Politics

  Sydney / AFP An unprecedented “thunderstorm asthma” event has left four people dead and three fighting for their lives in Australia, with authorities on Thursday scrambling to review their procedures after emergency services were overwhelmed. Some 8,500 people have presented to hospital emergency departments, mostly in Melbourne, since a thunderstorm coincided with a high pollen count on Monday, causing ...

  Teknaf / AFP Horrifying stories of gang rape, torture and murder are emerging from among the thousands of desperate Rohingya migrants who have pushed into Bangladesh in the past few days to escape unfolding chaos in Myanmar. Up to 30,000 of the impoverished ethnic group have fled their homes, the United Nations says, after troops poured into the narrow strip ...

  Washington / AFP Donald Trump signaled his campaign trail dismissal of the threat of climate change may have been hot air after all, saying he was “open minded” on supporting global accords. The US president-elect emerged from cabinet-building talks in his Trump Tower headquarters and traveled ten minutes across town to The New York Times to give a wide-ranging interview ...

  Beijing / AFP The Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama said on Wednesday he had “no worries” about US President-elect Donald Trump and looked forward to meeting him—a prospect which would anger Beijing. The Nobel laureate called the US “a leading nation of free world” at a press conference on a visit to Mongolia, where he met with Buddhist ...

  Seoul / AFP Japan and South Korea on Wednesday signed an agreement to share defence intelligence about North Korea, despite protests from opposition parties and activists in Seoul and strong criticism from China. South Korea’s defence ministry said the accord was necessary in the face of growing military threats from Pyongyang, which has conducted two nuclear tests and more than ...

  Berlin / AFP German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned on Wednesday against the power of fake news on social media to spur the rise of populists, after launching her campaign for a fourth term. Speaking in parliament for the first time since her announcement Sunday that she would seek re-election next year, Merkel cautioned that public opinion was being “manipulated” on ...

  Manila / AFP Philippine fishermen on Wednesday criticised President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision to ban them from a rich South China Sea fishing ground, part of his efforts to ease tensions over disputed waters controlled by China. Duterte’s aides said he had made a “unilateral” declaration to make the lagoon at Scarborough Shoal a protected marine sanctuary, after raising the issue ...

  Harare / AFP A Zimbabwe court on Wednesday indefinitely postponed the trial of five war veteran leaders charged with insulting longtime President Robert Mugabe, citing bungling by the prosecution. The five were facing charges for authoring a highly-critical statement accusing Mugabe of “dictatorial” behaviour, and were arrested earlier this year in a crackdown on critics of the 92-year-old leader. ...

  MOSUL / AP An airstrike by the US-led coalition on Wednesday “disabled” the fourth bridge on the Tigris River in Mosul, leaving the northern Iraqi city with a single functioning bridge and further disrupting the Islamic State group’s supply lines amid the government offensive against IS militants. The extremist group’s media arm, the Aamaq news agency, and a top ...

  Muzaffarabad / AFP At least nine people were killed and seven others wounded in cross-border fire which hit a Pakistani bus in disputed Kashmir on Wednesday, officials said, in the latest deadly skirmish between India and Pakistan. The incident came a day after India said three of its soldiers had been killed by Pakistani troops and threatened “retribution”, a claim ...