Nepal has been overwhelmed by its second massive earthquake in less than three weeks, its prime minister said Thursday as he visited this normally placid foothills town, now a center for frightened villagers desperate for government help. Thousands of people now crowd the streets of Charikot, the administrative center of the isolated district hit hardest by Tuesday's magnitude-7.3 quake, which killed at least 96 people and injured more than 2,300. The magnitude-7.8 earthquake that hit April 25 k

The news of the purge and reported execution of North Korea's defense minister, Hyon Yong-chol, was not searchable on China's dominant search engine Baidu Thursday, suggesting that China's Internet authorities might have blocked it.    Searches by Yonhap News Agency for "Hyon Yong-chol" or "North Korea's Hyon Yong-chol" on the Baidu portal site produced no results as of 3:40 p.m. on Thursday.    However, a search of "defense minister" produced some results for news about Hyon.    South Korea's i

Aid groups and governments worldwide intensified efforts Sunday to help earthquake-hit Nepal, but blocked roads, downed power lines and overcrowded hospitals posed formidable challenges in an already poor country.   As the death toll in the Himalayan nation surpassed 2,300, the US together with European and Asian nations sent emergency crews to reinforce those scrambling to find survivors in the devastated capital Kathmandu and in cut-off rural areas.   "Tragically, more bodies are being pulled

Malaysian police said they arrested on Sunday 12 suspected Islamic militants who were plotting attacks in the country just as it prepares to host a Southeast Asian summit.   National police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said the suspects, arrested in separate raids in suburbs of the capital Kuala Lumpur, were all Malaysian men and suspected supporters of the extremist Islamic State (IS) group.   Police also seized 20 kilograms (44 pounds) of ammonium nitrate, a similar amount of potassium nitrate, two

The first group of survivors from an earthquake-triggered avalanche that swept through the Mount Everest base camp were flown to Nepal's capital on Sunday and taken to hospitals. None appeared to have life-threatening injuries.    At least 17 people were killed when Saturday's avalanche, set off by a massive earthquake, obliterated part of the rocky village of nylon tents, where dozens of teams were training and acclimatizing themselves to higher altitudes as they prepared to make summit attempt

Malaysian police have detained 12 men suspected of being linked to the Islamic State group and who are believed to be plotting attacks on strategic government targets in the country.    National police chief Khalid Abu Bakar says the men, all Malaysians aged from 17 to 41, were detained during an operation this weekend.    He said Sunday that the men were believed to be responding to calls by Islamic State group leaders in Syria to attack secular Islamic countries.    Khalid said police also sei

Nepalese doctors set up makeshift operating theatres in a hospital car park Sunday as they worked round the clock to treat the wounded from a monster quake that has also left morgues overflowing with bodies.   As disaster officials said nearly 6,000 people were injured in Saturday's 7.8 magnitude quake, medics in the impoverished Himalayan nation told how they had been unable to save some of the most grievously wounded.   Their efforts were being further hampered by fresh aftershocks that were f

A German rescue organization and the French government say they are sending rescue and relief teams to earthquake-torn Nepal.    International Search and Rescue Germany says a team of 52 relief workers including doctors, experts trained in searching for people buried under rubble and several dog squads will fly to Nepal Sunday. The team will bring with them a mobile medical treatment center.    Spokesman Stefan Heine said the priority was to get to the scene of the quake as quickly as possible t

   South Korean department stores are beefing up marketing efforts to attract Chinese tourists ahead of the International Workers' Day holiday, industry sources said Sunday.   Retail industry insiders said stores are moving to accept the Alipay payment system and scrambling to lure big-spender VIP customers. Alipay is China's largest payment system and makes use of specialized apps to conduct transactions. It has some 800 million users with annual payment hitting some 450 trillion won (US$417 bi

The heiress of the fashion and perfume house Nina Ricci has been sentenced to a year in prison and ordered to pay heavy fines and back taxes for having hidden millions of euros in HSBC bank accounts in Switzerland.    Monday's ruling was the first involving a famous name in the so-called Swissleaks scandal, in which a former HSBC employee gave authorities thousands of names of suspected tax evaders. Other trials are expected to follow.     A Paris court convicted Arlette Ricci, 73, granddaughter

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong called Monday for a pause for reflection, after a series of proposals on ways to honour late founding father Lee Kuan Yew.   The prime minister, who is also the late Lee's eldest son, was responding to a variety of suggestions in parliament, including naming Singapore's famed Changi Airport after the patriarch who died on March 23 at age 91.   Other ideas included naming more landmarks and institutions after Lee, putting his face on Singapore dollar notes

Chinese police on Monday released at least three of the five feminist activists detained for over a month in a case which prompted an international diplomatic outcry, one of their lawyers said.   Wei Tingting, Wang Man and Zheng Churan were freed by police, said lawyer Liang Xiaojun, with the status of the other two not yet clear. The release indicates that the trio will not face charges.   "I don't have news yet about Wu Rongrong and Li Tingting, but the other three have been released," said Li

A car bomb parked near an outdoor market in a busy commercial area in Baghdad killed at least 10 civilians on Monday, Iraqi officials said.    The pick-up truck, loaded with vegetables and fruits, was parked in the southwestern, Shiite-dominated Amil neighborhood, a police officer said. The explosion also wounded at least 25 civilians and damaged about 20 cars, he added.    A medical official confirmed the casualty figures. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not aut

China is still unsure whether North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will visit Moscow next month for a World War II anniversary, South Korea's Ambassador to China, Kim Jang-soo, said Monday.    Russia has said that Kim was among the world leaders who have accepted invitations to join the May 9 ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.    North Korea has not officially commented on a possible visit by Kim to Moscow, but it would be his first overseas

Chinese ambassador to North Korea Li Jinjun, has told North Korea that the two allies need to respect each other's differences, in a rare remark that indicates Beijing's desire to develop a normal relationship with Pyongyang.    Li made the comment on March 31, when he presented his credentials to North Korea's ceremonial leader, Kim Yong-nam, according to the website of the Chinese Embassy in Pyongyang.    After presenting the credentials, Li said that he hopes North Korea and China will "respe

President Park Geun-hye on Friday called on Japan to make the utmost efforts to resolve the issue of its sexual enslavement of Korean women during World War II, saying that such an endeavor would be the first step in improving strained bilateral ties between the neighbors.   The remarks were made during Park's meeting with Toshihiro Nikai, the chairman of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, earlier in the day.   Leading a 1,400-member delegation, the Japanese politician arrived in South Kor

Three people were wounded, including one policeman, in an explosion Friday at a police checkpoint near the Syrian border in the southern Turkish town of Suruc, local officials said.   The cause of the blast was not immediately clear but Turkish media said emergency service vehicles rushed to the scene.   "The explosion took place in a rubbish bin close to a police checkpoint. Three people, including a policeman, were lightly wounded," the governor of the Sanliurfa region, which includes Suruc, I

It was a mixed bag of results for the three South Koreans competing in the short program of the ladies' singles at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships on Friday.   The reigning national champion, Park So-youn, scored 53.47 points to rank 10th after a sloppy routine that included an under-rotated jump and a botched spin.   Kim Hae-jin, a three-time national champ who has struggled this season, scored 51.41 points with a relatively clean program, and positioned herself in 11th place. 

South Korea and Japan have decided to hold joint events this year to mark the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic ties, the foreign ministry said Friday, a decision which came despite long-running tension between the neighbors.   "Having designated this year as the 50th anniversary of normalizing South Korea-Japan diplomatic relations, (the countries) decided to pursue a variety of commemorative events to step up cooperation and exchanges between the people of both countries," the Ministry of F

President Park Geun-hye on Friday called on labor and management to produce a compromise by March in the latest push to reform South Korea's rigid labor market.   "The structural improvement of the labor market must be realized to resolve the issue of jobs for young people and non-regular workers," Park said in a meeting with top officials of labor and management as well as government officials in charge of economy and labor at the presidential office.   She also warned that a new economic take-