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Myanmar’s ruling military junta has “doubled down” on civilian attacks while showing signs of becoming “increasingly desperate” by imposing military service, the UN special rapporteur on the country said Wednesday. Earlier this month, the military said it would enforce a law allowing it to call up all men aged 18-35 and women aged 18-27 to serve for at least two years, as it struggles to quell opposition to its 2021 coup. “While wounded and increasingly […]
Severe weather warnings were in place across swathes of China on Wednesday as temperatures plummeted across the south and Beijing shivered in snowy conditions. Authorities renewed an orange alert — the highest in the country’s three-tier system — warning that average temperatures could fall by six to 12 degrees Celsius by Friday in the south, where they are currently around zero degrees C (32 degrees Fahrenheit). In some areas, temperatures could plunge by more than […]
By Oliver Hotham with Jing Xuan Teng in Shanghai BEIJING, Feb 22, 2024 (AFP) – A Chinese tech security firm was able to breach foreign governments, infiltrate social media accounts and hack personal computers, a massive data leak analysed by experts this week revealed. The trove of documents from I-Soon, a private company that competed for Chinese government contracts, shows that its hackers compromised more than a dozen governments, according to cybersecurity firms SentinelLabs and […]
BEIJING, Feb 22, 2024 (AFP) – Two people were killed and three others remained missing after an empty cargo ship struck a bridge in southern China on Thursday, causing part of it to collapse, authorities and state media reported. The Guangzhou maritime affairs bureau said the collision sent five vehicles, including a motorbike, tumbling off the bridge and either into the water or onto the ship below. The container vessel was travelling between the […]
KIKUYO, Japan, Feb 22, 2024 (AFP) – Surrounded by fields of carrots and cabbages, workers are putting the finishing touches to a factory opening on Saturday that is a milestone for both US ally Japan and Taiwanese chip giant TSMC. The $8.6-billion facility in the southern Kumamoto region showcases TSMC’s efforts to make some of its strategically crucial chips elsewhere than hotspot Taiwan, as well as Japan’s push to revive its once-dominant semiconductor sector. The […]
TAIPEI, Feb 22, 2024 (AFP) – The chairman of the US House of Representatives committee on China accused Beijing of “bullying” Taiwan, as he arrived on the self-ruled island Thursday for talks with its leaders. Mike Gallagher heads a five-member delegation set to meet with the island’s top leadership, including President Tsai Ing-wen and Vice President Lai Ching-te, who won last month’s presidential election and will take office in May. “Time and again Taiwan […]
TOKYO, Feb 20, 2024 (AFP) – Hirotake Yano, the Japanese 100-yen shop pioneer and founder of the Daiso chain, has died, the company said. The billionaire “passed away due to heart failure at the age of 80 in Hiroshima” on February 12, Daiso said in a statement on Monday. After unsuccessful stints at his father-in-law’s fish business and peddling encyclopedias, Yano started selling goods from a street stall in 1972. Five years later, tired of […]
By Shrouq TARIQISLAMABAD, Feb 20, 2024 (AFP) – Social media platform X was disrupted across Pakistan for a third day on Tuesday, after a general election marred by allegations of rigging. The platform was downed on Saturday night when a senior government official made a public admission of vote manipulation in the February 8 polls. “X has been inaccessible in Pakistan (since Saturday), because it is used by the public to protest,” Usama Khilji, a […]
SEOUL, Feb 20, 2024 (AFP) Russian President Vladimir Putin has gifted North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a Russian-made car, Pyongyang’s state media said Tuesday, as the two countries bolster ties in areas from tourism to defence. Kim was “presented with a car made in Russia for his personal use by Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, president of the Russian Federation”, Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency reported. Kim’s powerful sister, Yo Jong, said the “gift serves […]
KABUL, Feb 19, 2024 (AFP) – A landslide caused by heavy snowfall has killed 25 people and injured eight others in the eastern Afghan province of Nuristan, a disaster management ministry spokesman said on Monday. Earth, snow and rubble swept through the village of Nakre in the Tatin valley of Nuristan overnight on Sunday. “As a result of the landslide, some 25 people have been killed and eight injured,” spokesman Janan Sayeq said in a […]
TOKYO, Feb 19, 2024 (AFP) – A Japanese firm said Monday it had successfully launched a spacecraft tasked with inspecting potentially dangerous man-made junk floating around the Earth. The European Space Agency (ESA) estimates that around one million pieces of debris from satellites and rockets larger than a centimetre — big enough to “disable a spacecraft” — are in orbit. The Active Debris Removal by Astroscale-Japan (ADRAS-J) is meant to rendezvous with and examine the […]
MANILA, Feb 19, 2024 (AFP) – A “saddened and disappointed” Manny Pacquiao conceded Monday his Olympic boxing dream was over after the ring great was denied a berth at this year’s Paris games. The International Olympic Committee rejected a special request for Pacquiao to take part, the Philippine Olympic Committee announced Sunday. Pacquiao, 45, who hung up his gloves in 2021 before an unsuccessful presidential run, said he respected the decision of the IOC, which […]
