Category Archives: Asia Pacific

Hanoi bans The Economist’s issue featuring Vietnam’s leader on its cover, reports say

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Media quoted unnamed distributors who said they could not obtain copies of the magazine or that it had been banned

The latest print edition of the Economist, which features Vietnam’s top leader on its cover, has been banned in the country, the latest instance of media censorship in the communist, one-party state.

The magazine carried an image of the Communist party General Secretary To Lam with stars on his eyes, alongside the headline “The man with a plan for Vietnam”, with an article carrying the subheading: “A Communist party hard man has to rescue Asia’s great success story”.

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Hong Kong releases second group of democrats jailed for four years in national security trial

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Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham, who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups

Four people jailed in the landmark national security trial of the “Hong Kong 47”, the pro-democracy figures accused of conspiracy to commit subversion, were freed on Friday after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month.

Among those freed was longtime political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham, who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021.

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Doubts raised over Chinese paraglider’s claim of accidental 8,000-metre flight

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Peng Yujiang says updraft took him nearly as high as Mount Everest but parts of flight video appear to be AI-generated

A Chinese paraglider’s story of being accidentally propelled more than 8,000 metres high by an updraft has been thrown into doubt after it emerged that parts of a video of the flight appear to have been AI-generated.

Peng Yujiang, who has been banned from the activity for six months, said he began from an elevation of about 3,000 metres in the Qilian mountain range in northern China, where he intended to test some secondhand equipment he bought without making a proper flight, according to an investigative report by the Gansu Provincial Aviation Sports Association.

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Shein turns to Hong Kong for flotation as London attempt stalls, reports say

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Fast-fashion retailer struggling to gain go-ahead from Chinese regulators for UK listing

Shein is reportedly aiming to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange as the online fast-fashion retailer struggles to gain the go-ahead from Chinese regulators for a flotation in London.

The company, which was founded in China where the majority of its suppliers are based but now has its headquarters in Singapore, is aiming to file a draft prospectus with Hong Kong’s stock exchange in the coming weeks, according to Reuters.

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Trump indicates ‘positive’ progress in US-EU trade talks

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Wall Street up in early trading after US president commends bloc for calling to ‘quickly establish meeting dates’

Donald Trump has indicated there has been progress in US trade talks with the EU, helping send share prices rising on Wall Street, after he commended the bloc for calling to “quickly establish meeting dates”.

“I have just been informed that the EU has called to quickly establish meeting dates. This is a positive event, and I hope that they will,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday, saying the EU would be “very happy and successful” if it agreed a deal.

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Poorest 750 nations face ‘tidal wave’ of debt repayments to China in 2025, study warns

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Vulnerable countries to pay record $22bn this year, mostly relating to loans issued under Xi Jinping’s belt and road initiative

The most vulnerable nations on Earth are facing a “tidal wave” of debt repayments as a Chinese lending boom starts to be called in, a new report has warned.

The analysis, published on Tuesday by Australian foreign policy thinktank the Lowy Institute, said that in 2025 the poorest 75 countries were on the hook for record high debt repayments US$22bn to China. The 75 nations’ debt formed the bulk of the total $35bn calculated by Lowy for 2025.

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New Zealand teenager dies after tackle game linked to viral Run It Straight challenge

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Police confirmed the 19-year-old died in hospital on Monday night after he suffered a critical head injury

A New Zealand teenager has died after playing a tackling game, believed to have been inspired by a controversial new high impact collision sport trending on social media.

Police confirmed the 19-year-old died in hospital on Monday night after he suffered a critical head injury while playing a tackle game with friends in the North Island city Palmerston North on Sunday.

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France spent €90,000 countering research into impact of Pacific nuclear tests

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Documents suggest campaign to discredit revelation that tests contaminated many more people than acknowledged

France’s Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) has spent tens of thousands of euros in an effort to counter research revealing that Paris has consistently underestimated the devastating impact of its nuclear tests in French Polynesia in the 1960s and 1970s.

Days before a parliamentary inquiry presents its report on the tests, documents obtained by the investigative outlet Disclose, and seen by Le Monde and the Guardian, suggest the CEA ran a concerted campaign to discredit the revelations.

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Japan introduces rules to put outlandish baby names to bed

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The change is designed to halt the use of kirakira (shiny or glittery) names that have proliferated among parents hoping to add a creative flourish

Parents in Japan will no longer have free rein over the names they give their children, after the introduction this week of new rules on the pronunciation of kanji characters.

The change is designed to halt the use of kirakira (shiny or glittery) names that have proliferated among parents hoping to add a creative flourish to their children’s names – creating administrative headaches for local authorities and, in some cases, inviting derision from classmates.

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Emmanuel Macron says video of wife pushing him shows them ‘joking around’

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French president denies quarrelling with Brigitte Macron after footage is seized on by Russia and far-right accounts

Emmanuel Macron has denied he and his wife, Brigitte, had an altercation after a viral video promoted by Russian state media and French far-right accounts appeared to show her pushing him in the face as they prepared to get off a plane in Vietnam.

The video, shot by an Associated Press camera operator, shows the French president appearing in the doorway of the plane at the start of a visit to Hanoi. His wife’s hand appears to shove him, causing him to step back before recovering and waving.

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Holiday bookings to Japan are down – could a 90s manga comic’s earthquake prediction be to blame?

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The Future I Saw, a Japanese graphic novel by Ryo Tatsuki, declared a major disaster would occur on 5 July 2025

A grim prediction made in a manga first published a quarter of a century ago is being blamed for a dramatic fall in holiday bookings to Japan from several Asian countries.

Flight reservations to Japan from some of its key tourism markets have reportedly plummeted, with some linking the fall to The Future I Saw, a Japanese graphic novel based on the “prophetic” dreams of its author, Ryo Tatsuki.

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New Zealand will not be ‘guilt-tripped’ over environment, resources minister says

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Shane Jones is unapologetic about his plan to double mineral exports to $3bn over the next decade despite criticism over potential environmental impacts

New Zealand’s minister for resources, Shane Jones, said he will not be guilt-tripped by “apocalyptic images” of mining and its effects on the environment put forward by his critics, as he embarks on a major mining push.

Jones, a member of the minor populist coalition party New Zealand First, wants to double mineral exports to $3bn over the next decade, to boost economic growth and minimise the country’s reliance on imported resources, even if it results in environmental trade-offs.

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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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