PHNOM PENH (AFP) -- Black-clad students reenacted the horrors of the Cambodian genocide at the "Killing Fields" on Monday to commemorate the two million people killed by the Khmer Rouge's murderous, Maoist regime.(Yonhap)Hundreds gathered at the notorious site in Phnom Penh to mark the annual Day of Remembrance with prayers and performances, including students wielding wooden rifles, knives and bamboo sticks in mock attacks."We performed these scenes in order to remember the genocidal Pol Pot re

The Netherlands won the 2019 Eurovision song contest early Sunday at a show in the seaside Israeli city of Tel Aviv that featured a performance from Madonna, plenty of glitz and some controversy.The oh-so-glamorous and famously kitschy finale gave Israel a chance to showcase its credentials as a culturally progressive nation, but politics lurked in the background as pro-Palestinian activists called for a boycott. Duncan Laurence of the Netherlands celebrates after winning the 2019 Eurovision Son

TAIPEI (AFP) -- Taiwan's parliament legalised same-sex marriage on Friday in a landmark first for Asia as the government survived a last-minute attempt by conservatives to pass a watered-down version.The island's lawmakers comfortably passed a law allowing same-sex couples to form "exclusive permanent unions" and a second clause that would let them apply for a "marriage registration" with government agencies. (AP=Yonhap)The vote is a major victory for the island's LGBT community who have campaig

SEOUL (AFP) - Ever more South Koreans prefer peaceful co-existence with the nuclear-armed North to reunification of the peninsula, a survey found Monday.　Despite sharing a common language and ethnicity and centuries of history, North and South Korea have become radically different societies in recent decades.　Ruled with an iron grip by three generations of the Kim family, the North has turned itself into a nuclear power -- at the cost of international isolation -- while the South has embraced de

Forty-one people including at least two children have died after a Russian passenger plane made an emergency landing and erupted in a huge ball of fire and black smoke at Moscow's busiest airport on Sunday, investigators said.Dramatic footage that went viral on social media showed Aeroflot's Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft crash-landing and then speeding along the runway at Sheremetyevo international airport, flames pouring from its fuselage.Passengers could be seen leaping onto an inflatable slide

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) -- A Vietnamese woman who had been accused of assassinating the North Korean leader's half-brother was freed from prison Friday, ending legal proceedings over the brazen killing after an often bizarre two-year saga.Kim Jong Nam, the estranged relative of Kim Jong Un and once seen as the heir apparent to the North's leadership, died in agony after having his face smeared with a banned nerve agent as he waited at Kuala Lumpur airport in February, 2017. The sensational killing ma

TOKYO (AFP) -- Emperor Akihito of Japan formally stepped down Tuesday, the first abdication for 200 years in the world's oldest monarchy, as his son Naruhito prepared to take the Chrysanthemum Throne and usher in a new imperial era.In the "Room of Pine" in Tokyo's Imperial Palace, the popular 85-year-old performed the abdication ritual in the presence of the imperial regalia -- an ancient sword and sacred jewel that are considered to legitimise an emperor.In his final speech, Akihito offered his

Russia's Vladimir Putin and North Korea's Kim Jong Un met face-to-face for the first time on Thursday, vowing to seek closer ties as they look to counter US influence.The summit in Russia's Far Eastern city of Vladivostok comes with Kim locked in a nuclear stand-off with Washington and Putin keen to put Moscow forward as a player in another global flashpoint.(REUTERS)The two leaders shook hands and shared smiles as they met and gave brief statements before heading in for the talks, held at a uni

More than 50 people are feared killed after a landslide in northern Myanmar engulfed jade miners while they were sleeping, local police said Tuesday, the latest deadly accident in a notoriously dangerous industry.Three bodies had been pulled from the debris, Tin Soe, a lawmaker representing the jade-rich Hpakant area of Kachin state in the north, said.Deadly landslides and other accidents are common in the poorly regulated mines of Hpakant. Local people look around a jade mine where the mud dam

SEOUL (AFP) - South Korea will this week celebrate the first anniversary of a landmark summit between President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un -- but Pyongyang may not take part, Seoul said Monday.　The pair held their first meeting on April 27 last year in the Demilitarized Zone dividing the peninsula amid a rapid diplomatic thaw, paving the way for a historic summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump in Singapore in June. (Yonhap)　But one year later, little progress has

At least 290 are now known to have died in a series of bomb blasts that tore through churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka, in the worst violence to hit the island since its devastating civil war ended a decade ago.Eight apparently co-ordinated explosions targeted Easter worshippers and high end hotels popular with international guests.The horrific death toll, which has risen dramatically overnight, was given on Monday morning by a police spokesman, who said a further 500 people had been wound

PARIS -- The remaining paintings inside the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris are to be removed on Friday and stored, with fire service officials now satisfied the damaged structure is safe enough to go inside.Firemen and engineering experts have been working on the fragile landmark since a devastating blaze on Monday night, erecting scaffolding and other wooden supports to stop any of the stonework collapsing."The paintings inside the cathedral have been saved from the flames and can now be taken d

TAIPEI (AFP) -- A 6.1-magnitude earthquake jolted Taiwan on Thursday, the US Geological Survey said, shaking buildings and disrupting traffic.In the capital Taipei, highrises swayed while some panicked schoolchildren fled their classrooms in eastern Yilan county, according to reports.The quake was felt across the island and a highway connecting Yilan and Hualien was shut down due to falling rocks, authorities said.An official at the Hualien county fire department told AFP that two people, includ

French President Emmanuel Macron will discuss the fire that ravaged the famed Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris with Pope Francis in telephone talks later Tuesday, his office said."The president has already had several national and international calls this morning," including with US President Donald Trump, German Chancelor Angela Merkel and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, the presidency said. (AFP) French President Emmanuel Macron speaks as Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and Archbishop of P

SINGAPORE, April  16, 2019 (AFP) - A YouTube fact-check feature which is meant to tackle misinformation accidentally tagged live broadcasts of a fire engulfing Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris with details about the 9/11 terror attacks.The blaze erupted in the UNESCO world heritage landmark in the French capital Monday, sending its spire and roof crashing to the ground as flames and clouds of smoke billowed into the sky.The fire, which at one point threatened the entire edifice, was extinguished Tu