Sydney / AFP A major 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck off Papua New Guinea on Saturday, the US Geological Survey said, but no immediate casualties were reported and an initial tsunami threat was later deemed to have passed. The earthquake struck 60 km to the east of Taron, New Ireland, at 8.51 pm local time (1051 GMT) at a depth of …

  Seoul / AFP Tens of thousands of protestors turned out in Seoul for the eighth straight week on Saturday, pushing for the immediate and permanent removal of impeached South Korean President Park Geun-Hye. Unlike previous weeks, the demonstrators didn’t have the streets of the capital all to themselves, with a sizeable rally by Park loyalists seeking to buttress support for …

  United Nations/ AFP Ban Ki-moon left the door open to possibly running for president of South Korea in his final press conference as United Nations secretary general, noting that the country is “in turmoil”. Ban, a South Korean citizen who leaves his current post at the end of the year, was at first evasive when asked Friday about his …