Sararat Rangsiwuthaporn is accused of swindling thousands from victims before killing them
A Thai woman alleged to be among the worst serial killers in the kingdom’s history has been convicted and sentenced to death for poisoning a friend with cyanide, in the first of 14 murder trials.
Sararat Rangsiwuthaporn, 36, described as an online gambling addict, is accused of swindling thousands of dollars from her victims before killing them with the chemical.
Continue reading...Detained pro-democracy activist spoke for first time about charges against him under Hong Kong national security law
Jimmy Lai, the detained pro-democracy activist and media mogul who is the target of Hong Kong’s most high-profile national security case, took the stand in court on Wednesday. For the first time since he was detained in December 2020, Lai spoke publicly about the charges against him, for which he faces spending the rest of his life behind bars.
Four years after his arrest, the 77-year-old seemed older and not as strong as he used to be. His first words – swearing an oath on the Bible – were delivered hoarsely.
Continue reading...Founder of Apple Daily paper denies seeking to influence foreign policy against China and says advocating for the independence of Hong Kong was ‘a reality too crazy to think about’
Pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai has said he “never” tried to influence foreign policy or ask foreign officials to take concrete action on Hong Kong, on his first day giving evidence at his national security trial.
Lai has been charged with one count of conspiracy to publish seditious publications and two counts of conspiracy to foreign collusion, under the city’s punitive national security law (NSL), introduced in 2020.
Continue reading...Parents ‘want to ensure no other family’ feels same anguish as Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles remain in Thai hospitals
The family of one of two teenagers fighting for life in hospital after a suspected methanol poisoning incident in Laos hope authorities work out exactly what happened “as soon as possible”.
Melbourne friends Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles, both aged 19, had been staying at a hostel in Vang Vieng, north of the Laos capital Vientiane, when they fell critically ill last week.
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Continue reading...Northern Mariana Islands governor says ‘the world is changing in the Indo-Pacific’ as work continues in the US territory on defense development
The governor of the Northern Mariana Islands says an $800m US military upgrade plan which includes a new airfield in the Pacific territory “has to happen” amid concern over China’s recent missile tests in the region.
Tinian, home to about 3,500 people, is one of the three main islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, an unincorporated US territory. During the second world war, the US launched a nuclear bomb against Japan from Tinian, and now a major rehabilitation of a deserted airfield and other military upgrades are under way on the island.
Continue reading...Some experts liken tariffs to a game of whack-a-mole, with trade flows simply rerouted if the potential rewards are big enough
Businesses are bracing for the economic impact of a second Trump presidency, which, if his campaign promises are to be believed, will mean tariffs across nearly all imports to the US, especially those from China.
But amid the gloom over the spectre of a renewed global trade war, some manufacturers may be looking to those who already have a playbook on dealing with aggressive US levies, such as China’s solar companies.
Continue reading...UK prime minister was condemned by Iain Duncan Smith, who is on Beijing’s sanctions list
Keir Starmer has twice declined to directly condemn the jailing of dozens of Hong Kong’s most prominent pro-democracy figures, less than 24 hours after meeting China’s president at the G20 summit.
The UK prime minister was asked both during a BBC interview and at his press conference in Rio de Janeiro to respond to the jailing of the activists, including being asked if he would condemn the sentences directly, but he reiterated the importance of building bridges with China for the sake of economic growth.
Continue reading...Human rights groups concerned after handing down of sentences of up to 10 years
Governments and human rights groups have expressed concern and outrage at the sentencing of 45 pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong after the city’s largest national security trial.
On Tuesday, a court handed down sentences, ranging from four years and two months to 10 years, to activists, former legislators, councillors and academics, who with two people acquitted in May made up a group known as the Hong Kong 47.
Continue reading...Teenagers Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles in hospitals in neighbouring Thailand after incident last week
Two Australian teenagers are fighting for their lives in Thailand after a suspected methanol poisoning in neighbouring Laos, with the family of one them saying they were struggling to comprehend what had happened.
Friends Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles from Melbourne had been staying at a hostel in Vang Vieng, north of the Laos capital, Vientiane, when they fell critically ill last week, 3AW reported.
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The hīkoi has reached parliament, filling the grounds and swelling out into the surrounding roads and streets.
It is shoulder to shoulder, with people and flags stretching as far as the eye can see in every direction. The notorious Wellington wind is whipping the flags high, their flicks and pops adding to the cacophony.
Continue reading...Members of ‘Hong Kong 47’ – charged in 2021 over involvement in pre-election primary – sentenced to between four and 10 years
Dozens of Hong Kong’s most prominent pro-democracy figures have been jailed – one for 10 years – in the territory’s largest national security trial, after a prosecution that has been widely criticised as politically motivated.
Those jailed are among 47 people, known as the “Hong Kong 47”, who were charged in 2021 under the punitive national security law (NSL) with conspiracy to commit subversion over their involvement in pre-election primaries held in 2020 before the Hong Kong general election. Most have already spent more than three years in jail, but none were released on Tuesday.
Continue reading...The poet also wrote the lyrics for the Astro Boy theme song and translated Peanuts into Japanese
Shuntaro Tanikawa, who pioneered modern Japanese poetry, poignant but conversational in its divergence from haiku and other traditions, has died aged 92.
Tanikawa, who translated the Peanuts comic strip and penned the lyrics for the theme song of the animation series Astro Boy, died on 13 November, his son Kensaku Tanikawa said on Tuesday. The cause of death, at a Tokyo hospital, was old age.
Continue reading...Police say about 42,000 people gathered at parliament in the last stage of the nine-day protest in opposition to the Treaty of Waitangi bill
A protest march estimated to be one of the largest in New Zealand history arrived at parliament on Tuesday, flooding the grounds with song in a display of unity against a controversial bill seeking to reinterpret the country’s founding treaty between Māori and the crown.
Police said around 42,000 people took part in the march, in what was likely New Zealand’s largest-ever protest in support of Māori rights.
Continue reading...PM questions sanctions against MPs and plight of Jimmy Lai as China’s president says Starmer ‘fixing foundations’
China’s president, Xi Jinping, has heaped praise on Keir Starmer’s economic policy, as the UK prime minister used their first meeting to raise concerns about sanctions on MPs and the treatment of the pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai.
During their conversation at the G20 summit in Rio, the first meeting between the UK and China’s leaders in six years, Starmer said he would be keen to host a full bilateral meeting with Xi and the Chinese premier, Li Qiang, in Beijing or London as soon as possible, aimed at turning the page on frosty UK-China relations.
Continue reading...Powerful storm systems bring heavy rainfall, widespread flooding and landslides to Central America and Asia
Tropical Storm Sara has caused significant disruption across Central America in recent days after forming in the Caribbean Sea on Thursday afternoon. It is the 18th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season and the third this month. The large number of tropical storm and hurricane formations this season can be attributed to the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico being warmer than average, thus providing more energy for the development and intensification of these systems.
Since its formation, Sara has affected Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Belize and Guatemala, bringing heavy rainfall, widespread flooding and landslides. The slow-moving nature of the storm has exacerbated the damage, prolonging the duration of its impact. However, Sara is losing strength; initially it had sustained winds of 45mph on Thursday but weakened slightly after moving inland, with winds dropping to 40mph by Sunday. According to the National Hurricane Centre, Sara is expected to dissipate into an area of low pressure as it moves north-west toward the southern region of the Yucatan peninsula on Monday.
Continue reading...Prime minister wants bilateral at G20 to lead to closer ties with China, which he sees as key to faster growth
Keir Starmer will become the first UK prime minister in six years to meet the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, promising to turn the page on UK-China relations by building “a pragmatic and serious relationship”.
Starmer and the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, have been pursuing a thawing of relations with the world’s second-largest economy on pragmatic grounds, suggesting that the UK cannot achieve its growth ambitions without better terms with China.
Continue reading...Incident occurred in eastern city of Wuxi after 21-year-old student went on stabbing spree on Saturday evening
Eight people were killed and 17 others injured when a 21-year-old student went on a stabbing spree in China’s eastern city of Wuxi on Saturday evening, police said.
The incident comes days after a hit-and-run incident in which 35 people were killed and 43 others injured after a car drove into a group of people outside a sports centre in the southern city of Zhuhai.
Continue reading...Authorities warn of ‘life-threatening’ surges as sixth storm to pound the country in the past month intensified
Super Typhoon Man-yi has slammed into the Philippines, with the national weather forecaster warning of a “potentially catastrophic and life-threatening” impact as huge waves pounded the archipelago’s coastline.
More than 650,000 people fled their homes before Man-yi, which is the sixth major storm to batter the disaster-weary country in the past month, made landfall.
Continue reading...Temperatures in Guangzhou fail to drop below level that meteorological service uses to mark change in season
One of China’s biggest cities is still officially in summer, despite it being mid-November, as temperatures have failed to drop below the threshold considered necessary to mark the change in season.
This week, Guangzhou, a hot and humid city of nearly 19 million people in southern China’s Guangdong province, broke a three-decade heat record, according to the local meteorological service. As of Wednesday the city had experienced 235 summer days, beating 1994’s 234-day season.
Continue reading...Voting temporarily suspended amid disruptions including a Māori party MP ripping up a copy of the bill
New Zealand’s parliament has erupted into fiery debate, personal attacks and a haka over a controversial bill that proposes to radically alter the way New Zealand’s treaty between Māori and the crown is interpreted.
The treaty principles bill was tabled by the libertarian Act party – a minor partner in New Zealand’s coalition government – and passed its first reading on Thursday, amid scathing speeches and disruptions.
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