Category Archives: Asia Pacific

North Korea detains three over warship launch accident, state media reports

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Kim Jong-Un vowed to punish those found responsible for ‘criminal’ damage to new 5,000-tonne naval destroyer

North Korea has detained three people over an accident that occurred during the launch of a new warship this past week, state media reported early on Sunday.

Pyongyang has said that “a serious accident occurred” at Wednesday’s launch ceremony in the eastern port city of Chongjin for a newly built 5,000-tonne naval destroyer, in which sections of the bottom of the vessel were crushed.

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‘Alarming’ rise in regional internet censorship in China, study finds

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Tens of millions of internet users in China’s Henan denied access to five times more websites than usual

China’s authorities appear to have implemented an enhanced version of the country’s internet censorship regime in the central province of Henan, subjecting tens of millions of residents to even stricter controls on access to information than people in the rest of the country.

A research paper published this month by Great Firewall Report, an internet censorship monitoring platform, found that internet users in Henan, one of China’s most populous provinces, were, on average, denied access to five times more websites than a typical Chinese internet user between November 2023 and March 2025.

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Trump warms to Nippon Steel, backing ‘partnership’ with US Steel

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Biden had blocked Japanese acquisition, citing national security, with Trump previously agreeing he was ‘totally against’ it

Donald Trump has thrown his weight behind a “partnership” between US Steel and Nippon Steel, months after insisting he was “totally against” a $14.9bn bid by the Japanese firm for its US rival.

While the US president stopped short of an all-out endorsement of the takeover, he announced a deal between the two businesses on social media on Friday.

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Trump threatens 25% tariff on Apple and Samsung phones not made in US

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Announcement wipes about $70bn off Apple shares amid pressure on company to build smartphones in US

Donald Trump has threatened to impose a 25% tariff on iPhones if they are not made in the United States, as he stepped up the pressure on Apple to build its signature product in the country.

The president wiped approximately $70bn (£52bn) off the company’s shares with a post on the Truth Social platform that said iPhones sold inside the US must be made within the country’s borders.

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World’s seven wealthiest countries agree to counter China’s trade practices

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G7 finance ministers and central bank governors pledge to address ‘economic imbalances’, without naming China

Top finance officials from the world’s seven wealthiest democracies have set aside stark differences on US tariffs and agreed to counter global “economic imbalances”, a swipe at China’s trade practices.

Ahead of the meeting of G7 finance ministers and central bank governors there had been doubt about whether there would be a final communique, given divisions over US tariffs and Washington’s reluctance to refer to Russia’s war on Ukraine as illegal.

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Hong Kong authorities trying to disrupt independent press with ‘strange’ tax audits

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Inland revenue targets eight outlets, union, 20 journalists and their families with supposed ‘random’ checks

Hong Kong authorities have targeted journalists and media outlets with what are supposed to be “random” tax audits, in a move the industry union says adds pressure to waning press freedoms.

The head of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, Selina Cheng, detailed what she said were “strange” and “unreasonable” accusations by Hong Kong’s inland revenue department. Requests or audits were made against the association, at least eight independent media outlets, and at least 20 journalists and their family members, including Cheng and her parents, she said at a press conference on Wednesday.

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Kim Jong-un furious as North Korea warship partly ‘crushed’ in launch gone wrong

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South Korea said the destroyer was lying sideways in the water after ceremony to launch the new 5,000-tonne ship

A ceremony to welcome a new addition to North Korea’s naval fleet has ended in embarrassment following a major accident during the ship’s launch that the country’s dictator, Kim Jong-un, described as a “criminal act”.

Kim was present when the 5,000-tonne destroyer appeared to go off balance during its launch in the eastern port city of Chongjin on Wednesday. The tipping caused damage to sections of the hull, the state-run KCNA news agency said on Thursday.

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Former prisoners and hostages urge Starmer to secure release of Jimmy Lai

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Call for UK PM to act urgently over pro-democracy campaigner who has spent 1,602 days in solitary confinement

Former prisoners and hostages wrongly held abroad have urged the UK prime minister to urgently secure the release of the pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai before he dies in a Hong Kong jail.

The 77-year-old media mogul, who is a British citizen, has been held in solitary confinement for 1,602 days and his family fears he might not survive another summer in Hong Kong, where temperatures can reach 40C (104F).

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US chip export controls are a ‘failure’ because they spur Chinese development, Nvidia boss says

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Comments from Jensen Huang come as Beijing accuses the US of ‘bullying and protectionism’

US chip exports controls have been a “failure”, the head of Nvidia, Jensen Huang, told a tech forum on Wednesday, as the Chinese government separately slammed US warnings to other countries against using Chinese tech.

Successive US administrations have imposed restrictions on the sale of hi-tech AI chips to China, in an effort to curb China’s military advancement and protect US dominance of the AI industry. But Huang told the Computex tech forum in Taipei that the controls had instead spurred on Chinese developers.

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Japanese minister resigns after saying he doesn’t buy rice because he gets it free

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Taku Etō’s remarks drew fury as cost of rice has nearly doubled in a year amid soaring food prices

Japan’s agriculture minister has resigned after saying he never buys rice because he gets it free, a remark that drew public fury in a country facing soaring food prices.

Taku Etō’s resignation has added to pressure on the prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, whose failure to rein in soaring rice prices and address a wider cost of living crisis has angered voters ahead of upper house elections in July.

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Pacific must not become a ‘military zone’ amid rise of China, New Zealand’s deputy PM warns

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In an interview with the Guardian, Winston Peters says the world faces the ‘most uncertain time’ in 80 years ahead of talks with Australia's foreign minister

The Pacific must be protected from becoming a military zone amid China’s growing push for influence in the region, New Zealand’s top diplomat Winston Peters has warned ahead of a meeting with his Australian counterpart Penny Wong.

Peters, who is New Zealand’s deputy prime minister and foreign affairs minister, told the Guardian that his country has a good relationship with China.

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Reeves eyes Gulf trade pact as ‘next deal,’ Bank of England’s Pill says pace of interest rate cuts ‘too rapid’ – as it happened

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China and Australia cut interest rates; Shell faces protests calling for clean-up in Niger Delta

Here’s our full story on Greggs.

Sales at Greggs have picked up after the UK’s biggest bakery chain branched out into iced drinks, pizza boxes and a macaroni cheese that has gone viral on social media.

These are important issues and we respect the right of people to express their view. But for many years the vast majority of spills in the Niger Delta have been caused by third parties acting unlawfully, such as oil thieves who drill holes in pipelines, or saboteurs.

These challenges are managed by a joint venture which Shell’s former Nigerian subsidiary, SPDC, operated, cleaning up every spill from the joint venture’s facilities.

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Runaway rice prices spell danger for Japan’s prime minister as elections loom

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Attempts to bring down the price of the Japanese staple have had little effect amid a cost-of-living crisis

Japan’s government is battling record-low approval ratings as consumers voice anger at soaring rice prices just weeks before key national elections.

Attempts to bring down the price of the Japanese staple have had little effect, prompting calls for a reduction in the consumption (sales) tax to ease the cost-of-living crisis.

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‘Napalm Girl’ may be work of different photographer, World Press Photo says

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Photo from Vietnam war is now at centre of controversy after documentary claimed it was taken by someone else

The World Press Photo group has suspended the attribution of authorship for one on the most famous press photographs ever taken, after a new documentary challenged 50 years of accepted journalism history.

The photo, officially titled The Terror of War but colloquially known as Napalm Girl, remains one of the most indelible images of the US war in Vietnam. Since its publication in June 1972, it has been officially attributed to Nick Ut, a Vietnamese photographer working with the Associated Press in Saigon.

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Son Heung-min tells South Korean police he is victim of blackmail attempt

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  • Spurs captain said to be target of false pregnancy claim
  • Kulusevski out of Europa League final after surgery

Son Heung-min has filed a complaint to South Korean police alleging he was the victim of a blackmail attempt, his agency said, after media reports that a woman had threatened the Tottenham captain with a false pregnancy claim.

“The police are currently investigating, so we will let you know the results as soon as they are available,” his agency, Son & Football Limited, said. “We’d like to tell you that Son Heung-min is clearly the victim of this incident.”

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Nissan open to making cars for Chinese partner in Sunderland, says CEO

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Ivan Espinosa says UK plant will not be hit by cost cuts as Japanese firm reveals seven factories to close

Nissan’s new chief executive has said the Japanese carmaker would be open to building cars for a Chinese partner at its factory in Sunderland after he confirmed it would not be closed in a round of deep cost cuts.

This week Nissan revealed plans to close seven factories and cut 20,000 jobs after sustaining heavy losses.

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Diplomat makes history as first refugee to become a UK high commissioner

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Kanbar Hossein-Bor, who says his mother once feared he ‘might not be British enough’, lands Fiji post

“In her mind this was a bastion of the establishment, she was a little worried of rejection,” Kanbar Hossein-Bor said of his mother’s reaction, two decades ago, to the news he was applying to work in the UK Foreign Office.

This week, the fear that “he might not be British enough” was proved wrong, when Hossein-Bor was appointed as the UK’s high commissioner to Fiji – the first refugee to achieve the rank.

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Endangered New Zealand bird caught fighting ‘at risk’ reptile in rare footage

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A video shows the large flightless takahē bird in hot pursuit of the tuatara – but the tables soon turn

Two of New Zealand’s most rare and beloved animals – a large flightless takahē bird and an ancient tuatara reptile – have been captured chasing and nipping at one another during a bush-floor melee.

Nick Fisentzidis, a department of conservation ranger on the pest-free Tiritiri Matangi Island near Auckland, saw the takahē attack the tuatara and quickly grabbed his phone to capture the rare footage.

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China issues warning to UK over terms of US trade deal

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UK accused of aligning with US in move that could compel firms to exclude Chinese products from supply chains

China has warned the UK over its new trade deal with the US, accusing Britain of aligning with the US in a move that could compel British companies to exclude Chinese products from their supply chains.

The UK-US trade deal, signed last week, offers Britain limited relief from US tariffs on car and steel exports, but only if it complies with strict American security requirements. These conditions include scrutinising supply chains and ownership structures – a move widely interpreted as targeting Chinese involvement.

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After chaos of the Yoon era, South Korea prepares to pick a new president

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Koreans hope politics can return to a focus on record high youth unemployment and a cost of living crisis after impeachment drama

After the unprecedented turmoil of the past six months, South Koreans could be forgiven for breathing a collective sigh of relief that the political focus has shifted from an impeachment crisis to economic policy ahead of next month’s presidential election.

The economy is expected to dominate the campaign to elect a new president on 3 June, after the impeachment of Yoon Suk Yeol, whose declaration of martial law in December triggered the South’s most serious political crisis for decades.

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