Asia

Quad group expands maritime security cooperation at Biden’s farewell summit

By Trevor Hunnicutt and David Brunnstrom CLAYMONT, Delaware (Reuters) -Leaders of Australia, India, Japan and the United States expanded joint security steps in Asia’s trade-rich waters as outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden hosted counterparts from the Quad grouping established due to shared concerns about China. Biden, meeting Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese near his Delaware hometown on Saturday, stressed the importance of maintaining the […]

Continue Reading →

Record rains in Japan’s quake-stricken Noto region kill at least one

TOKYO (Reuters) -Record rains in central Japan’s Noto region, still recovering from a major New Year’s Day earthquake, killed at least one person on Saturday, prompted evacuation orders for tens of thousands and caused blackouts for more than 6,000 households. Seven people, including four working on quake reconstruction, were missing, and calls for rescue were swamping the fire department, public broadcaster NHK reported. Hourly rainfall hit record 121 mm (4.8 inches) on Saturday morning in […]

Continue Reading →

Philippines eyes future missile launchers purchase, to retain US Typhon system

MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippines hopes to procure mid-range capability missiles in future and wants to utilise a U.S.-deployed Typhon system for its military training, with no immediate plan for it to be returned, a top security official said on Friday. Confirming an earlier report by Reuters, Philippine National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano said there was no set timeline for the withdrawal of the United States’ mid-range missile system from the country, which China has […]

Continue Reading →

Biden, ‘Quad’ leaders to talk maritime security as China tensions grow

By Trevor Hunnicutt WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Tensions brewing in Asia’s trade-rich waters top the agenda as U.S. President Joe Biden welcomes leaders from Australia, India and Japan to his Delaware hometown for a diplomatic push to counter China in the waning months of his presidency. Biden headed to Wilmington, Delaware, on Friday ahead of the Quad Leaders Summit, where the leaders are expected to speak about conflict between Beijing and its neighbors in the South China […]

Continue Reading →

Exclusive-US keeps missile system in Philippines as China tensions rise, tests wartime deployment

By Karen Lema and Poppy McPherson MANILA (Reuters) – The United States has no immediate plans to withdraw a mid-range missile system deployed in the Philippines, despite Chinese demands, and is testing the feasibility of its use in a regional conflict, sources with knowledge of the matter said. The Typhon system, which can be equipped with cruise missiles capable of striking Chinese targets, was brought in for joint exercises earlier this year, both countries said […]

Continue Reading →

Taiwan questions head of pager firm linked to Hezbollah blasts

TAIPEI (Reuters) – The president and founder of a Taiwanese pager company linked to the detonation of thousands of pagers targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon was questioned by prosecutors late into the night on Thursday, then released. Taiwan-based Gold Apollo’s president and founder Hsu Ching-kuang has said it did not manufacture the devices used in the attack, and that they were made by a Budapest-based company BAC which has a licence to use its brand. Images […]

Continue Reading →

Japanese company denies making Hezbollah’s exploding walkie-talkies

By Tom Bateman OSAKA (Reuters) -The Japanese maker of the brand of walkie-talkies linked to explosions targeting the Hezbollah armed group that killed 25 people in Lebanon and injured hundreds of others said it could not have made the exploding devices. “There’s no way a bomb could have been integrated into one of our devices during manufacturing. The process is highly automated and fast-paced, so there’s no time for such things,” Yoshiki Enomoto a director […]

Continue Reading →

China says carrier accused of entering Japanese waters was on routine training

BEIJING (Reuters) – China said on Thursday its Liaoning aircraft carrier had been on a routine training mission in the western Pacific and dismissed charges by Tokyo that the vessel and its escorts had entered Japanese waters. In the latest incident in a drawn-out dispute between Beijing and Tokyo over maritime activities, Japan’s defence ministry said on Wednesday the carrier and two accompanying destroyers had sailed between Japan’s southern Yonaguni and Iriomote islands in waters […]

Continue Reading →

US FBI disrupts second Chinese hacking group, director says

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. law enforcement has disrupted a second major Chinese hacking group nicknamed “Flax Typhoon” and wrested thousands of compromised devices from its grasp, FBI Director Christopher Wray said on Wednesday. Wray, at a cybersecurity conference in Washington, said Flax Typhoon was being run by a Chinese company called the Integrity Technology Group that posed as an IT firm but also “collected intelligence and performed reconnaissance for Chinese government security agencies.” In an advisory […]

Continue Reading →

North Korea fires short-range ballistic missiles for second time in a week

By Hyonhee Shin and Kantaro Komiya SEOUL/TOKYO -North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles on Wednesday toward its east coast, South Korea and Japan said, days after Pyongyang unveiled a uranium enrichment facility and vowed to beef up its nuclear arsenal. The missiles lifted off from Kaechon, north of the capital Pyongyang, at around 6:50 a.m. (2150 GMT Tuesday) in a northeast direction and flew about 400 km (249 miles), South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of […]

Continue Reading →

First conviction under Hong Kong’s new national security law for wearing “seditious” T-shirt

By Jessie Pang HONG KONG (Reuters) – A Hong Kong man on Monday pleaded guilty to sedition for wearing a T-shirt with a protest slogan, becoming the first person convicted under the city’s new national security law passed in March. Chu Kai-pong, 27, pleaded guilty to one count of “doing with a seditious intention an act”. Under the new security law, the maximum sentence for the offence has been expanded from two years to seven […]

Continue Reading →

Myanmar’s flooding death toll rises to 113, state media reports

(Reuters) – Myanmar’s death toll from floods rose to at least 113 as of Saturday evening, the country’s military government said on Sunday, following heavy rains brought on by Typhoon Yagi that has caused havoc across parts of Southeast Asia. At least 320,000 people have been displaced and 64 were still missing, government spokesman Zaw Min Tun said, according to a late-night bulletin on state-run MRTV. “The government is conducting a rescue and rehabilitation mission,” […]

Continue Reading →
1 2 3 4 5 6 … 843