May, 2016

• 22 May

  S Koreans shun smartphones

    Seoul / AFP Dozens of people in one of the world’s most wired nations took part on Sunday in South Korea’s “space-out” competition aimed at promoting a life free from stress and information overload. About 60 contestants spent 90 minutes sitting in a public park in Seoul without talking, sleeping, eating, or using any electronic devices during the event …

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• 22 May

  Parents protest lack of college placements in China

  

    ZHENGZHOU / AP Some 500 people on Sunday protested what they say is a lack of university student placements in their central China province, in the latest protest over education reform. Parents holding banners that read “Fair education” rallied in Zhengzhou city against what they say is a serious shortage of college placements in Henan province. The protest in …

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• 22 May

  Toyota’s stair-climbing wheelchair soon

  

    Tokyo / Bloomberg Toyota Motor Corp. said it will work with Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway human transporter, to develop advanced wheelchairs for disabled people and aging populations worldwide. The agreement announced gives the world’s largest automaker a license to use balancing technology that Kamen has installed in prior generations of wheelchairs for medical rehabilitative therapy and other …

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• 22 May

  US drone attack in Pakistan kills top Taliban leader Mansour

  

    Kabul / AFP Afghanistan’s spy agency on Sunday said Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed in a US bombing raid, the first confirmation from regional officials of his death, which marks a potential blow to the resurgent militant movement. The Taliban have not commented officially on the very rare American drone attack deep inside Pakistan on Saturday, authorised by …

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• 22 May

  IS group leader urges attacks in Europe and US

    CAIRO / AP An IS group spokesman has urged sympathizers in Europe and the US to launch attacks on civilians there if they are unable to travel to the group’s self-declared Caliphate in Syria and Iraq. In a 31-minute audio message released late Saturday by the IS media arm Al Furqan, Abu Mohammed Al Adnani says the US-led war against …

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• 22 May

  El-Sissi says Egypt submarine headed to plane crash site

    CAIRO / AP Egypt’s president says a submarine belonging to his country’s Oil Ministry has left for the site of the crash of EgyptAir Flight-804 in the eastern Mediterranean. President Abdel-Fattah El Sissi says the submarine has the capacity to operate at a depth of 3,000 meters (9842 feet) below the surface. He says the submarine left Sunday to …

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• 22 May

  Cypriots vote for a new parliament

    NICOSIA / AP Cypriots are voting for a new parliament amid public disillusionment with what many see as a discredited political establishment. Some 543,000 voters are eligible to cast ballots on Sunday for 56 lawmakers, but opinion polls have shown a large undecided vote. The vote won’t result in a change of government under Cyprus’ presidential system. Opinion polls …

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• 22 May

  Erdogan loyalist to be appointed as Turkish PM

  

    Ankara / AFP Turkey’s Transport Minister Binali Yildirim will be formally appointed as head of the ruling party and as the new prime minister on Sunday, strengthening the grip on power of his mentor President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Yildirim—a longstanding and faithful ally of Erdogan—is the only candidate at an extraordinary congress of the ruling Justice and Development Party …

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• 22 May

  Yemen govt to end peace talks boycott, says UN

    Kuwait City / AFP The Yemeni government delegation is to rejoin UN-brokered peace talks in Kuwait with Shiite rebels who control the capital, ending a four-day boycott, the UN special envoy said on Sunday. The hard-won negotiations on ending a conflict that has killed more than 6,400 people and driven 2.8 million from their homes since March last year …

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• 22 May

  IS extremists’ lasting grip is new hurdle for Europe, USA

    PARIS / AP The girl, speaking in the lilting accent of southern France, appeared in government ads describing how she was recruited by IS extremists during her quest for religion, then encouraged to quit school and go to Syria, and finally to plot a suicide attack against a synagogue at home. “I have a hard time even admitting now …

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