Asia

    Nabi Tajima, who held the title of world's oldest living person for seven months, died at the age of 117 in a hospital on Saturday evening in the town of Kikai in southern Japan A Japanese woman who held the title of world's oldest living person for seven months has died. Nabi Tajima died at the age of 117 in a hospital on Saturday evening in the town of Kikai in southern Japan, town official Susumu Yoshiyuki confirmed. She died of old age, after having been hospitalized since January, as the third oldest person ever to have lived, according to modern standards of evaluation. Tajima had seven sons and two daughters, who gave her more than 160 descendants. Tajima became the world's oldest living person in September, after the death of Jamaica's Violet Brown, who a...

    After an extensive search, Guinness World Records has awarded the title of oldest living man to Masazo Nonaka from Japan, who is an incredible 112 years and 259 days old. A representative from the organization presented Nonaka with his certificate at his home in Hokkaido the northernmost of the country’s islands on Tuesday. The previous title holder was Francisco Nuñez Olivera, of Spain, who passed away in January this year at the age of 113. Nonaka was born on July 25, 1905, just months before Albert Einstein published his famous special theory of relativity and more than a year before the Wright Brothers first demonstration of powered flight. We are very pleased to announce that we have a new record holder for the oldest living man. Mr. Nonaka’s achievement is r...

At least 27 children have died after a school bus plunged 200ft (60m) into a gorge in the Himalayan foothills in India. The young victims were said to be aged between 10 and 12. The accident happened in the Kangra Valley in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh. Two teachers and the bus driver were also believed to have died. At least a dozen other people were taken to hospital. Rescue teams have reached the scene. The driver was speeding and lost control at the edge of the gorge, police officer Sunil Kumar said, adding that the rescue operation would continue into the night. The bus was carrying children studying at a private school in Nurpur town, 300km (185 miles) from the state capital, Shimla. I am deeply anguished by the loss of lives, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweet...

    A man has been arrested in Japan for allegedly confining his son in a wooden cage for more than 20 years, according to local media reports. Yoshitane Yamasaki, 73, claimed he was forced to confine his son, now aged 42, in the box because he suffered mental health problems and sometimes became violent, reported Japanese public broadcaster NHK. The cage was reportedly one meter high and two meters wide, and was kept in a hut by the family’s home in Sanda, Kyoto. The son was reportedly first locked up in the cage when he was 16, fed every day, and washed every other day. He has been taken into the care of authorities, suffering a bent back from his prolonged confinement. According to local media reports, he has been in the care of social services officials since Jan...

    Pakistan’s most widely-viewed TV channel says it has been “forced off the air” this week, fuelling fears that the country’s security forces are “flexing their authority over civilian institutions” including the government itself. As signals to the Geo TV network vanished across most of the nation, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority insisted that it is not behind the blackout - leaving fingers pointing at the country’s military. The channel, which in recent years has switched from a pro-security stance to an anti-military agenda, appears to be the latest casualty in a crusade against dissenting media organisations by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan’s feared intelligence agency. According to The New York Times, Geo TV officials “took p...

    North Korea is almost certain to complete development within 18 months of ballistic missiles capable of reaching the UK, according to a Commons defence select committee report. The report says the missiles could potentially carry nuclear warheads and it says the UK has only a limited ballistic missile defence capability. But it adds a crucial caveat: The Ministry of Defence does not consider that the UK will be a target of North Korean nuclear missiles, as its regime does not believe the UK to be a threat. The focus of North Korean military planning is mainly the US and South Korea, it says. If there were a conflict in the region, the UK would have no legal obligation to provide military assistance. Yet, in the event of North Korean aggression against South Korea a...

    Kim Jong Un watched a rare performance by South Korean female pop stars on Sunday in North Korea’s capital ahead of his meeting with South Korean president as tensions thaw between rivaling countries, media reports said. Kim watched the performance at East Pyongyang Grand Theater with his wife, Ri Sol Ju, South Korean media pool reported. The performance was delayed by two hours for “the convenience of more audience,” Yonhap News Agency reported. A South Korean artistic group that included 11 K-pop singers and girl band Red Velvet arrived in Pyongyang Saturday for two performances. The second performance is expected to be held Tuesday. The despot watched the two-hour performance titled “Spring Comes” and was seen clapping his hands during the event. He shook hands ...

    Ri Sol-ju, the wife of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, quickly became a fashion hit in China when the couple paid a surprise visit to Beijing this week to meet with President Xi Jinping. Social media users praised Ri for her looks and outfits, which they reportedly viewed as old-fashioned, but flattering and polished, nonetheless. Beyond her taste in fashion, few details are known about Ri, the woman who in 2012 was identified as Kim's wife. She is thought to be 28 now and a mother to three children, according to South Korean intelligence reports. But the Hermit Kingdom's secretive government has not confirmed that information. Ri doesn't appear in public very often. She's usually seen when Kim celebrates missile test launches, and is always photographed smilin...

    Increased activity at a North Korean nuclear site has once again caught the attention of analysts and renewed concerns about the complexities of denuclearization talks as President Donald Trump prepares for a summit with Kim Jong Un in the coming weeks. Satellite imagery taken last month suggests the North has begun preliminary testing of an experimental light water reactor and possibly brought another reactor online at its Yongbyon Nuclear Research Center. Both could be used to produce the fissile materials needed for nuclear bombs. The findings come at a particularly sensitive time. Trump and Kim are planning to meet by May, according to officials, and denuclearization will likely be the biggest topic on their agenda if they do meet. North Korea tested its bigges...

    China said on Wednesday it won a pledge from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to denuclearise the Korean peninsula during a meeting with President Xi Jinping, who pledged in return that China would uphold its friendship with its isolated neighbour. After two days of speculation, China announced on Wednesday that Kim had visited Beijing and met Xi during what the official Xinhua news agency called an unofficial visit from Sunday to Wednesday. The trip was Kim's first known journey abroad since he assumed power in 2011 and is believed by analysts to serve as preparation for upcoming summits with South Korea and the United States. Beijing has traditionally been the closest ally of secretive North Korea, but ties have been frayed by North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weap...