Punishment for heroin trafficking comes just days after city executes first woman in nearly 20 years
Singapore has executed a 39-year-old man who was convicted of trafficking heroin in the city-state’s third hanging in just over a week, authorities say.
Mohamed Shalleh Adul Latiff was sentenced to death for possessing about 55g of heroin “for the purpose of trafficking” in 2019.
Continue reading...Heavy rains and high winds lash Okinawa and Kagoshima, as storm slowly moves north-west before forecast change in direction towards mainland
About 166,000 households in south-western Japan’s Okinawa and Kagoshima prefectures were without power as Typhoon Khanun continued to hit with heavy rain and gusty winds, prolonging the damage potential.
The storm in the East China Sea was heading north-west at a slow speed with gusts of 222km/h (138mph), according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. It was projected to change direction to move east towards the country’s mainland until Tuesday, but its path was not determined, public broadcaster NHK said.
Continue reading...At least 400 require treatment for heat-related symptoms on first day of global event attracting more than 40,000 young people from 158 countries
Hundreds of attendees at the World Scout Jamboree in South Korea have fallen ill as the country grapples with an extended heatwave affecting large swathes of the country.
The event, which started earlier this week, has drawn 43,000 young Scouts from 158 countries this year. By the end of the first day, Tuesday, officials had counted at least 400 patients who needed treatment for heat-related symptoms such as headaches, dizziness and exhaustion. On Wednesday, a further 207 heat-related cases emerged.
Continue reading...Extreme weather comes as China’s foreign ministry denies reports that it obstructed discussions on climate crisis at G20 meetings
China’s government awarded martyr status to a firefighter who died as he tried to rescue people trapped by heavy flooding that has pummelled Beijing and surrounding areas in the heaviest rain in at least 140 years.
Feng Zhen, a firefighter in Beijing’s Haidian district, was washed away by flood waters as he tried to rescue three people from a school building on Monday. The people escaped the area safely, but after receiving medical treatment Feng “died a heroic death”, according to state media.
Continue reading...Rising ocean temperatures caused by climate crisis are also said to be causing China’s extreme weather
Summers in China are often wet, sometimes very wet, but nothing like the drenching that has engulfed Beijing and its neighbouring provinces this week.
As Beijing authorities lifted the flood alert on Wednesday morning, after the city’s heaviest rainfall for 140 years, 21 people across the region were confirmed dead. Dozens more were missing.
Continue reading...Failed states, a rise in authoritarian politics and heightened risks of conflict among potential threats outlined in thinktank’s assessment
Australia must prepare for “devastating” climate-fueled disruption in the Asia-Pacific, including failed states, forced migration and regional conflicts over water shortages, a stark briefing for federal politicians warns.
The Breakthrough National Centre for Climate Restoration thinktank has summarised the potential threats and impacts of the climate crisis in a note targeted at MPs.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup
Continue reading...Leader tightens grip over country’s military leadership with biggest shake-up in a decade
Two of China’s top generals overseeing its nuclear missiles have been replaced with scant explanation in the biggest shake-up of the country’s military leadership in a decade, underlining Xi Jinping’s commitment to tightening control over the armed forces.
Two men from outside the ranks of the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) were appointed to head the unit, state media have reported. Wang Houbin, from the navy, was appointed as commander and Xu Xisheng, from the air force, its political commissar – a Chinese Communist party role of equal grade to military commander.
Continue reading...The Solomon Star denies accusations of ‘giving away’ its independence by accepting thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment
Local media in Solomon Islands have been accused of compromising their independence by entering into agreements with Chinese news organisations and accepting thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment from the Chinese embassy.
Since the Solomon Islands government signed a high-profile security agreement with China in March 2022, some newspapers in the Pacific country have received cars, cameras, phones and printing machinery that costs thousands of dollars from the Chinese government, via its local embassy, according to local journalists. Some have raised concern about the gifts and the continued close dialogue between media organisations in China and Solomon Islands.
Continue reading...Visitor numbers rise by 30% as footage sparks claims animal could be a staff member in a bear suit
Visitors have flocked to a zoo in eastern China’s Zhejiang province after a video of one of its bears went viral with some suggesting she looked so human she could be a staff member in a bear suit.
Attendance numbers at Hangzhou zoo have risen by 30% to about 20,000 a day, with some people travelling overnight, since a video of the Malayan sun bear, named Angela, became a trending topic on Chinese social media over the weekend, Zhejiang-based Chao News reported.
Continue reading...In South Korea, 12 people died from heat-related deaths last weekend, while in Japan, three people died including a 13 year-old on her way back from school
Twelve people have died from heat-related causes in South Korea as it swelters through a heatwave, while in Japan it emerged a 13-year-old girl had died from heatstroke on her way back from a school club.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported that at least five of those who died over the weekend were farmers, and at least seven were over 70, including some in their 90s. Most of the country has been under a heatwave warning – issued when temperatures pass 35C – since Tuesday. Over the previous week, three people are believed to have died from heat-related causes.
Continue reading...Warner Bros Japan publicly criticised US counterparts over ‘inconsiderate’ reactions to art combining playful Barbie imagery with mushroom clouds
Warner Bros global headquarters has apologised after its Japan office publicly complained that the US-based company was engaging with the “Barbenheimer” movement, which promotes a double bill of the apocalyptic Oppenheimer film and the lighthearted Barbie blockbuster.
There is a growing backlash in Japan against the conflation of Greta Gerwig’s playfully marketed movie with Oppenheimer, a biopic of the scientist behind the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Continue reading...Remi Lucidi, 30, who had a large social media following, found dead on a patio at apartment block
A man identified as the French climber Remi Lucidi has been found dead in Hong Kong and is believed to have fallen from a high-rise building while attempting a stunt.
Police said the body of a 30-year-old man believed to have engaged in extreme sports was found on a patio of an apartment block in the city’s Mid-Levels area. He was named in local media as Lucidi, who had gained a large social media following under the name “Remi Enigma” as he posted photographs from tall structures around the world.
Continue reading...Hangzhou zoo insists animals are real after video of one standing on hind legs triggers online speculation
A zoo in eastern China has denied suggestions that some of its bears could be humans dressed in costumes, after video of one standing on its hind legs circulated online.
In a statement published on Sunday from the perspective of Angela, a Malaysian sun bear, zookeepers at Hangzhou zoo said: “When it comes to bears, the first thing that comes to mind is a huge figure and amazing power … But not all bears are behemoths and danger personified. We Malayan bears are petite, the smallest bear in the world.”
Continue reading...Strongest storm to hit country in years has also caused widespread flooding and evacuations in province of Fujian
Two people are reported to have died in severe flooding that has engulfed parts of Beijing, as Typhoon Doksuri passed through China’s capital.
People’s Daily reported on Monday that two people were found unresponsive in a river in Mentougou, a district in west Beijing that has suffered some of the worst flooding. According to state broadcaster CCTV, more than 31,000 people have evacuated their homes in the city.
Continue reading...The home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, says revelations about contracts with company linked to a foreign bribery case ‘merit detailed and thorough examination’
Labor has announced an independent review of the management of regional processing procurement by the Department of Home Affairs after revelations it granted contracts to a company linked to the subject of a bribery investigation.
The home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, announced the inquiry citing “serious issues” with the governance of offshore processing contracts which she said “merit detailed and thorough examination”.
Continue reading...Pro-democracy leader who now lives in UK argues UK government is doing too little about Chinese threat
When Finn Lau woke one morning this month to dozens of messages urging him to take care, he was confused as to what had happened. But he was not distressed to learn that Hong Kong authorities had offered a HK$1m (£100,000) bounty for his arrest, along with that of seven other overseas activists, because it was not the first threat he had faced.
Since helping to lead pro-democracy protests challenging Hong Kong’s authorities and a national security law that brought sweeping extraterritorial powers into force three years ago, Lau, 29, who now lives in the UK, has become a prominent critic of the Chinese Communist party.
Continue reading...‘Improvised and atrocious’ decision in 2019 made Italy the only major western member, says Guido Crosetto, the defence minister
Joining China’s vast Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was an “atrocious” decision, Italy’s defence minister has said, and the issue was how to leave it without damaging ties with Beijing.
Guido Crosetto said in an interview published on Sunday that the move made four years ago under a previous government had done little to boost exports, while Chinese exports to Italy had soared.
Continue reading...More than 100 injured and hundreds of homes reportedly damaged near border with Malaysia
An explosion has ripped through a firework warehouse in Thailand , killing nine people and injuring more than 100, a senior official has said.
The blast in the town of Sungai Kolok, in the southern province of Narathiwat, on Saturday is thought to have been caused by welding during construction work on the building.
Continue reading...Activists and family members fear Lu Siwei will be deported back to China, where he could be sent to prison
A Chinese rights lawyer stripped of his licence for taking on sensitive cases has been arrested in Laos, and activists and family members are worried he will be deported back to China, where he could be jailed.
Lu Siwei was seized by Laotian police on Friday morning while boarding a train for Thailand. He was on his way to Bangkok to catch a flight to the US to join his wife and daughter.
Continue reading...Amid record youth unemployment, the government wants young people to ‘go to the farmland’ – but the prospect is unappealing for many
Wanted: recent graduates keen to gain experience in a teaching environment and an adventure far from home. Perks of the role include hands-on experience, CV fodder and, most importantly, job security. Cons include long hours, low pay, limited social life and poor infrastructure in remote locations (running water not guaranteed).
This is the offer facing China’s graduating class of 2023: decamping to work in impoverished rural areas. But many young people are not convinced.
Continue reading...