HONG KONG (AFP) -- Oil prices soared more than four percent Friday following news that the US had killed a top Iranian general, fanning fresh fears of a conflict in the crude-rich region.The head of Iran's Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani, was hit in an attack on Baghdad's international airport early Friday, according to Hased, a powerful Iraqi paramilitary force linked to Tehran.Later, Donald Trump tweeted a picture of the American flag, and the Pentagon said he had ordered Soleimani's killing. Bren

TEHRAN (AFP) -- Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed "severe revenge" after the United States killed the commander of the Islamic republic's Quds Force, General Qasem Soleimani, in Baghdad on Friday."Martyrdom was the reward for his ceaseless efforts in all these years," Khamenei said on his Farsi-language Twitter account in reference to Soleimani, also declaring three days of mourning. "With him gone, God willing, his work and his path will not be stopped,

BEIRUT (AFP) -- Carlos Ghosn claimed Thursday he organised his dramatic escape from bail in Japan alone as the disgraced auto tycoon enjoyed his first days of freedom in Beirut despite an Interpol arrest notice.The exact circumstances of the former Renault-Nissan boss's escape from a case he said was "rigged" were unclear but media reports described a plot that had all the trappings of a spy novel.Turkey said seven people had been detained for questioning, including four pilots, over h

BAGHDAD (AFP) -- Top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani was killed Friday in a US strike on Baghdad's international airport, Iran and the US confirmed, in a dramatic escalation of tensions between the two countries.The Pentagon said US President Donald Trump ordered Soleimani's "killing," after a pro-Iran mob this week laid siege to the US embassy.Following Soleimani's death, Trump tweeted an image of the US flag without any further explanation.The pre-dawn developments mark the most ma

NEW YORK (AFP) -- Wall Street stocks ended at fresh records on Thursday, a buoyant start to the 2020 trading campaign that extended the late-2019 rally.The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 1.2 percent to 28,868.80.The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.8 percent to 3,257.85, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 1.3 percent to 9,092.19, its biggest single-session gain in nearly three months.All three indices finished at all-time highs, the latest in a run of records as US-China tr

SYDNEY (AFP) -- Australia authorised the forced evacuation of residents Thursday amid a mass exodus of tourists from fire-ravaged coastal communities, as the country braces for a weekend heatwave expected to fan deadly bushfires.Catastrophic blazes ripped through the country's south-east on New Year's Eve, killing at least eight people and stranding holidaymakers.New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian declared a seven-day state of emergency that allows for forced evacuations beginning Friday

HONG KONG (AFP) -- A huge New Year's Day pro-democracy rally in Hong Kong ended in mass arrests and clashes between police and hardcore protesters, as demonstrators sought to carry their movement's momentum into 2020.Hong Kong has been battered by nearly seven months of unrest -- its biggest political crisis in decades -- which has seen millions come out on the streets demanding greater democratic freedoms.Organisers claimed more than a million people gathered for Wednesday's rally, which had ap

BAGHDAD (AFP) -- Pro-Iran demonstrators left the besieged US embassy in Baghdad on Wednesday after the Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force ordered them to withdraw a day after their dramatic incursion.Thousands of Iraqi supporters of the largely Iranian-trained Hashed had encircled and vandalised the embassy compound Tuesday, outraged by US air strikes that killed 25 Hashed fighters over the weekend.They marched unimpeded through the checkpoints of the usually high-security Green Zone to the emb

BEIRUT/TOKYO (AFP) -- Former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn said Tuesday he had fled to Lebanon to escape injustice in Japan, where he was on bail awaiting trial on financial misconduct charges.The auto tycoon's abrupt departure was the latest twist in a rollercoaster journey that saw him fall from boardroom to detention centre and it sparked questions over an embarrassing security lapse in Japan.In a statement, the 65-year-old tycoon said he would "no longer be held hostage by a rigged Japanese

BAGHDAD (AFP) -- Iraq's government warned Monday that its relations with the United States were at risk after deadly American air strikes against a pro-Iran group sparked anger on the streets, with protesters torching US flags.Baghdad said it would summon the US ambassador while Washington responded by accusing Iraqi authorities of having failed to "protect" US interests.At least 25 fighters were killed in Sunday night's attacks, which saw US planes hit several bases belonging to the H

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- Microsoft said Monday it obtained a court order allowing it to seize web domains used by North Korean hacking groups to launch cyberattacks on human rights activists, researchers and others.The US technology giant said a federal court allowed it to take control of 50 domains operated by a group dubbed Thallium, which tricked online users by fraudulently using Microsoft brands and trademarks."This network was used to target victims and then compromise their online account

TOKYO, (AFP) -- The badly decomposed remains of seven people have been found in a suspected North Korean fishing boat that washed up on a Japanese island, a coast guard official said Sunday.The remains were found on Saturday in a broken vessel on the shore of Sado Island, which lies around 900 kilometres (560 miles) from North Korea across the Sea of Japan."Five of the bodies were identified as men but the remaining two could not be identified" as they were badly damaged, the official

JAKARTA (AFP) -- Former South Korea coach Shin Tae-yong has been tapped to take over Indonesia's struggling national team, the country's football association said on Friday.Shin, who led South Korea at last year's World Cup in Russia -- where they famously ousted defending champions Germany -- is expected to be formally unveiled on Saturday."We have invited Shin to finalise the contract. After that he will be introduced later on Saturday," Mochamad Iriawan, chairman of the Football Ass

BAN TA KLANG (AFP) -- Separated from their mothers, jabbed with metal hooks, and sometimes deprived of food -- many Thai elephants are tamed by force before being sold to lucrative tourism sites increasingly advertised as "sanctuaries" to cruelty-conscious travellers.Balanced precariously on hind legs, two-year-old Ploy holds a ball in her trunk and flings it towards a hoop, one of many tricks she is learning in Ban Ta Klang, a traditional training village in the east.Here young elepha

HONG KONG (AFP) -- Hong Kong's Christmas celebrations were marred by sporadic clashes between police and pro-democracy activists on Wednesday as the city's pro-Beijing leader said the festive season was being "ruined" by demonstrators.Police used pepper spray and tear gas as activists held small flashmob protests in malls and multiple districts across the city.In Mong Kok, an area that has seen frequent clashes over the last six months, police fired multiple rounds of tear gas to dispe