German consulate in Afghanistan attacked with Taliban car bomb
A suicide car bomb has exploded in front of the German consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan. At least six people have died and more than 100 have been wounded in the Taliban-claimed attack.
Taliban militants rammed an explosive laden vehicle into a wall surrounding the German consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif late Thursday night, killing at least six people and wounding scores more, Afghan officials said.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called a meeting of the ministry's crisis task force to discuss the situation.
Local residents reported hearing a large blast followed by gunfire. The explosion shattered the glass of nearby buildings, causing most of the injuries, provincial governor spokesman Munir said.
The German Foreign Office reported that fighting occured both "outside and on the premises of the German Consulate General," adding that Afghan and NATO troops were at the scene. They later declared the attack had finished.
Asia's emerging currencies plunge amid fears of Trump trade barriers
Concerns about possible US inflation also acted to push the US dollar higher against units such as the Indonesian rupiah and Malaysian ringgit
Asia’s emerging currencies have have been hit hard by a wave of selling as financial markets bet on the prospect of Donald Trump pursuing protectionist trade policies.
Despite stocks closing at an all-time high on Wall Street, investors across Asia turned cautious on Friday on fears that Trump could stifle access to the world’s biggest economy and that his expansionist fiscal plans could fire inflation at home and higher US interest rates.
The greenback almost hit 107 yen for the first time since July in US trade and it maintained most of the gains in Asia, sitting at 106.62 yen – well up from the 101.20 yen touched in the initial panic of Trump’s win.
Aleppo on last food packages, says UN as harsh winter approaches
UN warns that a quarter of a million people in rebel-held east Aleppo will starve unless aid is allowed into besieged areas
Rebels and civilians in war-torn east Aleppo are facing the prospect of starvation as winter sets in unless aid is allowed to reach people inside regime siege barricades, the UN has warned.
The area’s approximately 250,000 residents have been trapped under siege conditions since July, when President Bashar al-Assad’s forces managed to cut off rebel supply lines.
Residents have already reported particularly acute shortages in fuel, medicines and foodstuffs for young children, but the last remaining UN food packages were handed out on Thursday, meaning that next week there will be nothing left to distribute unless aid is allowed in.
Racist graffiti reported after Trump’s election
Social media users in the US are posting images and stories about racist graffiti linked to Donald Trump supporters, one day after Trump was elected the next president of the United States.
One Facebook post showing racist graffiti scrawled on a wall at a high school in Minnesota made the rounds on the social networking site
One Facebook post showing racist graffiti scrawled on a wall at a high school in Minnesota made the rounds on the social networking site
In response, Maple Grove High School published a letter to parents on their website, announcing that the school had launched an investigation into the incident. The school’s principal, Bart Becker, wrote, “I am horrified by this action, which goes against everything for which our school stands; it is completely contrary to our core values, both as a school and as a district.”
New York University’s Muslim Students Association posted a photo of the word “Trump!” written on the door of their prayer room the morning of November 9. “Our campus is not immune to the bigotry that grips America”, the association said. At the time of writing, the Facebook post has been shared over 5,500 times.
New York University’s Muslim Students Association posted a photo of the word “Trump!” written on the door of their prayer room the morning of November 9. “Our campus is not immune to the bigotry that grips America”, the association said. At the time of writing, the Facebook post has been shared over 5,500 times.
Taiwan set to legalise gay marriage
Taipei: Taiwan is shaping up to become the first place in Asia to allow same-sex marriage.
Alongside its vibrant youth culture, gay and lesbian causes have gone from scorn to acceptance in barely a generation, to the point that parliament is now expected to soon legalise same-sex marriage.
President Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan's first female head of state, supports the idea and MPs are working on three same-sex marriage bills, one of which could be passed within months.
About 80 per cent of Taiwanese between ages 20 and 29 support same-sex marriage, said Tseng Yen-jung, spokeswoman for the group Taiwan LGBT Family Rights Advocacy, citing local university studies, according to a report by Associated Press.
ESCWA: 'Arab Spring' cost Middle East economies $600bn
UN agency estimate equivalent to 6 percent of GDP of regional economies from 2010 Tunisia protests to end of last year.
The so-called Arab Spring of 2011 has cost the region's economies an estimated $614bn of growth because of governmental changes, continuing conflict and falling oil prices, according to a United Nations agency.
The figure from the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), equivalent to 6 percent of GDP up to the end of last year, is based on growth projections made before the revolutions started.
Published on Thursday, it is the first estimate of its kind by a global economic body.
In December 2010, protests broke out in Tunisia which led to the first of the series of revolutions that became known as the Arab Spring, which later toppled four leaders and mired Yemen, Syria and Libya in war.
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