Asian funerals go green, high-tech at Hong Kong trade fair

Death is inevitable but it doesn’t have to be bad for the environment.

Caskets made of paper and wicker coffins on display at a recent Hong Kong funeral industry trade highlighted a trend toward “green burials” in an industry booming as Asia’s population rapidly ages.

Chinese businessman Alex Sun’s company, Shandong Ecoffin International, makes wicker and seagrass coffins, which first became popular in the West and are now catching on in Asia. Basket-weaving dates to the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) in northeast China’s Shandong province, where Sun’s factory uses fast-growing willow reeds to make caskets that are an eco-friendly alternative to wood.

Bereaved Syrian father: US missile strike not enough

Abdel Hameed al-Yousef woke to the sound of an early morning bombardment in the northern Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun and told his wife Dalal to take their twins Aya and Ahmed to safety outside.

He emerged to find the home covered in dust, and then a new strike exploded about 400 yards (300 meters away).

Within minutes, he said, his eyes started to water, and he soon lost consciousness.

Ex-Russian lawmaker shot dead in Kiev; Ukraine blames Russia

A former Russian lawmaker who became a vociferous critic of Moscow following his recent move to Ukraine was shot and killed Thursday in Kiev, prompting harsh words between the two neighboring countries.

Denis Voronenkov, who had testified to Ukrainian investigators and criticized Russian policies after his move to Kiev last fall, was shot dead by an unidentified gunman near the entrance of an upscale hotel in the Ukrainian capital.

5 dead in vehicle, knife attack at British Parliament

A knife-wielding man went on a deadly rampage in the heart of Britain's seat of power Wednesday, plowing a car into pedestrians on London's Westminster Bridge before stabbing a police officer to death inside the gates of Parliament. Five people were killed, including the assailant, and 40 others were injured in what Prime Minister Theresa May condemned as a "sick and depraved terrorist attack."

Lawmakers, lords, staff and visitors were locked down after the man was shot by police within the perimeter of Parliament, just yards (meters) from entrances to the building itself and in the shadow of the iconic Big Ben clock tower. He died, as did three pedestrians on the bridge, and the police officer.

Nigerian air force bombs refugee camp, more than 100 dead

A Nigerian air force fighter jet on a mission against Boko Haram extremists mistakenly bombed a refugee camp on Tuesday, killing more than 100 refugees and aid workers and wounding 200, a government official and doctors said.

Military commander Maj. Gen. Lucky Irabor confirmed an accidental bombardment in the northeastern town of Rann, near the border with Cameroon, saying "some" civilians were killed.

17 still missing after Indonesia boat fire kills 23

A search resumed Monday for 17 people reported missing after a ferry fire off the coast of Indonesia's capital that left at least 23 dead, officials said.

The victims died Sunday when the vessel, Zahro Express, carrying more than 260 people from a port near Jakarta to Tidung, a resort island in the Kepulauan Seribu chain, caught fire, officials said. Most of the passengers were Indonesians celebrating the New Year holiday, according to local media reports.

12 dead, 16 hurt in explosion and fire at Bangladesh factory

A boiler exploded and triggered a fire at a packaging factory near Bangladesh's capital, leaving at least 12 people dead and 16 others injured on Saturday, officials said.

Several bodies were recovered from the five-story Tampaco Foils Ltd. factory in the Tongi industrial area outside Dhaka, fire official Mohammed Rafiquzzaman said. A doctor on duty at the Tongi Hospital said nine bodies were in the mortuary as officials waited for family members to identify them.

Police say 5 connected to India temple surrender after fire

Five people who fled after a weekend fire killed at least 110 people at the southern Indian temple where they are board members have surrendered to police to face prosecution, police said Tuesday.

Police officer Madhusudan said the five were taken into custody late Monday after a two-day hunt by police.

Fireworks accident at temple in India kills more than 100

The Hindu temple in southern India was packed with thousands for a religious festival early Sunday when the fireworks began — an unauthorized pyrotechnic display that went horribly wrong.

Explosions and a massive fire swept rapidly through the Puttingal temple complex about 3 a.m. in the village of Paravoor, killing 102 people and injuring 380 others, officials said.

Indian police quiz company officials after overpass collapse

Indian police are investigating possible murder charges against 10 construction company employees who have been either arrested or detained in connection with the collapse of an unfinished overpass in Kolkata that killed at least 24 people, officials said Saturday.

Rescuers continued clearing rubble from the scene of Thursday's accident. Some 67 people have been pulled out alive, but rescuers doubted more survivors would be found.

Indian rescuers dig through overpass debris after 23 die

Using saws, small cranes and bare hands, rescuers searched for survivors Friday under the crumbled concrete and twisted steel from an overpass that collapsed onto a crowded Kolkata neighborhood, killing at least 23 people and injuring more than 80.

With more than half the debris cleared by Friday morning, 67 people have been pulled out alive, Kolkata police Sgt. P. Chakraborty said. But more people were still feared trapped. It was not clear how many are missing.

Russian coal mine accident kills 36, including 5 rescuers

A methane gas leak at a coal mine in Russia's far north triggered three explosions that ignited fires and partially collapsed the mine, killing 36 people, officials said Sunday.

The dead included five rescue workers and a mine worker who were killed early Sunday when the third explosion rocked the Severnaya mine in Vorkuta, a town north of the Arctic Circle in the Komi region, the emergency services said.

36 migrants killed in 2 boat disasters off Turkey

Authorities recovered the bodies Tuesday of at least 36 migrants who drowned off Turkey after their boats overturned in rough waters as they tried to reach the Greek island of Lesbos, officials and news reports said. Twelve others were rescued.

Nine bodies, including those of children, washed up on a beach in the resort town of Ayvalik early in the morning, prompting authorities to dispatch coast guard boats and gendarmerie officials to search the area by sea and by land for possible survivors.

Image of dead child on beach haunts and frustrates the world

The photo of the dead 3-year-old Syrian boy on a Turkish beach is haunting.

It captures everything we don't want to see when we tap our phones or open our newspapers: a vicious civil war, a surge of refugees, the death of an innocent.

The image of little Aylan Kurdi is hammering home the Syrian migrant crisis to the world, largely through social media. Aylan died along with his 5-year-old brother and their mother when their small rubber boat capsized as it headed for Greece. The Associated Press distributed the photos to its subscribers. The photos were from the Turkish news agency DHA.