Asia

China on Thursday defended its security crackdown in Xinjiang after French and German leaders condemned its mass detention of religious minorities in the region. The French foreign ministry on Wednesday called on China to “put an end to mass arbitrary detentions” in Xinjiang. German chancellor Angela Merkel on the same day told lawmakers she backed […]

North Korea fired two “unidentified projectiles” on Thursday — the Thanksgiving holiday in the US — Seoul said, as nuclear talks between Pyongyang and Washington remain deadlocked. The brief statement from the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Pyongyang fired two projectiles eastwards from South Hamgyong province which came down in the Sea of […]

South Korea will suspend up to a quarter of its coal-fired power plants in the next three months, even as demand for electricity peaks during the bitter winter, as it seeks to tackle air pollution, Seoul said Thursday. The world’s 11th largest economy is struggling to address growing public concern over airborne particles and pollutants, […]

by Anthony WALLACE / Daniel SUEN Hong Kong police on Thursday entered a ransacked university campus where authorities faced off for days with barricaded pro-democracy protesters, gathering a huge haul of petrol bombs and other dangerous materials left over from the occupation. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University became the epicentre of the territory’s increasingly violent […]

Beijing on Wednesday accused developed countries including the US of doing too little to curb global warming, ahead of a UN summit discussing controversial issues including climate compensation. China is the world’s second-largest economy and the biggest emitter of carbon dioxide, but has repeatedly argued that developed nations should lead on tackling international climate obligations. […]

Seven Islamist extremists have been sentenced to death by a Bangladesh court over a savage 2016 attack that killed 22 people including 18 foreigners at a Dhaka cafe popular with Westerners. A special anti-terrorism tribunal delivered the verdict in a crowded courtroom in the capital Dhaka, with judge Mojibur Rahman saying the attackers wanted “to […]

A TikTok post by a young woman, pretending to give eyelash curling advice while actually condemning China’s crackdown on Muslims in Xinjiang, has gone viral on the Chinese-owned app that has been accused of censoring anti-Beijing content. The clip by US teen Feroza Aziz, who describes herself as “17 Just a Muslim”, had millions of […]

Singapore’s number one power couple, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his wife, Ho Ching, the Chief Executive Officer of Temasek Holdings, displayed a softer side in recent photos taken in South Korea, where PM Lee is currently attending the ASEAN summit meetings. The Prime Minister, who is known to take and post photos of […]

Officials at a Hong Kong university where police and protesters clashed violently a week ago said Tuesday they had searched the entire campus and found just one remaining holdout in a sign the campus siege may be near an end. Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) emerged as the epicentre of the territory’s increasingly violent protest […]

by M. Jegathesan An Australian grandmother won her final appeal against a death sentence for trafficking in Malaysia on Tuesday and walked free, after claiming she fell for an online love scam and was tricked into transporting drugs. Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto looked delighted and kissed her lawyer in court after the ruling, which brings […]

China has summoned the US ambassador to demand that the United States scrap legislation backing Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, or “bear all the consequences”, the foreign ministry said Tuesday. The Hong Kong bill awaiting President Donald Trump’s signature supports human rights and democracy in the city, while threatening to revoke the territory’s special economic status. […]

Australian police have opened an investigation into explosive claims by a self-styled Chinese spy who defected Down Under with an apparent trove of sensitive intelligence. The Australian Federal Police announced the probe and is expected to interview Wang Liqiang over his claims that Chinese intelligence tried to interfere with Australian politics. Wang fled to Australia […]

Hong Kong—The residents of Hong Kong sent a clear message to Beijing at the elections on Sunday, November 24, with an overwhelming majority of votes going to pro-democracy candidates after more than five months of protests that have rocked the city. Voters turned out in droves, with over 70 percent trooping to the polls, in […]

by Catherine MARCIANO / Hiroshi HIYAMA Pope Francis on Monday urged renewed help for victims of Japan’s 2011 earthquake, tsunami and Fukushima disaster, warning “nobody can start over alone” as he noted “concern” over nuclear power. On the penultimate day of his Japan trip, the pontiff heard the stories of those who survived the so-called […]

by Yan ZHAO / Xinqi SU Hong Kong’s deeply unpopular leader vowed Monday to “listen humbly” to voters after the pro-democracy camp scored a crushing victory in community-level elections that revealed broad public support for a protest movement that has stirred months of violence. In a rout that stunned the semi-autonomous territory, candidates seeking to […]