Author: AFP

China’s quest for clean, limitless energy heats up

HEFEI (China): A ground-breaking fusion reactor built by Chinese scientists is underscoring Beijing’s determination to be at the core of clean energy technology, as it eyes a fully-functioning plant by 2050. Sometimes called an “artificial sun” for the sheer heat and power it produces, the doughnut-shaped Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak

Malawi rolls out ground-breaking malaria vaccine

Malawi on Tuesday rolled out the world’s first licensed malaria vaccine in a landmark campaign against a disease that each year kills hundreds of thousands of people, especially African children. After more than three decades in development and almost US$1 billion in investment, the new vaccine began to be distributed

Gun battle in Sri Lanka kills 15

COLOMBO (Sri Lanka): Fifteen people including six children have died during a Sri Lankan security forces operation in the aftermath of the Easter attacks, as three cornered suicide bombers blew themselves up, police said yesterday. The three men set off explosives, also killing three women and six children inside what

Knives found at Japanese prince’s school desk: Media

TOKYO (Japan): Two kitchen knives have been found at the school desk of Japan’s Prince Hisahito, grandson of Emperor Akihito, with security camera footage showing a suspicious man trespassing on the grounds, media reported yesterday. The incident comes as authorities are beefing up security ahead of the popular emperor’s abdication

Antarctic penguins suffer ‘catastrophic’ breeding failure

PARIS (France): The second largest Emperor penguin colony on Earth has suffered a “catastrophic” breeding failure after nearly all chicks born over three years died as their icy Antarctic habitat shrinks, researchers said Thursday. The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) used satellite imagery to study the behaviour of the Halley Bay

Mandela prison drawing goes under the hammer in New York

NEW YORK (United States): A drawing by late South African leader Nelson Mandela of the door of his prison cell on Robben Island – where he was held for 18 years – will be put up for auction in early May in New York. Bonhams, which will host the sale

Widespread damage One dead as Cyclone Kenneth pummels Mozambique

BEIRA (Mozambique): A powerful cyclone pounded northern Mozambique on Friday, leaving one person dead and wrecking homes and communications, barely a month after the country was hit by one of the worst storms in its history. Cyclone Kenneth, a Category Three storm on the hurricane scale, made landfall in Cabo

Migrants in Libya shot as fighting rages between rivals

Tripoli (Libya): Migrants and refugees have been shot and wounded in a detention centre south of Tripoli as Libyan fighters battle for control of the capital, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said Friday. Clashes between Libya’s Tripoli-based unity government forces and fighters of military commander Khalifa Haftar have raged since April

Sex, casinos and tiger parts in Myanmar’s vice-riddled China frontier

MONGLA (Myanmar): Bentleys and BMW convertibles roll up to the “Venetian Casino” in Mongla on the Myanmar-China border, a melting pot of sex, drugs and gambling on a frontier that has also become a “supermarket” for illegally traded wildlife. This area of Myanmar is largely self-governed – lying within the

Jihadist attacks kill at least 17 Syria pro-regime fighters

BEIRUT (Lebanon): Attacks by two jihadist groups killed at least 17 Syrian government troops and militiamen in the northern province of Aleppo early yesterday, a war monitor said. Thirty others were wounded in the assaults by Al-Qaeda’s former Syria branch, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), and its ally Hurras al-Deen, which