Hong Kong authorities ordered schools and universities closed Thursday as protesters challenging China’s rule brought parts of the city to a near standstill by barricading roads and disrupting public transport links. Six months of anti-government political action have morphed from peaceful mass rallies into a so-called “blossom everywhere” campaign of violent hit-and-run confrontations with police […]
US military exercises with South Korea could be scaled back to aid diplomacy with the nuclear-armed North, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on his way to Seoul, as Pyongyang said it was running out of patience. The North has long protested joint military drills, which it condemns as preparations for invasion, and has set Washington […]
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen on Wednesday urged the Hong Kong government to bring the city “back from the brink”, after likening the chaotic clashes on a university campus to the “white terror” that once gripped the self-ruled island. After a long night in which Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) became a battlefield of tear […]
Top US military officer general Mark Milley met with his South Korean counterpart on Thursday to discuss military cooperation and the North Korea threat while seeking more money to pay for American troops stationed in the country. Senior US defence and military officials are gathering in Seoul for talks as the two countries face intensifying […]
Once a staunch defender of rights activists in court, Liu Zhengqing has sunk into a depression since being barred by Chinese authorities in January. “I have been unemployed at home,” the 55-year-old told AFP, adding that it is especially hard to find work given his age. “I am totally dependent on savings.” Liu is one […]
Case launches in Argentina under ‘universal jurisdiction’ demanding justice over ‘existential threat’ to minority Aung San Suu Kyi is among several top Myanmar officials named in a case filed in Argentina for crimes against Rohingya Muslims, the first time the Nobel Laureate has been legally targeted over the crisis. Rohingya and Latin American human rights […]
North Korea has threatened to retaliate if the United States goes ahead with scheduled military drills with South Korea, ramping up pressure on Washington to change course as a end of the year North Korean deadline for US flexibility approaches. The statement on Wednesday came even though Washington said last week that the joint aerial […]
Germany, France and Britain on Wednesday strongly condemned the dozen sets of ballistic missile launches by North Korea since May and urged Pyongyang to engage in “meaningful negotiations” with the United States on its nuclear and missile programmes. The three European countries said the tests, “including what appears to be a medium-range missile launched from […]
Investigation into Cho Kuk centres on suspicious equity investments and his daughter’s university education. Prosecutors in South Korea on Thursday summoned the country’s former justice minister as they expand an investigation into corruption allegations surrounding his family that sparked huge protests. Cho Kuk’s questioning at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office follows the arrests of […]
China said on Wednesday Taiwan was scaremongering with talk of a possible Chinese attack, after Taiwan’s foreign minister said Beijing could resort to military conflict to divert domestic pressure if an economic slowdown bites. As Taiwan’s presidential elections approach in January, China has stepped up a campaign to “reunify” with what it considers a wayward […]
Anti-government protesters paralysed parts of Hong Kong for a fourth day on Thursday, blocking highways and other transport links to disrupt the city and prompting schools to close amid a marked escalation of violence. Protesters have torched vehicles and buildings, hurled petrol bombs at police stations and trains and vandalised prime shopping malls over the […]
Hanoi hints it may take Beijing to The Hague to arbitrate their simmering sea disputes; China would likely reject any ruling Vietnam has signaled it may take China to international arbitration over their South China Sea disputes, a move that would inevitably exacerbate Hanoi’s maritime tensions with Beijing and shift its stance more closely in […]
Philippine beauty queen Cyrille Payumo was crowned Miss Tourism International 2019/2020, beating 38 other contestants at the pageant finals held at Sunway Hotel Resort and Spa Petaling Jaya recently. Apart from winning the prestigious title, the 22-year-old Filipina beauty also walked away with a full scholarship for a period of four years from Limkokwing University […]
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday said it had prequalified an Ebola vaccine for the first time, hailing a “critical step” towards its licensing, access and roll-out in countries most at risk of outbreaks. “This is the fastest vaccine prequalification process ever conducted by WHO,” it said in a statement, explaining that “prequalification means […]
The families of the 39 Vietnamese people found dead in a refrigerated lorry in Essex last month are facing financial difficulties over repatriating the bodies of their relatives. Bui Huy Cuong, the deputy chair of Can Loc district’s people’s committee in Ha Tinh province, where 10 of the victims are from, said local officials visited […]
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday said it had prequalified an Ebola vaccine for the first time, hailing a “critical step” towards its licensing, access and roll-out in countries most at risk of outbreaks. “This is the fastest vaccine prequalification process ever conducted by WHO,” it said in a statement, explaining that “prequalification means […]
Dubbed “breakbone fever”, dengue is one of the world’s leading mosquito-borne illnesses and infects tens of millions across the globe annually. Around half of the planet’s population live in at-risk areas, mainly in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Outbreaks have ravaged Southeast Asia this year, infecting hundreds of thousands, killing hundreds, and crippling health care […]
African swine fever has been detected on three farms in Vietnam, authorities said on Tuesday, the first confirmed cases of the highly contagious disease in the Southeast Asia country. All pigs on the farms located in Hung Yen and Thai Binh provinces, southeast of the capital Hanoi, were culled, the Animal Health Department said in […]
A New Method to Prevent and Treat Tuberculosis SINGAPORE, Nov 15, 2019 – (ACN Newswire) – Global BioLife Inc, the U.S. subsidiary of Singapore eDevelopment Ltd (SeD), will present its 3F Antimicrobial Fragrance as a new method to prevent and treat Tuberculosis at the ASM Biothreats Conference, 28 to 30 January, 2020 in Arlington, Virginia. […]
- TV companies now looking to diversify as ad revenues drop to $61bn this year, the lowest since 2011 – WARC Data – Television in the US United States, Nov 14, 2019 – (ACN Newswire) – WARC, the international marketing intelligence service, has found that US advertisers are spending more on online display formats – […]
Asian stock markets were mixed Thursday amid doubts about the status of a U.S.-Chinese trade deal after the U.S. Federal Reserve’s chairman said it is likely to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged. Shanghai and Seoul advanced while Tokyo and Hong Kong declined. Investors were wary after The Wall Street Journal reported Chinese negotiators were […]
Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen has ordered the release on bail of more than 70 opposition activists arrested in recent weeks and accused of plotting to overthrow the government, he said on Thursday. Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia for more than 34 years, has been under increasing international pressure to improve his human rights […]
Cambodian leader Hun Sen ordered the release Thursday of dozens of opponents and activists that authorities accused of helping his arch-rival plot a coup. The arrests were linked to attempts by opposition figurehead Sam Rainsy to return home from France, where he has lived since 2015 to avoid jail for convictions he says are politically […]
Case launches in Argentina under ‘universal jurisdiction’ demanding justice over ‘existential threat’ to minority Aung San Suu Kyi is among several top Myanmar officials named in a case filed in Argentina for crimes against Rohingya Muslims, the first time the Nobel Laureate has been legally targeted over the crisis. Rohingya and Latin American human rights […]
Chinese President Xi Jinping has invited Indian prime minister Narendra Modi to visit China again next year after two informal summits between the men in each other’s countries, despite deep disagreement over the disputed Kashmir region. Xi and Modi met in southern India last month, following their first informal summit in China last year as […]
A “bride” in a pretty white dress and trainers runs through a field, her long white veil fluttering behind and her “groom” in hot pursuit. It’s not a scene from the Hollywood hit “Runaway Bride” but a traditional Serbian wedding ceremonyonly with most of the roles played by Chinese tourists. Enticed by visa-free travel and […]
China’s property investment rose 10.3 percent in the first 10 months of 2019 from a year earlier, down from the 10.5 percent growth seen in the nine-month period, official data showed on Thursday. Property sales by floor area increased 0.1 percent for January-October, compared with a 0.1 percent decline in the first nine months, the […]
Lim Guan Eng has hit out at his opposition detractors saying that they have become inconsistent in playing the race rhetoric against him. Speaking to reporters in Cyberjaya today, the DAP secretary-general said the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition has never favoured one particular ethnic group in Malaysia and has always been a “pro-Malaysian” and “pro-principles”. […]
The health ministry inspected 146,607 restaurant premises from January up till November 3 this year to ensure that the smoking ban is observed. Health minister Datuk Seri Dzulkefly Ahmad told the Dewan Rakyat during the minister’s Question Time that 31,422 warning notices have also been issued. “Out of that figure, 27,759 premises were given a […]
The Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry conceded the safety rating downgrade of the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) by the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) will indirectly affect Visit Malaysia Year 2020. However, deputy minister Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik told Parliament during Question Time that it will not affect carriers that do not have […]
Indonesia will not approve the return of the Boeing Co (BA.N) 737 MAX to its skies until after aviation regulators in the United States, Europe, Brazil, Canada and China do so, an official at Indonesia’s aviation regulator said. A Lion Air 737 MAX crashed shortly after take-off from Jakarta last year, killing all 189 people […]
Indonesian Mirnawati once ate rice with every meal, but its link to diabetes convinced her to join a growing movement to quit a staple food in the third biggest rice-consuming nation on Earth. As World Diabetes Day is held Thursday, the Southeast Asian nation is struggling to tackle a disease that affects as many as […]
Exiled Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy has arrived in Indonesia to meet some of the country’s lawmakers as he considers when and how to make his long-awaited return to his homeland. Sam Rainsy flew in from Malaysia after failing to make his planned return to Cambodia on Saturday. He was barred by Cambodian authorities who […]
A woman who slashed a married ex-lover for not going to China with her was sentenced to four months’ jail on Wednesday (13 November). Jamie Chen Xin Yi was 21 years old when she slashed Randy Lee Teck Choon, 42, on 17 September 2017, causing him to sustain a 22cm laceration on his chest. Lee, […]
Hello Kitty fever returned to Singapore with new merchandise themed after the popular Japanese feline character going on sale at most McDonald’s stores this morning. Singaporeans were spotted queuing at outlets where the limited-edition Hello Kitty meal carriers were to go on sale at 7am for S$7.90 with every purchase of an extra value meal […]
Vandals have attacked a DBS branch in Hong Kong by scrawling vulgarities directed at Singapore prime minister Lee Hsien Loong, his family and the ruling People’s Action Party. Photos of the vandalised DBS branch were posted late Thursday morning (November 14) on a Facebook group called the Concerned Citizens Band Together for a better Singapore. […]
The cost of a holiday in popular Thai beach resorts is now on par with, or even higher than those in Greece, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and Egypt all closer to home for Europeans with lower flight costs and less travel time. Diethelm Travel Group report that the cost of a five-star resort in Koh Samui, […]
A Muay Thai instructor on trial for sexually assaulting a prospective client while giving her a massage at a gym has denied the offence, claiming that he was in a serious relationship at the time. Tan Wai Luen, a co-founder of Encore Muay Thai gym, said in court that he had only touched the woman’s […]
The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) is accusing the Thai government of accepting bribes from Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, the Japanese company awarded the contract to build a power plant in the southern Thai city of Nakhon Si Thammarat. NACC secretary-general, Worawit Sukboon, alleges that four government officials accepted a 20 million baht bribe from the […]
Gen. Noel Clement, Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff, says Thursday that the military is considering recommending the extension martial law in select areas of Mindanao, where martial law has been in place since May 2017. Clement visited the Western Mindanao Command headquarters in Zamboanga City and assessed the current security situation in […]
State weather bureau PAGASA placed nine areas in Luzon and Visayas under Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal No. 1 as Tropical Storm Ramon (Kalmaegi) continues to make its way toward Northern Luzon. As of 11 a.m. Thursday, TCWS No. 2 remains hoisted over Catanduanes. Winds between 61 kph and 120 kph may be expected in the […]
Vice President Leni Robredo wants to change some of the government’s programme against illegal drugs in order to eliminate alleged senseless killings being attached to it. The vice President also welcomes the Palace’s decision to give her free reign over the administration’s campaign against drugs. However, instead of just dictating to all members of the […]
Japanese Emperor Naruhito will be ushered into a dark wooden hall on Thursday night to celebrate his last major accession rite after becoming emperor this spring: spending the night with a goddess. The “Daijosai” rite centres on Amaterasu Omikamithe sun goddess from whom conservatives believe the emperor is descended. It is the most overtly religious […]
Japanese growth slowed significantly in the third quarter of the year, according to government data released on Thursday, sparking concerns for the health of the world’s third-biggest economy. The economy expanded 0.1 percent between July and September, a slowdown from the 0.4 percent seen in the previous period, and much weaker than economists had forecast. […]
In a bid to contain a blossoming scandal over lavish flower-viewing parties, Japan’s prime minister has cancelled next year’s annual taxpayer-funded festivity. Shinzo Abe’s move to shut down the 2020 party comes after criticism that the cost of the cherry blossom event had spiralled and has been misused for political purposes. Hosted by prime ministers […]
North Korea expressed its displeasure Wednesday over the stalled nuclear negotiations with the United States, warning of a “bigger threat and harsh suffering” if Washington ignores the end-of-year deadline set by Kim Jong Un. In a statement carried by state media, an unidentified spokesman for the North’s State Affairs Commission said the US must show […]
In a mountain village thousands of kilometres from her native Philippines, Emma Sumampong nurses her elderly mother-in-law, while also caring for her husband and children, working on the family farm, and holding a part-time job. She is one of tens of thousands of women who have married South Korean men and migrated to the rapidly […]
The National Human Rights Commission of Korea is urging action to tackle prejudice and hate speech as South Korea’s population diversifies. A recent report from the government watchdog said 6 in 10 South Koreans have experienced hate speech, with women, the elderly, sexual minorities, migrants and people with disabilities among the most targeted. Legally, it […]
Alibaba’s planned $13.4 billion share sale will be Hong Kong’s first paperless stock market listing, a source with knowledge of the matter said, breaking with a long-held tradition of investors placing stock orders in bank branches. Companies carrying out initial public offerings in Hong Kong have traditionally placed prospectuses in banks, which would often stay […]
Even after months of protests and escalating violence, Hong Kong is still a “very good proxy” for foreign investors wanting to access the vast China market, an economist said on Wednesday. “Since 1997, (Hong Kong) has really evolved from quite a broad-based international financial centre to now, a more China-centric offshore centre. So if we […]
Having fled Hong Kong universities they had thought were a ticket to success, Chinese students from the mainland sit in hostels and noodle shops in the neighbouring city of Shenzhen wondering how they’ll complete their studies. With campuses turned into blazing battlegrounds, courses cancelled and anti-China sentiment growing more virulent, students from mainland China are […]
Internet giant Google Inc. has announced that it will not run political campaign ads on its online advertising platform starting Friday ahead of Taiwan’s presidential and legislative elections in January because of problems with misinformation. In a post on Google’s official Chinese-language blog for Taiwan on Wednesday, Google Taiwan senior manager for public and government […]
Recalling White Terror, Taiwan President Tsai calls on Hong Kong government to ‘stop acts of repression before it’s too late’ As violence continues to erupt at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and other college campuses in Hong Kong, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen on Wednesday (November 13) said the blood of Hong Kong’s youth […]
Wind farm in Miaoli County to generate 128 MW of clean energy, enough for 128,000 Taiwanese households Taiwan’s first offshore wind farm to reach a commercial scale was inaugurated in a ceremony at a fishing port in Miaoli County on Wednesday morning (November 13), marking an important milestone for the country in its quest to […]
* The Pan Group (PAN) plans to buy shares in Golden Beans Coffee Joint Stock Company from the latter’s existing shareholders and share issues to raise its holding in Golden Beans Coffee to 80% this month, The move officially marks PAN’s business expansion to the coffee segment, said Viet Capital Securities Company. PAN made a […]
The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) set the daily reference exchange rate at 23,145 VND per USD on November 14, up 6 VND from the previous day (November 13). With the current trading band of +/- 3 percent, the ceiling rate applied to commercial banks during the day is 23,839 VND per USD and the […]
Feature phones still account for nearly four out of every 10 mobile phones sold in Vietnam. Around 1.7 million phones were sold in September, of which over 600,000, or 37 percent, were feature phones, according to market research institute GfK. While there have been predictions that feature phones will lose popularity with the advent of […]
