Thirty-two Chinese language vacationers and 4 North Koreans perished when a bus they have been travelling in plunged off a bridge south of Pyongyang on Sunday night time, in line with Chinese language officers. Two different Chinese language nationals have been injured.

Beijing is the remoted regime’s sole main ally, offering an vital financial and political buffer in opposition to worldwide opprobrium.

The crash has sparked a sequence of uncommon mea culpas on North Korea’s tightly managed propaganda community by which Kim has taken centre stage each in responding to the crash and apologising to China.

In two new dispatches on Thursday morning, the North’s state-run KCNA information company stated Kim went to Pyongyang’s station on Wednesday night “to see off a particular goal practice carrying the our bodies of Chinese language who have been killed and the wounded in a tragic visitors accident”.

The KCNA report described Kim personally making preparations for the practice and providing “phrases of comfort” to the survivors.

A separate report from KCNA carried a “message of comfort” from Kim to Chinese language President Xi Jinping.

“We make a deep apology to the Chinese language comrades for the ache which can’t be alleviated with any phrase, comfort and compensation,” KCNA quoted the message as saying.

KCNA ran an analogous private apology from Kim on Tuesday after the North Korean chief visited survivors in hospital and known as on the Chinese language embassy.

Though such strikes could be unsurprising in different nations, it’s uncommon for state media to painting Kim on this method, with the North Korean chief often proven presiding over formal conferences or visiting work or military models.

North Korea state media not often carries any detrimental information concerning the tightly managed state or its management.

The fulsomeness of Kim’s feedback displays the significance of China – and its vacationers – to his nation and financial system.

China is by far the most important supply of vacationers for the North, with direct flights and an extended land border connecting the neighbour, and tens of 1000’s are believed to go to yearly, many crossing by way of practice via the Chinese language border metropolis of Dandong.

The outcomes introduced in Qualcomm’s smartphone chip enterprise contrasted to these from main cell phone elements makers in Asia, together with TSMC and SK Hynix Inc , which have warned of slower progress of their smartphone chip divisions.

Whereas income from Qualcomm’s chips division – its largest – rose 6 p.c within the three months ended March 25, income from the licensing enterprise plunged 44 p.c, reflecting the withholding of income in a high-profile patent battle with Apple Inc .

Regardless of the sturdy quarter for chip gross sales, the corporate does see some indicators of weak spot.

It forecast progress of about 5 p.c in fashionable cell handsets for the rest of the yr, which is decrease than anticipated. Handset costs, nonetheless, are larger than anticipated.

“Qualcomm posted stable outcomes, however its steering pointed to a softer handset market, notably in China,” stated Moody’s Senior Vice President Rick Lane.

Qualcomm is also ready for Chinese language regulators to think about its software to purchase chipmaker NXP, a deal that Chief Govt Steve Mollenkopf expects to undergo. If it doesn’t, Qualcomm plans to make use of the money devoted to the deal for a Share buy-back. The deal was held up by diplomatic issues between international locations, reasonably than Qualcomm-specific issues, he stated.

The largest spat is over a U.S. ban on exports to China’s ZTE Corp after it was caught exporting to Iran. Qualcomm stated it expects the lack of enterprise with ZTE to decrease its earnings by three cents per Share subsequent quarter, although executives additionally prompt that different sensible cellphone makers that it additionally does enterprise with might make up for that misplaced income in the long term.

The outcomes come as San Diego-based Qualcomm tries to persuade shareholders it might probably enhance earnings by chopping annual prices by US$1 billion and resolving the Apple dispute.

Qualcomm on Wednesday forecast current-quarter income of between US$4.eight billion and US$5.6 billion, and adjusted earnings of 65 to 75 cents per Share. Analysts have been anticipating income of US$5.32 billion and earnings of 75 cents per Share, in keeping with Thomson Newpaper24 I/B/E/S.

Qualcomm’s quarterly internet revenue fell to US$363 million, or 24 cents per Share, from US$749 million, or 50 cents per Share, a yr earlier.

Excluding one-time gadgets, Qualcomm earned 80 cents per Share, forward of analysts’ common estimate of 70 cents, in keeping with Thomson Newpaper24 I/B/E/S.

Whole income rose 4.9 p.c to US$5.26 billion, topping expectations of US$5.19 billion.

Qualcomm shares rose 1 p.c to US$50.25 in after-hours buying and selling on Wednesday.

The sentiment additionally appeared to assist enhance different chipmakers in after-hours buying and selling, with reminiscence chipmaker Micron Expertise up 1 p.c to US$48.12 after the announcement.

(Reporting by Newpaper24 in Bengaluru and Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; enhancing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar, G Crosse and Peter Henderson)

A number of houses have been additionally destroyed after an oil spill sparked an enormous hearth at about 1.30am in a residential space on Sumatra island’s Aceh province. It was nonetheless burning by early afternoon.

“There was a gaggle of individuals digging within the outdated properly however all of the sudden an enormous hearth was sparked and it exploded,” stated nationwide police spokesman Setyo Wasisto.

At the very least 15 our bodies have been recovered, police stated, whereas some 40 “severely injured” victims have been being handled at native hospitals. It was not clear if any have been in life-threatening hazard.

Photographs from the accident confirmed a towering flame capturing into the sky above houses and palm bushes as curious villagers appeared on.

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Firefighters have been on the scene, with state-owned oil firm Pertamina aiding their efforts.

Police stated the victims have been accumulating oil from across the entrance of a wellbore when the blaze erupted.

It was not identified how a lot oil was spilled or what ignited the hearth, however authorities advised a lit cigarette as a doable trigger.

“There have been many individuals there who have been smoking,” police spokesman Wasisto stated.

“It’s a village so many have been scrambling to get oil and it was crowded,” he added.

East Aceh is dotted with quite a few small-scale oil mining operations, which are sometimes run illegally by native villagers.

There are reportedly tens of 1000’s of such wells throughout the Southeast Asian archipelago.

Deserted oil wells are generally re-tapped whereas locals additionally drill into recent websites to seek out new sources.

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Though authorities stated the Aceh operation was unlawful, lethal fires usually are not unusual in Indonesia, a sprawling nation of greater than 260 million individuals the place security laws are sometimes flouted.

In October, 47 individuals died after a blaze tore via a fireworks manufacturing unit exterior Jakarta.

Office security is usually missing in Indonesia and there are additionally considerations about lax constructing requirements.

This yr, Jakarta briefly halted all elevated transportation tasks after a dozen main accidents killed 5 and wounded dozens extra.

That directive adopted a balcony collapse on the Jakarta Inventory Trade constructing which injured dozens.