Asia

Thai poll body asks court to dissolve reformist MFP party

By Thanaporn PROMYAMYAI BANGKOK, March 12, 2024 (AFP) – Thailand’s election commission said Tuesday it will ask the Constitutional Court to dissolve the reformist Move Forward Party, which won the most seats at last year’s polls. The MFP upended the kingdom’s political order in May’s election, scoring the most votes after a campaign promising reform of the military, business monopolies and to amend the lese-majeste laws. But their audacious bid shocked the Thai establishment and […]

China, Russia, Iran holding joint naval drills

BEIJING, March 11, 2024 (AFP) – The navies of China, Russia and Iran are staging joint drills in the Gulf of Oman this week, Beijing said Monday. The military activities — to be conducted from Monday through Friday — are aimed at “jointly maintaining regional maritime security”, according to a statement published on social media platform WeChat by China’s defence ministry. “China will send… guided-missile destroyer Urumqi, guided-missile frigate Linyi and comprehensive supply ship Dongpinghu […]

India tests missile capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads

  NEW DELHI, March 11, 2024 (AFP) – India has successfully test-fired a domestically developed ballistic missile capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads for the first time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Monday. Modi said he was “proud” the launch of “the first flight test of indigenously developed Agni-5 missile with Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) technology”, in comments on social media platform X. The MIRV technology enables the Agni-5 to carry several nuclear […]

S. Korea starts process to suspend licences of 4,900 striking doctors

By Kang Jin-kyu SEOUL, March 11, 2024 (AFP) – South Korea said Monday it had started procedures to suspend the medical licences of 4,900 junior doctors who have resigned and stopped working to protest government medical training reforms, causing healthcare chaos. The walkout, which started February 20, is over government plans to sharply increase the number of doctors, which it says is essential to combat shortages and serve South Korea’s rapidly ageing population. Medics argue […]

Death toll from Indonesia floods, landslides rises to 21

JAKARTA, March 10, 2024 (AFP) – The death toll from flash flooding and landslides on the Indonesian island of Sumatra has risen to 21, an official said Sunday, with six people still missing. Torrential rains on Thursday triggered the disaster in Pesisir Selatan regency in the West Sumatra province, with more than 75,000 people forced to evacuate. “As of Sunday, 21 people were found dead and six people remained missing,” Fajar Sukma, an official from […]

India raids network sending citizens to fight for Russia

NEW DELHI, March 8, 2024 (AFP) – Indian authorities said they had detained members of a “trafficking” network sending citizens of the country to fight for the Russian army in Ukraine after raiding several travel agents. Two years since Russia’s invasion began, tens of thousands of its soldiers have been killed in Ukraine and Moscow is on a global quest for more troops. At least two Indian soldiers have been killed in the conflict, with […]

For ‘difficult’ creator, ‘Dragon Ball’ success provided acceptance

TOKYO, March 8, 2024 (AFP) – Akira Toriyama was already famous to comic fans in the early 1980s with “Dr. Slump” but he won manga immortality with the global sensation and Japanese success story that is “Dragon Ball”. But as his creation and his fame exploded when his creation won over kids the world over, Toriyama, who has died in Japan aged 68, shunned the limelight and preferred to focus on drawing. “‘Dragon Ball’ is […]

UK PM Sunak’s mother-in-law appointed to Indian parliament

NEW DELHI, March 8, 2024 (AFP) – The mother-in-law of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was on Friday appointed to serve in India’s parliament, capping a career working for the philanthropic arm of her billionaire husband’s tech firm. Sudha Murthy, 73, is the former chair of the Infosys Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the global tech behemoth Infosys her husband N.R. Narayana Murthy co-founded in 1981. The couple’s daughter Akshata married Sunak in 2009. Indian […]

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversees live-fire drills targeting South Korean capital

SEOUL, March 8, 2024 (AFP) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un guided a large-scale live-fire artillery drill involving a unit Pyongyang says is capable of striking the South Korean capital, the North’s state media said Friday. So far this year, Pyongyang has declared South Korea its “principal enemy”, jettisoned agencies dedicated to reunification and outreach, and threatened war over “even 0.001 mm” of territorial infringement. Pyongyang’s latest announcement came after Washington and Seoul started […]

US lawmakers push for TikTok to cut ByteDance ties or face ban

  US lawmakers moved Wednesday to pressure TikTok to sever ties with its Chinese parent company ByteDance or face a ban, in a broader push to keep social media apps out of foreign adversaries’ control. A bipartisan group of 20 lawmakers have introduced a bill barring platforms controlled by ByteDance from US app store availability or web hosting services — unless they are no longer linked to China. The legislation would also allow the president […]

Malaysia PM warns against attempts to block China’s rise

By Laura CHUNG Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim warned Thursday against attempts by other countries to block China’s military and economic rise in the Asia-Pacific region. As the United States and China jostle for regional influence, Southeast Asian countries should defend the “sanctity” of international law and urge cooperation, he said. Beijing would see attempts to curb its military and economic expansion as a denial of its “legitimate place in history”, Anwar said in a […]