Category Archives: Asia Pacific

Bombing of Catholic mass in southern Philippines leaves four dead

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Police say explosion at Mindanao State University gymnasium in Marawi could be revenge by pro-Islamic State militants

Philippine forces were on high alert after a bomb killed four people and wounded many more during a Catholic mass in a university gymnasium in the south of the country, an attack the authorities called Islamist terrorism.

“I condemn in the strongest possible terms the senseless and most heinous acts perpetrated by foreign terrorists,” said the president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. “Extremists who wield violence against the innocent will always be regarded as enemies to our society.”

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Philippines earthquake: woman killed by collapsed wall as fleeing residents return home

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The magnitude 7.5 quake in Mindanao triggered tsunami warnings in Japan and more than 600 aftershocks

Philippine residents were allowed to return to their homes on Sunday after a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck the country’s south, killing at least one person, with disaster officials reporting minor damage to some infrastructure.

The Saturday night quake shook parts of Surigao del Sur and Davao Oriental provinces, triggering coastal evacuations and tsunami alerts in the country and in Japan.

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Colombia joins international alliance calling for treaty to end use of fossil fuels

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Colombian president Gustavo Petro wants treaty to lay out plan to end era of coal, oil and gas

Colombia has formally joined an alliance of nations calling for a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty to prevent the “omnicide of planet Earth”, the country’s president announced at Cop28.

At the climate summit in Dubai, Gustavo Petro has said his country would join a group of nations calling for a new body to manage a global transition away from the primary driver of global heating, akin to previous treaties to reduce nuclear weapon arsenals and landmines.

Cop28: Can fossil fuel companies transition to clean energy?
On Tuesday 5 December, 8pm-9.15pm GMT, join Damian Carrington, Christiana Figueres, Tessa Khan and Mike Coffin for a livestreamed discussion on whether fossil fuel companies can transition to clean energy. Book tickets here or at theguardian.live

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South Korea launches first military spy satellite, intensifying space race with Pyongyang

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Seoul’s satellite was launched into orbit on one of Elon Musk’s SpaceX rockets

A SpaceX rocket has launched South Korea’s first military spy satellite, intensifying a space race on the peninsula after Pyongyang launched its own first surveillance satellite last week.

Seoul’s reconnaissance satellite, carried by one of Elon Musk’s SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets, lifted off from the Vandenberg US Space Force Base in California at 10.19am local time on Friday.

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World’s biggest experimental nuclear fusion reactor launched in Japan

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Joint project with EU involves more than 500 scientists and engineers and more than 70 companies

The world’s biggest operational experimental nuclear fusion reactor – a technology in its infancy but billed by some as the answer to humanity’s future energy needs – has been inaugurated in Naka, Japan.

Fusion differs from fission, the technique used in nuclear power plants, by fusing two atomic nuclei instead of splitting one.

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Exit from Edinburgh zoo may signal end to era of China’s panda diplomacy

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Beijing’s strained relations with the west are less easily mollified by loans of cuddly endangered bears

As the UK’s only giant pandas leave Edinburgh zoo , returning to their native country after a 12-year sojourn away from China, the era of panda diplomacy also looks to be coming to an end.

Tian Tian and Yang Guang will board the panda express back to Sichuan less than a month after three giant pandas left the Smithsonian national zoo in Washington DC, ending the zoo’s five-decade panda programme.

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Fears raised after Hong Kong journalist fails to return from China trip

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Minnie Chan has reportedly been out of contact since travelling to Xiangshan Forum a month ago

Friends and colleagues of a Hong Kong journalist have raised concerns after she failed to return from a defence and security forum in Beijing a month ago.

Minnie Chan, a reporter for the South China Morning Post, has not been in contact since she went to the Xiangshan Forum, Japan’s Kyodo News reported on Thursday. Chan filed several stories from the forum, the most recent of which was published on 2 November.

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Pharrell Williams takes Louis Vuitton to Hong Kong for his second men’s show

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Creative director targets east Asia’s luxury market as his preppy streetwear is given a tropical twist

For his first show as men’s creative director of Louis Vuitton in June, Pharrell Williams closed down the Pont Neuf in Paris, and counted mega-celebrities including Beyoncé and Jay-Z, and Rihanna and A$AP Rocky as guests.

His second effort took place in Hong Kong and focused on local stars in the front row. The actors Zhu Yilong and Chow Yun-fat were joined by three members of the Cantopop band Mirror and the rapper Tyson Yoshi. There was also a take on celestial stars, with a light show at the end rendering the Louis Vuitton monogram in twinkling lights across the city’s harbour.

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‘We haven’t slept a wink’: families welcome freed Thai hostages home

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Tears and joy as 17 Thai nationals who were seized in Hamas attacks on Israel land in Bangkok

Pornsawan Pinakalo’s three great aunts would not have missed his return for the world. Kularb Pinakalo’s knees couldn’t quite get her up to the room in Bangkok airport where her nephew was meeting other family members for the first time since being taken hostage in Gaza. But after travelling for four hours by van to the Thai capital, the 63-year-old was ready and waiting for him to emerge in the arrivals hall, alongside 84-year-old Nangnoi Pattataysan and Noi Prakobkan, 82.

“I just want to give him a hug,” Kularb said. She was so overwhelmed that she could hardly think of what to say to him, she added.

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Foiled robbery attempt sees demand for ancient samurai weapon soar in Japan

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Defensive weapon called a sasumata gains popular appeal after jewellery store owner uses one to fend off attackers

An employee at a jewellery shop in Tokyo has been hailed a hero after thwarting an attempted robbery and giving chase after the three suspects fled. But the hero of the hour wasn’t armed with a Taser or pepper spray, but with a weapon invented hundreds of years by samurai warriors: the sasumata, a pole with two prongs attached to the end.

After footage of the attempted robbery early on Sunday evening attracted attention online, an auto parts manufacturer that also makes the forked pole reported a deluge of requests for the traditional weapon.

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Taiwan president says China has too many problems to invade

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Tsai Ing-wen says economic, financial and political challenges overwhelm Xi Jinping’s government, with international pressure also a deterrent

Taiwan’s president has said China is unlikely to attempt an invasion any time soon because it is “overwhelmed” by domestic problems.

Tsai Ing-wen made the remarks in an interview at the New York Times Dealbook Summit.

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‘Very sweet milestone’: wild-born kiwi chicks are Wellington’s first in a century

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New Zealand’s national icon is also one of its most vulnerable birds and conservationists believe it was absent from capital for generations

Two kiwi chicks have been born in the wild around Wellington for the first time in more than 100 years, one year after the national bird was reintroduced to New Zealand’s capital.

The fluffy and flightless kiwi is one of the most vulnerable birds in New Zealand and conservationists believe it has been absent from the capital for generations.

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New Zealand freshwater study sounds alarm over E coli pollution levels

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The report Our Land and Water looks at how waterways are polluted by four major contaminants in 650,000 river segments, 961 lakes and 419 estuaries

A new study of New Zealand’s freshwater quality has painted a sobering picture, showing that E coli is seeping through three-quarters of the land and into waterways at higher levels than national regulations allow.

The report, funded by the government-backed organisation Our Land and Water, looked at how rivers, lakes, and estuaries are polluted by four major contaminants, including E coli, a bacteria found in the intestines of many animals and humans that can cause serious illness.

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Chinese celebrity chef offends China for third time with egg fried rice video

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Wang Gang accused of deliberately pushing tutorial around anniversary of death of Mao Anying

A Chinese celebrity chef has apologised after he was accused of insulting the memory of Mao Zedong’s son by posting a video about how to cook egg fried rice.

Wang Gang, who has more than 3.3 million followers on Weibo and more than 2 million on YouTube, faced a torrent of criticism by viewers who accused him of deliberately publishing his cooking tutorial around the anniversary of the death of Mao Anying as an act of mockery.

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Closing arguments begin in trial of Hong Kong pro-democracy activists

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Judge says verdict is ‘tentatively’ three or four months away after 10 months of hearings

The long-running national security trial of a group of pro-democracy figures known as the Hong Kong 47 began hearing closing arguments on Wednesday, more than 1,000 days after the accused were first arrested and after 10 months of hearings.

The trial is Hong Kong’s biggest since authorities introduced the national security law in June 2020. Ten days have been allowed for closing arguments and on Wednesday one of the judges, Andrew Chan, said a verdict was “tentatively” three or four months away.

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At least one dead after US military plane crashes off Japanese coast

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Status of five other personnel aboard Osprey aircraft not known after incident off Yakushima island, off southern Kyushu coast

A crew member who was recovered from the ocean after a US military Osprey aircraft carrying six people crashed on Wednesday off southern Japan has been pronounced dead, coast guard officials said.

The cause of the crash and the status of the five others on the aircraft were not immediately known, a coastguard spokesperson, Kazuo Ogawa, said. Initial reports said the aircraft was carrying eight people, but the US military later revised the number to six, he said.

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Chinese fashion giant Shein has filed paperwork to float on US stock market – reports

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Company last month hoped for a valuation of $80-$90bn, according to reports, making it the largest initial public offering (IPO) in years

Fast fashion giant Shein has reportedly lodged confidential paperwork with US securities regulators, informing them of an intention to go public in the US.

The listing would likely be the largest initial public offering (IPO) in years.

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UK will not return to Cameron era’s close ties with China, Sunak says

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At summit to drum up foreign investment PM says he does not intend to change policy towards Beijing

Rishi Sunak has said the UK will not return to the close relationship with China pursued under David Cameron, as the prime minister met business leaders in an effort to drum up foreign investment.

The government on Monday said £29.5bn of new investment had been earmarked for the UK, including projects by the ScottishPower owner, Iberdrola, and BioNTech, the German company that partnered with Pfizer on its Covid vaccine.

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North Korea moves heavy weapons to border with South

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Seoul condemns ‘provocative acts’ as tensions rise after launch of spy satellite in defiance of UN sanctions

North Korea has started rebuilding guard posts and stationing heavy weapons along its border with South Korea, the defence ministry in Seoul has said, after the countries’ withdrawal from a key confidence-building agreement designed to prevent a war.

Media reports cited the South Korean military as saying it had detected troops from the North repairing camouflaged guard posts that the regime had destroyed as part of a comprehensive military agreement in 2018 designed to lower the risk of a confrontation along the heavily armed demilitarised zone (DMZ).

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New Zealand scraps world-first smoking ‘generation ban’ to fund tax cuts

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Health experts say axing plan to block sales of tobacco products to next generation will cost thousands of lives

New Zealand’s new government will scrap the country’s world-leading law to ban smoking for future generations to help pay for tax cuts – a move that public health officials believe will cost thousands of lives and be “catastrophic” for Māori communities.

In 2022 the country passed pioneering legislation which introduced a steadily rising smoking age to stop those born after January 2009 from ever being able to legally buy cigarettes. The law was designed to prevent thousands of smoking-related deaths and save the health system billions of dollars.

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