New Delhi / AFP Five people were killed in an explosion at an illegal firecracker workshop in India, police said on Wednesday, ahead of the annual Diwali festival when demand hits its peak. The building housing the workshop was completely destroyed when a fire hit gunpowder stocks used to make the fireworks in northern India’s Uttar Pradesh state late ...

  Taipei / AFP Hostages were forced to eat mice, scorpions and centipedes to survive during the nearly five years they were held by Somali pirates, according to a Taiwanese seafarer who arrived home on Wednesday. Shen Jui-chang, among 26 hostages freed from the crew of Naham 3 seized south of the Seychelles in March 2012, added he had constantly ...

  Tokyo /AFP Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Wednesday he wants US troops out of his country in the next two years and is willing to scrap defence pacts with longtime ally Washington if necessary. The comments follow a series of anti-American tirades by the firebrand leader, who has repeatedly attacked the US while cosying up to Beijing, upending ...

Oslo / AFP Russia criticised plans to deploy more than 300 American troops in Norway, saying it would do nothing to make northern Europe safer. Norway announced on Monday that 330 US Marines, to be stationed on rotation around 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) from the Russian border, will be engaged in training and manoeuvres from January 2017. The announcement comes ...

  Caracas /AFP Venezuela’s political rivals faced a test of strength on Wednesday, with the opposition vowing mass street protests as President Nicolas Maduro resists efforts to drive him from power. The socialist president and center-right-dominated opposition accuse each other of mounting a “coup” in a volatile country rich in oil but short of food. The crisis prompted Pope Francis ...

  Moscow/ AFP A Ukrainian pilot released from a Russian prison in May was in Moscow on Wednesday to throw her support behind two compatriots jailed in Russia, her lawyer said. This is the first time Nadiya Savchenko, who was elected to the Ukrainian parliament in absentia during her detention, has visited since her release in a prisoner swap. Savchenko ...

  Bloomberg Apple Inc.’s fourth-quarter results were bolstered by robust early demand for the iPhone 7, analysts predicted, helping slow the pace of a sales slump for the world’s most valuable company. After releasing a new version of its bestselling device in September, Apple likely sold 45 million units of all types of iPhones in the most-recent fiscal quarter ending ...

  SAN FRANCISCO / AP Google has designed a giant touch-screen canvas for companies trying to make it easier for their employees to brainstorm as they work on team projects and other assignments. The product is called “Jamboard,” an allusion to its goal of replacing the physical whiteboards that companies have been setting up in meeting rooms for decades. It ...

  SAN FRANCISCO / AFP Alphabet, the parent of internet giant Google, on Tuesday announced it was halting the rollout of its Google Fiber — 1 Gbps fiber optic wireless service, in some markets. In cities where service started or is being developed, work will press ahead, said Craig Barratt, head of the Access division that covers the Google Fiber ...

  Relaxnews Global smartwatch sales reportedly stand at 2.7 million units for Q3 2016, down from 5.6 million in Q3 2015 (-51.6%), according to the latest figures from IDC. Could this be a passing dip or a genuine lack of enthusiasm for the product itself? Consumers seem to be snubbing smartwatches of all makes and models. Although Apple hasn’t released ...