Asia

Disrespecting China’s anthem can now cost 3 years jail

  BEIJING, China (AFP) — China has passed legislation to punish anyone who disrespects the national anthem with up to three years in prison, state media reported Saturday. The changes to China’s criminal law were approved during a committee meeting of the country’s rubberstamp parliament, the National People’s Congress (NPC), according to the official Xinhua news agency. “Serious cases of disrespecting the country’s national anthem in public would get punishments including deprivation of political rights, […]

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27 dead as Typhoon Damrey batters Vietnam

  DANANG, Vietnam (AFP) — At least 27 people have died and nearly two dozen are missing after Typhoon Damrey barrelled into Vietnam, authorities said Sunday, damaging tens of thousands of homes and submerging highways days before the country welcomes world leaders to the APEC summit. The storm, which made landfall on Saturday, is the worst in decades to strike the country’s southern coastal region, an area normally spared the typhoons that typically hit further […]

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After Pearl Harbor, Trump embarks on Asia tour

by Jim Watson Agence France Presse After stopping in Hawaii to pay his respects at a Pearl Harbor memorial, US President Donald Trump reboarded Air Force One on Saturday for a marathon Asia tour as North Korea’s nuclear threat looms large. Trump and his wife Melania tossed flower petals into the waters of the USS Arizona memorial, later taking part in a wreath-laying ceremony to honor soldiers who died in a Japanese surprise attack in […]

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Trump makes Pearl Harbor stop en route to Asia

  HONOLULU, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump paid a somber visit to Pearl Harbor ahead of his first official trip to Asia, also meeting with military officials overseeing US operations in the Pacific region. Trump and his wife Melania tossed white pikake flower petals into the waters at the USS Arizona memorial, where hundreds of US service members died when Japan launched a surprise attack in 1941, triggering the US entry into […]

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US lawmakers seek to slap new sanctions on Myanmar military

  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US lawmakers proposed sanctions Friday against Myanmar’s military, in some of the strongest efforts yet by Washington to pressure the Southeast Asian nation to end abusive treatment of its Rohingya Muslim minority. House Republicans and Democrats introduced legislation that would curtail assistance or cooperation with Myanmar’s military and require the White House to identify senior military officials who would have US visa bans imposed or reimposed against them. A bipartisan group […]

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Bomb attack kills 9 in Syria Golan Heights village: state media

DAMASCUS, Syria (AFP) — A suicide car bomb attack killed nine people in a government-held village in Syria’s Golan Heights on Friday, state media said, reporting clashes between government forces and jihadists afterwards. State news agency SANA said the car bomb hit the outskirts of the village of Hader, which lies near the disengagement line that divides the Syrian-controlled part of the Golan from that occupied by Israel. “A suicide bomber from Al-Nusra Front detonated […]

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Ex-PM Sharif returns to Pakistan for court hearing

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AFP) — Pakistan’s ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif appeared in court on Friday, a day after returning from overseas to face corruption allegations that saw him ejected from office and targeted with an arrest warrant. In a brief hearing in Islamabad, Sharif paid two surety bonds of five million rupees ($48,000) each before leaving under tight security, his lawyer Khawaja Haris told AFP. The court is set to reconvene on November 7. The […]

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Harassment of women ‘can never be tolerated’: Ivanka Trump

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Sexual harassment of women should “never be tolerated”, Ivanka Trump told an audience in Tokyo on Friday, calling for women to be treated with greater respect at work. The speech came as global headlines are dominated by sexual harassment claims against prominent men in entertainment and politics. The new round of claims has revived memories of her father Donald Trump’s boasts about groping women, which emerged during the US presidential campaign. […]

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US supersonic bombers conduct exercise in S.Korea region

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US bombers accompanied by Japanese and South Korean warplanes flew a mission in the South Korea region Thursday amid high regional tensions, the US Air Force said. Two supersonic B-1B Lancer bombers took off from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, then flew south of South Korea and west of Japan where they were joined by Japan Air Self-Defense Force fighters, the US Pacific Air Force said in a statement. […]

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N. Korea could be preparing missile test: Seoul

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Pyongyang may be preparing for another missile test, South Korea’s spy agency said Thursday according to reports, just days before US President Donald Trump visits the divided peninsula. “There is a possibility that North Korea will launch a missile as active movements of vehicles have been detected at a missile research facility in Pyongyang,” the National Intelligence Service told a closed-door parliamentary audit, the Yonhap news agency reported. In July […]

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Korean peninsula, nuclear threat – priority issues in US-China talks, says US President

United States President Donald Trump will prioritize issues in the Korean peninsula, especially North Korea’s nuclear threat, in his visit to China. President Trump will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping. China is hoping that the US can provide a guide to solve the Korean peninsula problem. President Donald Trump will visit Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines from Nov. 5 to Nov. 14 — his first official visit to Asia as the […]

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S. Korea to restrict anti-Trump rallies: report

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) – South Korean police will restrict public rallies near the country’s presidential palace during Donald Trump’s first visit as head of state, a report said Thursday, reducing his chances of being exposed to opposition. It is the first time that Seoul has imposed limits on public gatherings since President Moon Jae-In, a former human rights lawyer, took power in May, according to the Yonhap news agency. Organizers of around 50 protests — mostly […]

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