TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) – Taiwan’s already frosty relations with Beijing are set to cool further after the appointment of a controversial diplomat to handle cross-strait ties sparked a backlash. Beijing still sees self-ruling Taiwan as part of its territory and has been piling pressure on new president Tsai Ing-wen to acknowledge that there is only “one China”. It deeply mistrusts Tsai, whose Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is traditionally pro-independence. Beijing has cut official communications with Tsai, who […]
Asia
17 unaccounted for in typhoon-hit northern Japan
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — 17 people were unaccounted for in Japan Thursday after Typhoon Lionrock tore through the north of the country, leaving 11 people dead and some 1,600 cut off in isolated communities, officials said. Ten died in the town of Iwaizumi after it was hit by surging river water and mud, with nine of them perishing in a care home for the elderly. The typhoon, which packed wind gusts of over 160 kilometers […]
South Korea prosecutors summon Lotte Group family member
South Korean prosecutors summoned the elder son of the founder of Lotte Group for questioning on Thursday (September 1), signalling the resumption of a criminal probe against the conglomerate following the suicide of a senior executive last week. Shin Dong-joo was ordered to appear for questioning by 10 a.m. on Thursday, a spokesman for the son of Lotte founder Shin Kyuk-ho told Reuters. He did not comment on the reasons for the summons. Prosecutors rescheduled […]
G20 offers Putin one more stab at Obama on Syria, Ukraine
by Maria PANINA MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — The G20 summit starting in China on Sunday gives Russian President Vladimir Putin one more chance to try to strongarm US leader Barack Obama over Syria and Ukraine as their fraught relationship nears an end. In recent years the two world leaders have barely been able to hide their disdain for each other as ties between Washington and Moscow fell to their lowest level since the Cold War […]
Philippines’ Duterte: Obama must listen to me on human rights
(REUTERS) Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Wednesday he was ready to discuss any issues with Barack Obama when they meet in Laos next week, but added that the U.S. president must listen to him first before bringing up the question of human rights. Washington has expressed concern about a surge in drug-related killings since Duterte became president two months ago promising to wipe out narcotics in the Southeast Asian nation. Asked if he would […]
Japan’s military seeks record spending to counter North Korea, China moves
GOTEMBA, Japan (Reuters) — Japan’s defense ministry on Wednesday (August 31) asked for a hike in spending to record levels, as it juggles its responses to a growing ballistic missile threat from North Korea and China’s assertive moves in the East China Sea. If approved, the hike of 2.3 percent will take the defense budget to 5.17 trillion yen ($51.47 billion) in the year starting April 1, for a fifth consecutive increase as Prime Minister Shinzo […]
G20 to go long on rhetoric, short on economic policy: experts
by Benjamin CARLSON BEIJING, China (AFP) — G20 leaders will meet in China this weekend in a climate of economic uncertainty and sluggish global growth –- but the absence of an urgent crisis means the forum will be short on breakthroughs, analysts say. Eight years after the first G20 summit in Washington, when countries coordinated a response to the financial meltdown, Beijing has set a modest agenda for the Hangzhou gathering — focusing on making […]
Japanese police corner suspect in deadly shooting
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A Japanese gunman accused of shooting dead a construction worker and wounding three others before going on the run, was locked in a tense standoff with police on Wednesday. Yasuhide Mizobata fled into an apartment building on Tuesday afternoon after firing repeatedly at officers who challenged him, a force spokesman said. He spent the night holed up in the building, surrounded by heavily-armed police who were trying to convince him to […]
9 found dead in Japan elderly home after typhoon: police
by Kyoko HASEGAWA TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Surging flood water brought by a powerful typhoon left nine people dead in an elderly care home in Japan, officials said Wednesday. The bodies were discovered in a riverside care complex half buried in mud and rubble after Typhoon Lionrock ripped through the region, dumping torrential rain over a wide area. Footage from public broadcaster NHK showed a helicopter hovering over the building in Iwaizumi, as rescuers tried to […]
IS says spokesman Adnani killed in Syria’s Aleppo
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — The Islamic State group said Tuesday its spokesman Abu Mohamed al-Adnani was killed in the Syrian province of Aleppo, as the US confirmed an IS “senior leader” was targeted in the same area. Quoting an IS “military source”, the group’s news agency Amaq said: “Sheikh Abu Mohamed al-Adnani… was martyred while surveying operations to repel the military campaigns against Aleppo.” It said he died after a “long voyage crowned by sacrifice” […]
US, India bolster ties, warn Pakistan over extremists
NEW DELHI, India (AFP) – by Nicolas REVISE The United States and India urged Pakistan Tuesday to do more to counter extremist groups operating from its soil as the world’s two largest democracies announced measures to strengthen security and energy ties. Speaking on a visit to New Delhi, US Secretary of State John Kerry declared that ties once clouded by suspicion had progressed “amazingly” in the last two years and echoed President Barack Obama’s description of […]
Singapore Zika cases surge to 82
Singapore, Singapore (AFP) – The number of Zika cases in Singapore has surged to 82, the government said Tuesday, as the mosquito-fighting effort continued in a bid to curb the spread of the disease. Singapore’s Ministry of Health and National Environment Agency confirmed 26 new local infections — the majority around the eastern Aljunied suburb where most of the other cases have been clustered. Many of the initial cases were foreign workers on a condominium […]
