Manila / AFP At least 39 people have been injured in two separate bomb attacks in the Philippines, authorities said on Thursday. In the first incident, two bombs exploded late Wednesday in the central island of Leyte, wounding 33 people who were watching a boxing match in Hilongos, government officials said. Another unexploded bomb was also found in the town, ...

  Tokyo / AFP Japan’s hawkish defence minister prayed on Thursday at a controversial war shrine in Tokyo the day after accompanying Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on a symbolic visit of reconciliation to Pearl Harbor, drawing condemnation from China and South Korea. Yasukuni Shrine honours millions of mostly Japanese war dead, but is contentious for also enshrining senior military and political ...

Seoul / AFP South Korea’s ambassador to France was grilled by investigators on Thursday over allegations that the government blacklisted thousands of cultural figures deemed critical of impeached President Park Geun-Hye. Ambassador Mo Chul-Min, who served as senior presidential secretary for education and culture from 2013 to 2014, returned home on Wednesday following a summons from a special prosecutor probing ...