" to recent measures imposed by the United States in response to the sinking of a South Korean warship."There will be physical response against the steps imposed by the United States, militarily. It is no longer the 19th century

Kim sends aircraft to N.Korea flood victims

SEOUL:  North Korea`s "loving" leader Kim Jong-Il sent the air force to rescue dozens of people trapped by flash floods after heavy rain this week, Pyongyang`s official media reported Friday. A Korean Central Television broadcast, monitored by the South`s Yonhap news agency, said 28

Eight die in massive Mexican shootout

CIUDAD JUAREZ:  Eight hitmen were killed in a shootout with scores of soldiers in a mountainous area of northern Mexico, after gunfights virtually shut down a city on the Texas border, officials said Thursday. "A group of 100 soldiers and 60 drug traffickers clashed in the Tarahumara

UN Hariri tribunal to implicate Hezbollah: Nasrallah

  BEIRUT:  Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said Thursday that he expected members of his party to be charged by a UN court probing the murder of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, warning he stood ready for such a scenario. "I was personally informed by Prime Minister Saad Hariri before his

`Terrorists` killed in Mauritanian raid on Qaeda affiliate

NOUAKCHOTT:  Mauritanian troops attacked the base of an Al-Qaeda affiliate, killing several "terrorists," a Mauritanian official said Friday, without confirming whether the move sought to free a French hostage. "The operation which targeted a terrorist base is complete," the source

US to freeze 100 suspect North Korean accounts

SEOUL: The United States plans to freeze some 100 overseas bank accounts believed linked to illicit North Korean transactions, South Korean media reports said Friday. "The assets in those accounts are likely to be money (leader) Kim Jong-Il needs to operate his regime, so this will deal

Top Chinese negotiator to visit Taiwan

TAIPEI: A top Chinese negotiator is set to visit Taiwan next month, an official said Friday, his first visit since he was mobbed and shoved to the ground by a pro-independence crowd on the island. Zhang Mingqing will attend an academic forum in Taipei and plans to meet his Taiwanese

Venezuela breaks ties with Colombia over rebel row

CARACAS: President Hugo Chavez called an emergency Defense Council meeting overnight Thursday, after cutting ties with Colombia over accusations Venezuela was harboring hundreds of leftist rebels. The "extraordinary" council meeting on national security matters included Vice President

Pakistan PM gives army chief three-year extension

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani Thursday gave army chief General Ashfaq Kayani three more years in the top job, saying the country had reached a vital stage in the battle against militants. The premier said that the decision to give the extension to the 58-year-old

N.Korea holds talks with UN Command on sunken ship

SEOUL: North Korea`s military held a second round of talks Friday with the US-led United Nations Command about the sinking of a South Korean warship, a Command spokesman said. The meeting at the border truce village of Panmunjom began days after Washington announced plans for new

Protesters overshadow Australian PM`s climate speech

SYDNEY: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard was heckled by rowdy protesters on Friday as she delayed action on climate change to consult a "citizens assembly", in a major announcement before elections. Security staff tackled one demonstrator to the ground and led him away in

Asia-Pacific security meet opens with focus on N.Korea

HANOI:  Asia-Pacific`s biggest security dialogue opened in Vietnam on Friday with the United States and South Korea seeking a statement condemning North Korea over the sinking of a South Korean warship in March. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to ask China to do more

69 killed in five days of fighting in Yemen: officials

SANAA:  Fresh clashes between Shiite Huthi rebels and army-backed tribes in north Yemen killed 20 people, a tribal official said Thursday, bringing to at least 69 the death toll in five days of fighting that has rattled a fragile truce. "Violent clashes took place overnight between

North Korea condemns US sanctions, naval drills

HANOI - North Korea on Thursday condemned imminent US-South Korea naval exercises as a threat to global peace as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Vietnam for Asia-Pacific security talks. A spokesman for the North Korean delegation in Hanoi also dismissed fresh US

US resumes ties with Indonesian special forces: Pentagon

JAKARTA - The United States announced Thursday it was resuming military ties with Indonesian special forces after a 12-year pause, during a visit by US Defence Secretary Robert Gates to Jakarta.\\\"We will begin a gradual, measured process of working with Kopassus,\\\" a senior US defence

US Defence Secretary in Indonesia to discuss military cooperation

JAKARTA - US Defence Secretary Robert Gates arrived in Jakarta Thursday to discuss the possible resumption of military ties with Indonesian special forces.Gates, who arrived from a visit to Seoul, was due to meet President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Defence Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro

Singapore flood response not sufficient: Lee Kuan Yew

SINGAPORE: The Singapore government`s measures to reduce the impact of recent floods on homes and businesses were insufficient, the island`s founding father Lee Kuan Yew said in remarks published Thursday.   Lee, commenting on Wednesday after Singapore suffered three bouts of severe

New US sanctions `violation`of UN statement: NKorea

HANOI: New US sanctions against North Korea will violate a United Nations statement issued after the sinking of a South Korean warship, a spokesman for Pyongyang said Thursday. Ri Tong Il, a spokesman for the North Korean delegation at regional security talks in Vietnam, said the