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SAN FRANCISCO, May 13, 2023 (AFP) – A former US-based executive of ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, has sued it for wrongful dismissal, saying he was fired for sounding the alarm over what he called its “culture of lawlessness.” The suit, filed by Yintao Yu in a San Francisco court, comes as political pressure has been growing in the US to ban TikTok. Critics say the popular platform allows Beijing to covertly collect […]
SINGAPORE, May 14, 2023 (AFP) – Singapore reported its highest temperature in 40 years on Saturday, officials said, as a blistering heatwave burns through large parts of South and Southeast Asia. Saturday’s temperature of 37 degrees Celsius was the highest this year, and matches the record for a daily peak recorded in April 1983, the National Environment Agency said on Facebook. “The current warm and dry conditions are expected to continue tomorrow,” the agency said […]
BANGKOK, May 14, 2023 (AFP) – Thailand votes Sunday in an election that could see pro-democracy opposition parties oust the conservative military-backed government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha after almost a decade in power. Voters are tipped to deliver a resounding defeat to ex-army chief and coup leader Prayut after a campaign that played out as a clash between a young generation yearning for change and the traditionalist, royalist establishment. The main opposition Pheu Thai […]
SITTWE, Myanmar, May 13, 2023 (AFP) – Thousands fled Myanmar’s west coast and officials in neighbouring Bangladesh raced to evacuate Rohingya refugees on Saturday as the most powerful cyclone in the region for over a decade churned across the Bay of Bengal. Cyclone Mocha was packing winds of up to 220 kilometres per hour (136 miles per hour), according to India’s meteorological office, equivalent to a category four hurricane. It is expected to weaken before […]
WASHINGTON, May 11, 2023 (AFP) – US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi met in Vienna this week, Washington and Beijing announced Thursday, as the two powers seek to maintain communication amid soaring tensions, especially over Taiwan. The two held eight hours of talks stretching over Wednesday and Thursday in the Austrian capital, ending an unofficial pause in high-level contacts since the United States shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon […]
GWA, Myanmar, May 11, 2023 (AFP) – Myanmar and Bangladesh deployed thousands of volunteers and ordered evacuations from low-lying areas on Thursday as the Bay of Bengal’s first cyclone of the year approached. Cyclone Mocha is forecast to make landfall on Sunday along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, according to India’s meteorological office, packing winds of up to 175 kilometres (108 miles) per hour. The office predicted a storm surge of between two and two and a […]
LABUAN BAJO, Indonesia, May 10, 2023 (AFP) – Southeast Asian nations vowed Wednesday tougher action on human trafficking as criminals increasingly use social media and other online platforms to recruit and exploit victims. International alarm is growing over internet scams in the region that are often staffed by trafficking victims tricked or coerced into promoting bogus crypto investments. Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar have emerged as “countries of destination” for victims, according to the International Organization […]
MANILA, May 10, 2023 (AFP) – A 71-year-old American man has been arrested after the body of his Filipina girlfriend was found in a water drum at the couple’s home near the Philippine capital, police said Wednesday. Police in Bacoor city told AFP they arrested the man on Tuesday after discovering the 48-year-old woman’s body inside a blue plastic drum sealed in a garbage bag and duct tape at the house just outside Manila. Officers […]
HANOI, May 10, 2023 (AFP) – Vietnam’s state electricity company warned on Wednesday that the national power system would come under strain this summer due to anticipated heatwaves, days after the country recorded its highest ever temperature. Temperatures surpassed 44 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit) in central Vietnam over the weekend, according to national forecasters, breaking a previous high set in 2019. State utility EVN said in a statement that demand for electricity in the […]
SHANGHAI, China (AFP) — China said Tuesday it was expelling Canada’s consul in Shanghai in a tit-for-tat move after Ottawa said it was sending home a Chinese diplomat accused of trying to intimidate a Canadian lawmaker critical of Beijing. Beijing’s foreign ministry labelled Jennifer Lynn Lalonde “persona non grata” in an English statement published online, adding “China reserves the right to further react”. Lalonde was told to leave China by May 13. “China strongly condemns […]
By Shaun TANDON Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Facing a deep economic crisis, Pakistan has started to buy Russian oil, but the country’s petroleum minister says the future lies in diversified, especially green, energy. Minister Musadik Malik was visiting the United States for talks with corporations as well as with the government, which has led global efforts to choke off Russia’s oil exports that help fund its invasion of Ukraine. Malik confirmed that […]
SINGAPORE, May 8, 2023 (AFP) – A bill which will allow Singapore authorities to remove apps was introduced in parliament Monday to provide police with broad powers to combat malicious online crime and scams. If passed, the “Online Criminal Harms Bill” could among other things require app stores to remove an app from Singapore storefronts as well as demand online service providers to disable specified content. Such orders could be given “when there is […]
