Karachi / AFP The death toll from an explosion and fire at a Pakistan shipbreaking yard has risen to 16, officials said on Wednesday, as a search continued for more victims. At least 59 others were wounded on Tuesday when a gas cylinder exploded and started a fire inside an oil tanker at the Gadani yard in the southwestern province …

  Hong Kong / AFP Two lawmakers who want Hong Kong to split from China wrestled with security in parliament on Wednesday, with one of them dragged from the chamber and security staff left injured, as fears grow Beijing will step in over the saga. Widespread concerns that China is tightening its grip on the semi-autonomous city are fuelling an independence …

  Eau Claire / AFP Republican Donald Trump has spent much of the past week in enemy territory, desperate to poach a Democratic state and carve a perilously narrow path to victory in his White House race against Hillary Clinton. Polls, history, demographics and Trump’s abrasive rhetoric are not on his side, even as he seeks to capitalize on never-ending revelations …