Politician spent 52 days in jail after being charged with insurrection but was released four months ago
Former South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol returned to jail on Thursday after a court approved a warrant sought by prosecutors investigating his attempt to impose martial law last year.
The Seoul central district court’s decision bolstered the special counsel investigation into allegations that Yoon’s move in December represented obstruction of justice and abuse of power.
Continue reading...In 2015, a nationwide campaign rounded up hundreds of rights advocates. Since then, suppression has become more systematic and less visible, lawyers say
A decade on from China’s biggest crackdown on human rights lawyers in modern history, lawyers and activists say that the Chinese Communist party’s control over the legal profession has tightened, making rights defence work next to impossible.
The environment for human rights law has “steadily regressed, especially after the pandemic”, said Ren Quanniu, a disbarred human rights lawyer. “Right now, the rule of law in China – especially in terms of protecting human rights – has deteriorated to a point where it’s almost comparable to the Cultural Revolution era.” The Cultural Revolution was a decade of mass chaos unleashed by China’s former leader Mao Zedong in 1966. During that time judicial organs were attacked as “bourgeois” and the nascent court system was largely suspended.
Continue reading...US exports account for third of Vietnam’s GDP and 40% tariff on so-called transshipments – products with Chinese input – means uncertainty for manufacturers
As news spread that Vietnam would become just the second nation to reach an initial tariff agreement with Washington, shares in the clothing companies and manufacturers that have a large footprint in the country rose with optimism.
Just hours later though, they declined sharply, as it became clear that the devil would be in the detail, and the most striking part of the deal might in fact be aimed at Vietnam’s powerful neighbour China.
Continue reading...President also says he may visit Xi Jinping or Chinese leader could come to US after Trump last month extended app sale deadline for third time
Donald Trump has said he will start talking to China on Monday or Tuesday about a possible TikTok deal.
The United States president said the US “pretty much” had a deal on the sale of the TikTok short-video app.
Continue reading...Amy Hawkins visits one of the many bars popping up across Chinese cities offering drinks, snacks and a vision of the future
In the age of self-help, self-improvement and self-obsession, there have never been more places to look to for guidance. Where the anxious and the uncertain might have once consulted a search engine for answers, now we can engage in a seemingly meaningful discussion about our problems with ChatGPT. Or, if you’re in China, DeepSeek.
To some, though, it feels as if our ancestors knew more about life than we do. Or at least, they knew how to look for them. And so it is that scores of young Chinese are turning to ancient forms of divination to find out what the future holds. In the past couple of years, fortune-telling bars have been popping up in China’s cities, offering drinks and snacks alongside xuanxue, or spiritualism. The trend makes sense: China’s economy is struggling, and although consumers are saving their pennies, going out for a drink is cheaper than other forms of retail therapy or an actual therapist. With a deep-rooted culture of mysticism that blends Daoist, Buddhist and folk practices, which have defied decades of the government trying to stamp out superstitious beliefs, for many Chinese people, turning to the unseen makes perfect sense.
Continue reading...Thirty-five people have been rescued after ferry travelling from Java sank, killing six, rescue agency says
Rescue teams were racing to find dozens of people missing after a ferry sank in rough seas late on Wednesday on its way to the Indonesian resort island Bali, killing six people.
The KMP Tunu Pratama Jaya, which was carrying 65 people, sank as it sailed to Bali from Indonesia’s main island, Java. All passengers were Indonesian, the transport ministry said.
Continue reading...Lee Jae-myung shows no sign of grandeur, cutting very different figure to impeached predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol
South Korea’s president, Lee Jae-myung, has given his first big press conference, a month after winning an election in a country shaken by a brief declaration of martial law imposed by his now-impeached predecessor, Yoon Suk Yeol.
Everything about the event seemed designed to signal a break from the defensive, isolated style of previous Yoon administration.
Continue reading...No major damage has been reported in the Tokara island chain, Japan’s meteorological agency says
More than 900 earthquakes have shaken a remote island chain in southern Japan in the past two weeks, according to the country’s weather agency, leaving residents unable to sleep and fearful of what might come next.
Although no major damage has been reported, the Japan Meteorological Agency has acknowledged that it does not know when the quakes would end.
Continue reading...Comments from Simon Case come as UK defence review highlights Chinese military exercises around Taiwan as driver of global instability
The former head of the UK’s civil service has described the Chinese leader Xi Jinping as a “dictator” and said Donald Trump had put “helpful pressure” on Europe to increase defence spending.
Simon Case, who served as the cabinet secretary until December, when he stepped down on health grounds, said China had sent a clear message to “prepare for serious conflict” in Taiwan.
Continue reading...Paetongtarn could be heard calling former Cambodian leader ‘uncle’ and criticising Thai commander in recording
Thailand’s constitutional court has suspended the prime minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, while it investigates alleged ethical violations relating to a leaked phone call.
The court announced on Tuesday that it would consider a petition filed by 36 senators calling for Paetongtarn’s dismissal, accusing her of dishonesty and breaching ethical standards in violation of the constitution.
Continue reading...Footage of three-a-side game shows humanoids struggling to kick the ball or stay upright
They think it’s all over … for human footballers at least.
The pitch wasn’t the only artificial element on display at a football match in China on Saturday. Four teams of humanoid robots took on each other in Beijing, in games of three-a-side powered by artificial intelligence.
Continue reading...Swarms in South Korean capital trigger heated debate over pest control as experts say rising temperatures partly to blame
Seoul residents are grappling with an invasion of so-called “lovebugs” that have swarmed hiking trails and urban areas across the South Korean capital, with experts debating how to handle the infestations that are surging as the climate crisis draws them further north.
Viral footage shared on social media shows Gyeyangsan mountain in Incheon, west of Seoul, with hiking trails and observation decks carpeted black with the insects.
Continue reading...Minister Pat Conroy says Chinese ‘branding’ of multilateral development projects to bolster its influence in the region is a consistent frustration
Bougainville fought a war to shut down Panguna mine. Now it wants to reopen it
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China is bolstering its geopolitical influence in the Pacific by “branding” Asian Development Bank projects – funded in significant part by Australian taxpayer dollars – as Chinese projects, the Australian government says.
On the island of Bougainville, an autonomous region of Papua New Guinea to Australia’s north, the state-owned China Railway Construction Corporation has begun work to strengthen the runway at Kieta-Aropa, on the outskirts of the largest city.
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Continue reading...Paetongtarn Shinawatra has angered Thai nationalists, who accuse the Thai leader of kowtowing to Cambodia
Thousands of protesters have gathered in Bangkok to demand the resignation of Thailand’s prime minister over a leaked phone call with a former Cambodian leader.
Paetongtarn Shinawatra has faced growing pressure over her handling of a border dispute with neighbouring Cambodia that flared in May when a Cambodian soldier was killed during a brief exchange of fire.
Continue reading...Czech intelligence revealed Chinese diplomats allegedly planned staged incident during Hsiao Bi-khim’s 2024 visit
Taiwan’s vice-president has said she will not be intimidated after reports by Czech intelligence that Chinese officials planned to stage a car collision when she was in Prague last year.
Hsiao Bi-khim visited the Czech Republic in March 2024, in the first overseas visit by her and Taiwan’s president, Lai Ching-te, after winning the election in January. It was reported at the time that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light while following her car – under police escort – from the airport.
Continue reading...Purge is latest sign President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption drive has reached highest echelons of armed forces
A top Chinese general has been dismissed from the body that oversees the Chinese military in the latest sign that Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption drive has reached the highest echelons of the armed forces.
Miao Hua, a senior admiral from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) navy, was the director of the political work department of the central military commission (CMC), making him responsible for ideology and loyalty within the armed forces. The six-person CMC is one of the most powerful institutions in China and is headed by Xi himself.
Continue reading...The execution of Takahiro Shiraishi would be the first instance of capital punishment in Japan since 2022
Japan has executed a man dubbed the “Twitter killer” who murdered and dismembered nine people he met online, in the nation’s first enactment of the death penalty since 2022.
Takahiro Shiraishi was sentenced to death for murdering and dismembering nine people he met on the social media platform, now called X, in 2017. He was hanged on Friday.
In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counsellor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
Continue reading...US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick quoted as saying US countermeasures will be removed once US receives rare earths
The United States has reached an agreement with China on how to expedite rare earth shipments to the US, a White House official has said, amid efforts to end a trade war between the world’s biggest economies.
President Donald Trump said earlier on Thursday that the US had signed a deal with China the previous day, without providing additional details, and that there might be a separate deal coming up that would “open up” India.
Continue reading...A dozen flights cancelled at Yamagata airport as attempts to chase furry trespasser away continue
Authorities at a Japanese airport are locked in a “stalemate” with a black bear which has been roaming the runway despite attempts to chase it off, forcing air traffic controllers to cancel a dozen flights.
The bear first appeared at northern Yamagata airport in the early hours of Thursday, and officials immediately shut operations down, causing delays.
Continue reading...North Korean leader was accompanied by his daughter Kim Ju-ae, widely presumed to be his heir, at opening of Wonsan Kalma tourist zone
Kim Jong-un is more accustomed to overseeing ballistic missile launches and political purges, but this week the North Korean leader opted for a change of pace with a family visit to a new beach resort – the vanguard in a tourism drive that may one day include foreign visitors.
Kim, who had swapped his trademark Mao suit for a dark suit, white shirt and tie that matched the sandy expanse of Wonsan Kalma, hailed the coastal resort as one of the country’s “greatest feats” of the year, the state-run KCNA news agency said in a report issued on Thursday.
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