TAIPEI – Rescue teams in Taiwan are continuing to search for the 12 people who remain unaccounted for after a plane crashed in a river. Thirty-one people are now known to have died when the TransAsia ATR-72 plane came down in Taipei’s Keelung River on Wednesday morning. Fifteen survivors were pulled from the wreckage, including…
ATLANTA – Bobbi Kristina Brown, daughter of late singer Whitney Houston, is “fighting for her life” after being found unconscious, her family says. Ms Brown, 21, was rushed to hospital on Saturday after being found unconscious in the bath at her home in Atlanta. Her mother, a global star, was found dead in February 2012,…
TOKYO – Japan has reacted with anger and defiance to a video appearing to show the beheading of Japanese hostage Kenji Goto by an Islamic State militant. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Japan “would not give in to terrorism” and that he would expand his support to countries fighting IS. IS has cited Japanese aid…
NEW YORK – New York City and other areas in the north-east US have shut down, with forecasters warning residents to expect “crippling” amounts of snow. Forecasters say Winter Storm Juno could dump up to 76cm (30ins) in some parts of New Jersey, Maine and New Hampshire. All non-emergency vehicles were banned in New York…
SANAA – The president of Yemen has resigned along with his prime minister in protest at the takeover of the capital Sanaa by Shia Houthi rebels, creating a dangerous political vacuum. President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi said he could not continue after the Houthis failed to honour a peace deal. Parliament has reportedly refused to accept…
SINGAPORE – Oil prices jumped on Friday as news of the death of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah added to uncertainty in energy markets already facing some of the biggest shifts in decades. Abdullah died early on Friday and his brother Salman became king, the royal court in the world’s top oil exporter and birthplace of…
RIYADH – Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz has died, royal officials have announced, weeks after he was admitted to hospital. King Abdullah, who was said to be aged about 90, had been suffering from a lung infection. A statement early on Friday said his 79-year-old half brother, Salman, had become king. Abdullah came to the…
CHICAGO – A US man was sentenced to 15 months in prison on Tuesday for illegal lobbying on behalf of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and others to try to lift economic sanctions against the African nation. Gregory Turner met many times in Africa with Zimbabwean government officials, including Mugabe and Gideon Gono, governor of the…
PORT-AU-PRINCE – Haiti’s President Michel Martelly has announced the formation of a new government amid renewed protests calling for his resignation. On his Facebook page, the president listed 18 ministers and 16 secretaries of state to be sworn in on Monday. He kept several current cabinet members in their posts and appointed some of his…
NEW YORK – Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim has become the largest shareholder of New York Times Company after exercising warrants to double his stake in the publisher to 16.8%. Entities affiliated with Mr Slim exercised the warrants he bought in 2009 when he loaned the company $250m during the height of the financial crisis. New…
