AFP, SEOUL: A salvage firm Sunday began a difficult and costly operation to raise a sunken South Korean ferry which capsized at sea more than two years ago in a disaster that shocked and enraged the country. The Sewol was carrying 476 people when it sank off the southwestern island of Jindo in April…

AFP, WASHINGTON: CIA chief John Brennan said Saturday that secret findings of a 2002 congressional investigation into the 9/11 attacks should not be taken as evidence of official Saudi complicity. A decision is expected soon on whether to release the classified 28-page section of the report by the House…

AFP, HARARE: Fifteen people, including a journalist and the brother of a missing political activist, arrested during a public protest against President Robert Mugabe were freed on bail Saturday, their lawyer said. The activists were rounded up Thursday while they were holding a vigil in Africa Unity…

AFP, TOKYO: Japanese protesters on Sunday demonstrated against the heavy US military presence on the island of Okinawa, as tensions run high after a base employee was arrested following the rape and murder of a local woman. Some 100 people marched through the streets of downtown Tokyo, with many of…

AFP, PHRAE, Thailand: On a “fighting with smiles” tour by ex-premier Yingluck Shinawatra, selfies and symbols are the weapons of choice, showing…

AFP, KATHMANDU: Nepal’s former Maoist prime minister Baburam Bhattarai announced a new political party on Sunday in an attempt to attract legions of voters disillusioned with mainstream leaders. Waving flags of the new centre-left party, thousands gathered at a stadium in Kathmandu where Bhattarai…

AFP, KIRKUK, Iraq: Iraqi forces on Sunday advanced towards Qayyarah, which lies south of the Islamic State group’s main hub of Mosul, reviving a weeks-old operation that has made slow progress so far. The operations command for Nineveh, the province of which Mosul is the capital, said the fresh…