Kuala Lumpur / AFP An airbag made by Takata — the Japanese firm at the heart of the auto industry’s biggest-ever safety recall — ruptured after a crash in Malaysia which killed the driver, Honda said on Wednesday. “Honda has confirmed that the Takata single stage driver’s airbag inflator ruptured in a crash… in Malaysia” the carmaker said in ...

  JAKARTA / AFP An Indonesian power company said on Wednesday it had removed its founders last year and takes seriously allegations of “improper behaviour” after revelations US justice officials are probing Standard Chartered over suspected bribery at the firm. London-based, Asia-focused Standard Chartered, which controls the MAXpower Group, acknowledged it was being investigated by the US Department of Justice over ...

  TOKYO / AFP Uber, which has struggled to win Japan over to its ride-sharing service, is hoping to fare better with takeout deliveries. UberEats opens Thursday, initially just in central Tokyo, ranging from simple dishes costing just hundreds of yen to Michelin-star dining at the equivalent of hundreds of dollars. Delivery is free at first, although fees are expected ...

  Sembalun / AFP Hundreds of tourists have fled a volcanic eruption at a popular Indonesian hiking destination, an official said on Wednesday, expressing fears some may have stayed behind to document the natural wonder. Around 1,000 tourists, including about 600 foreigners, were believed to be in the area when Mount Barujari sent columns of ash and smoke shooting high ...

  Aleppo / AFP An air strike and artillery fire hit the two largest hospitals in rebel-held parts of Syria’s Aleppo on Wednesday, in what rights groups said was a deliberate strategy of targeting civilian infrastructure. President Bashar Al Assad’s forces and his ally Moscow have carried out a barrage of air strikes on opposition-controlled eastern Aleppo since Syria’s regime ...

  Jerusalem / AFP Israeli ex-president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Shimon Peres died on Wednesday, some two weeks after suffering a major stroke. Peres, who was 93, held nearly every major office in the country, serving twice as prime minister and also as president, a mostly ceremonial role, from 2007 to 2014. He won the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize jointly ...

  Ankara / AFP Turkey said on Wednesday that courts have placed 32,000 suspects under arrest on charges of links to a group run by the US-based preacher blamed for the July coup bid, as the country braces for the most extensive trials in its history. Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag told NTV television that 70,000 people had been investigated after the ...

  Manbij / AFP Children rushed out into the schoolyard for break time on the first day of classes in the Syrian town of Manbij, ignoring the IS group insignia on a nearby wall. They were savouring more than just the late September sun: it was their first normal schoolday after two years of brutal extremist rule over their hometown. “We ...

  Ajman / Emirates Business A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to promote tourism growth in the emirate and enhance business opportunities was signed between the Ajman Tourism Development Department (ATDD) and Gulf Chinese Trading Corporation. HE Faisal Al Nuaimi, General Manager of ATDD and Feng Luo, General Manager of Gulf Chinese Trading Corporation, operator of Ajman China Mall signed the ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business Emirates NBD, one of the leading banking groups in the region, is partnering with Integreat Center, a newly founded educational institution for young adults with disabilities, to fund their ‘Money Management’ programme, aimed to teach students with disabilities about financial literacy and enable them to further their financial independence. Under its Together Limitless platform, the ...