Asia

Facebook has paid hundreds of contractors to listen to and transcribe snippets of users’ conversations, US media reported on Tuesday, amid heightened scrutiny of the social network’s data collection practices. Facebook acknowledged the transcriptions, which were first reported by Bloomberg, telling the news agency in a statement that they were made with users’ permission, but […]

Operations resumed at Hong Kong airport on Tuesday morning, authorities said, with flights due to start departing and arriving a day after protests shut down the major travel hub. “We have resumed check-ins,” a spokesman for the airport told AFP, confirming flights would be resuming within the next hour at one of the world’s busiest […]

Versace’s Chinese brand ambassador have just called it quits. Chinese actress Yang Mi said she will end her cooperation with the designer label after a controversy erupted online over claims that its T-shirt design defied the ‘One China’ policy. She is Versace’s first Chinese brand ambassador and she issued a notice to Versace to end […]

Tensions in Hong Kong have rippled across Australian universities, as supporters of the pro-democracy protests have been targeted and harassed by “patriotic” mainland students — with the tacit backing of Beijing. Public rallies and other acts of solidarity have been staged at several campuses during the Asian financial hub’s two months of civil unrest, including the emergence of […]

Armed with balloons and strollers, several hundred families took to the streets in Hong Kong on Saturday to show support for pro-democracy protests that are now in their third month. The colourful and calm atmosphere at the rally was a far cry from the increasingly violent confrontations that have marked recent demonstrations by activists calling for […]

The head of a major South Korean cosmetics firm resigned Sunday after facing heavy backlash for forcing his staff to watch a YouTube video praising Japan during a raging trade war between the two nations. The clip, played at a monthly meeting of some 700 employees of Kolmar Korea last week, slams President Moon Jae-in’s […]

by Miwa SUZUKI Must-have 80s gadget and one-time icon of Japan electronics cool, Sony’s Walkman turned 40 this year and like its now middle-aged fans, is clinging to its youth with high-tech updates. On July 1, 1979, as the global economy suffered through the second oil shock, Sony unleashed on the world a dark-blue brick […]

In conjunction with their third anniversary, BLACKPINK released a special video showing moments from their past three years and messages for fans. Watch the video with English subtitles below! The South Korean girl band BLACKPINK is now three years old! The four-member group debuted on 8 Aug 2016 with their single album, Square One. BLACKPINK’s […]

Washington on Thursday warned US citizens to “exercise increased caution” when travelling to Hong Kong, as protesters announced three days of new demonstrations at the city’s airport. The financial hub has been rocked by two months of unrest, initially triggered by opposition to a planned law that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China. The […]

China demanded Thursday that US diplomats based in Hong Kong “stop interfering” in the city’s affairs, after reports that they met with pro-democracy activists, prompting a furious response from Washington. China’s foreign ministry had expressed “strong dissatisfaction” with US authorities, citing local media reports that a US official from Hong Kong’s US consulate general had […]

Hollywood star Angelina Jolie’s eldest son is going to attend college in South Korea at the end of the month. Maddox Chivan Jolie-Pitt, her adopted son who just turned 18 will be attending the prestigious Yonsei University in Seoul according to People. “He got accepted into other universities, but chose Yonsei,” the insider said. Maddox […]

South Korean actor Song Joong-ki is no longer a favourite for advertisers since his divorce from A-list actress Song Hye-Kyo. 33-year-old Joong-ki announced his break-up in June which was not well-received by many fans. He is now paying the price with Korean media noting that there has been a significant drop in demand for him […]

The US government has approved the sale of $800 million worth of helicopters to South Korea, the Pentagon announced Wednesday, hours after President Donald Trump said Seoul had agreed to pay more for the US military presence in the country. The Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said the State Department had approved the sale of […]

Wedding proposals are usually memorable moments because they signify the beginning of a lifelong marriage (or at least we hope so). However, one man took it to a whole other level. On the Facebook group That’s It, I’m Ring Shaming: The Wreckoning a Singaporean woman posted about a farmer making known his marital intentions by putting a […]

A former Australian spy announced a surprise guilty plea Tuesday for exposing an alleged 2004 bugging operation against East Timor officials, after years of fighting the charges. Lawyers for the former agent, known only as “Witness K”, told a Canberra court he would plead guilty to blowing the whistle on the spying operation against the […]