Asia

UN conference in Doha stresses urgent need to combat wildlife crime

WITH wildlife and forest crimes on the rise, yielding enormous profits for criminal networks, high-level officials from the United Nations (UN) have warned that they fuel violence, corrupt supply chains and undermine the rule of law. Speaking at a major anti-crime meeting in Doha, Qatar, co-hosted by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the […]

Families of victims in South Korea’s ferry disaster visit the site a year on

SOUTH Koreans mourning the death of their teenage children in the country’s worst sea disaster in 44 years sailed on Wednesday (April 15) to the spot where the 6,800-tonne ferry remains under water, to mark a year since the sinking that killed more than 300 people. A ship carrying about 200 family members made the hour-long trip to the site of the sinking, where they threw white chrysanthemums into the sea, before returning to the […]

Military troops in West Philippine Sea should resist China’s bullying

PALAWAN, Philippines, April 15 (Eagle News) — The leadership of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) advised its military troops stationed in the West Philippine Sea to not be affected by China’s acts of bullying, saying that the international community is watching the actions of China which violates international law. (Eagle News Service, Jay Paul Carlos, Jericho Morales, MRF Bonalos)

Asiana aircraft runs off runway in Japan

AN Asiana Airlines flight with 80 passengers aboard ran out of runway soon after landing at Hiroshima airport on Tuesday (April 14), according to Japanese media. Japanese media quoted local fire department as saying 23 passengers sustained minor injuries, none seriously. Media reports said government officials suspect the aircraft may have collided with a tower near the runway when it landed at night at the airport serving the city of Hiroshima and others nearby in […]

China defends reclamation work in South China Sea

The Chinese government mounted a detailed defense on Thursday (April 9) of its reclamation work in the disputed South China Sea, saying its activities were aimed at meeting both military and civil needs. Newly-published satellite images show that China is quickly reclaiming land around a submerged reef within an area the Philippines regards as its exclusive economic zone, with several dredgers in operation and seawalls built. The work on Mischief Reef is China’s most recent […]

U.S. says Chinese activity in South China Sea causes regional ‘anxiety’

China on Thursday (April 9) sketched out plans for the islands it is creating in the disputed South China Sea, saying they would be used for military defense as well as to provide civilian services that would benefit other countries. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a news briefing that the reclamation and building work in the Spratly archipelago of the South China Sea was needed partly because of the risk of typhoons in […]

Malaysian helicopter crash kills PM’s senior aide and former US envoy

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s chief of staff and a former ambassador to the United States, who was also a senior member of Najib’s party, were among six people killed in a helicopter crash near the capital, officials said on Sunday. Witnesses told state news agency Bernama they saw the helicopter explode in mid-air before it crashed into the ground in the town of Semenyih outside Kuala Lumpur late on Saturday. The Prime Minister’s Office […]

Filipina maid opens photo exhibition in Macau

Nine years after she left the Philippines and stepped foot in Hong Kong as a domestic helper, Xyza Bacani’s life has taken a new turn. Bacani was recently named one of the recipients of the Magnum Foundation Fellowship for Human Rights with her latest, unpublished, images of the abuse suffered by domestic helpers in Hong Kong, and will be jetting off to New York in just a few months time to study at the prestigious […]

Modern Singapore’s founding father, Lee Kuan Yew, dies at 91

Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore‘s first prime minister and architect of the tiny Southeast Asian city-state’s rapid rise from British tropical outpost to global trade and financial centre, died on Monday (March 23), aged 91, the government announced. A statement from the Prime Minister’s office was read out on Channel News Asia. Although Lee had receded from the public and political scene over the past few years, he was still seen as an influential figure in […]

Japan PM attends 20th memorial of sarin attack

Members of the Tokyo Metro bowed their heads for a minute of silence on Friday (March 20) in remembrance of the sarin poison gas attack on the the city’s subway system which killed 13 and sickened more than 6000 twenty years ago. At an altar at the Kasumigaseki station offices, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe turned up with white lilies to pray for those that died and those that continue to suffer the lingering effects of […]

Japan unveils latest bullet train

Japan unveiled its latest bullet train, the Hokuriku Shinkansen, on Saturday (March 14) to run on a newly extended line to link one of the last remaining unconnected areas on the mainland to Tokyo. The newly extended line to the old castle town of Kanazawa will run the new E7 or W7 train. The train also known as “Kagayaki” or brightness in Japanese takes 2 hours and 28 minutes to travel from Tokyo to Kanazawa. […]