Mum under probe after four kids found dead
TOKYO • A mother in Japan is under investigation for murder after her four children were found dead at home, Japanese media reports and police said yesterday.
The woman, 41, had confessed to killing a 10-year-old boy, two six-year-old girls, and a three-year-old girl. She reportedly attempted suicide after the murder but failed. Her motive remained unclear.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Over 20 people behind Thai blasts: Police
BANGKOK • Thai police yesterday said at least 20 people were involved in carrying out a wave of deadly bombings in the country's south earlier this month.
National police chief Jakthip Chaijinda said police have not ruled out any motive for the attacks and believe that many of those involved came from Thailand's Muslim-majority southern provinces.
No group has claimed responsibility for the Aug 11 and Aug 12 attacks which took place in seven provinces and targeted high-profile beach towns, killing four people and injuring dozens.
REUTERS
Manila, Maoist rebels open peace talks
OSLO • The Philippine government and Maoist-led guerillas opened peace talks in Oslo yesterday, seeking to end nearly five decades of conflict that have killed more than 40,000 people.
Both sides announced ceasefires at the weekend to buoy the talks, the first formal meeting in five years in fitful peace talks dating back to 1986 over one of the world's longest- running guerilla insurgencies.
The rebels praised new President Rodrigo Duterte for steps that include the release of 17 prisoners to attend the five-day meeting in Norway and the appointment of what they called progressives to Cabinet posts, including agrarian reform.
REUTERS
N. Korea resuming plutonium-making: UN
VIENNA • North Korea appeared to resume activities this year aimed at producing plutonium, which can be used in the core of an atomic bomb, the UN nuclear watchdog has confirmed, though it added that signs of those activities stopped last month.
Pyongyang vowed in 2013 to restart all nuclear facilities, including the main reactor at its Yongbyon site that had been shut down and has been at the heart of its weapons programme.
It said last year that Yongbyon was operating and that it was working to improve the "quality and quantity" of its nuclear weapons.
REUTERS
