International

Hundreds of people are feared missing after a ferry capsized on Lake Victoria in north Tanzania.   A senior local official told Reuters that 42 people had been confirmed dead, adding that rescue efforts had been suspended until dawn on Friday.  Another official said earlier on Thursday that the vessel was overloaded with more than 400 people on board.   ...

More than 30 Indian passengers, some bleeding from their noses and ears, have received treatment after pilots “forgot” to turn on a switch regulating cabin pressure, officials said.   Jet Airways flight 9W 697 from Mumbai to Jaipur turned back shortly after take off.  Videos tweeted by passengers aboard the plane showed oxygen masks deployed inside the aircraft.   The ...

Malaysia’s detained former Prime Minister Najib Razak will face at least two dozen fresh charges of abuse of power and money laundering over the multimillion-dollar looting of a state investment fund, police and the anti-graft agency said Thursday. Najib was detained by the anti-graft agency Wednesday over the transfer of $681 million into his bank account and was expected in ...

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won comfortable re-election as leader of his ruling party Thursday, setting him on course to become Japan’s longest-serving premier and realise his dream of reforming the constitution.   The 63-year-old conservative secured 553 votes against 254 won by former defence minister Shigeru Ishiba, a hawkish self-confessed “military geek”, in a two-horse race for leader of the ...

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in have visited a crater lake atop a volcano considered sacred in North Korea on the last day of Moon’s visit for summit talks on the nuclear standoff and other inter-Korean affairs. Dressed in long black coats and accompanied by their wives, Kim and Moon raised their grasped hands ...

UN Secretary-general Antonio Guterres on Wednesday rejected a request by Guatemala’s government to name a new head of a UN commission investigating corruption in the Central American nation. Spokeswoman Florencia Soto told The Associated Press that the agreement between Guatemala and the United Nations stipulates that Guterres gets to determine the head of the commission.   “The secretary-general does not ...

Police in Malaysia are investigating a case of alcohol poisoning that killed at least 21 people, including two Bbangladeshis with dozens more hospitalised, most of them citizens of Asian nations, reports Lakes Mail. Cheap, homemade liquor is popular among poor, migrant workers in Muslim-majority Malaysia, which has high taxes on alcohol.   A total of 57 cases of methanol poisoning ...

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) of Pakistan on Wednesday suspended the sentences awarded to deposed premier Nawaz Sharif, daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Capt (retd) Safdar.   A division bench comprising Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb also allowed petitions filed by Sharif family members against the accountability court’s July 6 verdict in Avenfield reference case which found them ...

Indian Cabinet approves Triple Talaq ordinanc In a major victory for the Muslim women, the Indian Cabinet on Wednesday approved an ordinance making Triple Talaq a punishable offence. The cabinet approved an executive order on the amended Triple Talaq Bill that was deferred to the next session of parliament, reports NDTV. In early August, parties in the Rajya Sabha had ...

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un plan to visit a volcano sacred to the North on the last day of Moon’s visit. Moon’s office said Wednesday that Moon accepted Kim’s offer to visit Mount Paektu on Thursday.   The volcano topped with a deep crater lake is at the heart of North Korea’s foundation ...