Category Archives: Asia Pacific

‘Bulging at the seams’: Auckland, a super city struggling with its own success

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The government dreamed of a metropolis that is a beacon to all but the pace of change has left some behind and others disillusioned

Tāmaki Makaurau, the Māori name for Auckland which can be translated as “the place desired by many”, is living up to its billing. The city’s population has swelled rapidly to 1.7 million and is estimated to be adding 40,000 people a year. By 2048 it could host nearly half of New Zealand’s current population.

In the 1980s only a couple of thousand people lived in the central city. Now some 57,000 people call it home, a figure that was not expected to be reached until 2032.

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‘It’s suffocating’: Delhi residents react as toxic smog blankets city – video

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Pollution in Delhi has reached its worst levels so far this year, at almost 400 times the amount deemed healthy. A week on from Diwali, the thick brown smog that shrouded the city after the festival has shown no sign of shifting. One local said the pollution was so bad it burned his nose and throat, making simple activities such as jogging difficult

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Asean summit: US condemns Chinese ‘intimidation’ in the South China Sea

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National security adviser Robert O’Brien says Beijing has bullied smaller nations by militarising resource-rich waters

The US has condemned Chinese “intimidation” in the South China Sea, alleging it has bullied smaller south-east Asian nations by militarising the resource-rich waters and seeking to control the global trade route.

Speaking at an Asean-US summit in Bangkok, the US national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, said China’s sweeping exclusive claims in the South China Sea – already rejected by the court of arbitration – were illegitimate and a form of realist imperialism.

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Hong Kong protests: Chinese state media urges tougher stance on ‘wanton violence’

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China Daily newspaper accuses protesters of being at mercy of hormones, and venting anger ‘at grievances real and imagined’

Chinese state media on Monday urged authorities to take a “tougher line” against protesters in Hong Kong who vandalised the office of the state-run Xinhua news agency and other buildings at the weekend, saying the violence damaged the city’s rule of law.

In an editorial, state-backed China Daily newspaper criticised the “wanton” attacks by “naive” demonstrators, adding: “They are doomed to fail simply because their violence will encounter the full weight of the law.”

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World’s largest trade deal RCEP faces delay as India pushes back against China

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Sixteen-nation Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership will cover half the planet’s people

The world’s largest trade deal is unlikely to be signed this year, with a draft statement from south-east Asian leaders suggesting it will be delayed until 2020, despite China’s desire to bring it into operation as soon as possible as a counterweight to its debilitating tariff war with the US.

The 16-country Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership – known as the RCEP – would be the world’s largest when operational, spanning India to New Zealand, including 30% of global GDP and half of the world’s people.

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Grace Millane: trial for backpacker’s murder to begin in Auckland

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New Zealand man, 27, has pleaded not guilty to murder of 21-year-old British tourist

One year since the body of British backpacker Grace Millane was discovered in dense bushland on the outskirts of Auckland, the man accused of murdering her is set to stand trial in New Zealand this week.

The 27-year-old New Zealand man, who was granted name suppression by the Auckland high court in December, has pleaded not guilty to her murder.

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Politician’s ear bitten off during knife attack in Hong Kong

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Pro-democracy councillor among five wounded by alleged attacker shouting pro-Beijing slogans

A man went on a knife rampage in Hong Kong leaving at least five people wounded, including a local pro-democracy politician who had his ear bitten off, capping another chaotic day of political unrest in the city.

Flashmob rallies erupted on Sunday inside multiple shopping centers across the city, sparking clashes with riot police.

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Hong Kong protesters attack Chinese news agency offices

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Local media show broken windows, graffiti and lobby fire at official Xinhau agency

Protesters have vandalised the Hong Kong office of China’s official Xinhua news agency for the first time in months of anti-government demonstrations, smashing windows and doors.

Local media showed scenes of a fire in the lobby of Xinhua’s office in Wan Chai district, broken windows and graffiti sprayed on a wall. It was unclear if there were people in the building.

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Thai woman duped investors out of millions in Ponzi scheme, say police

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Mae Manee, 28, on the run after being accused of fraud involving a fake gold shop and the offer of 93% return to investors

A woman is on the run from Thai police after being accused of scamming nearly 3,000 people out of a total of 861 million baht (US28.3m), and setting up a fake gold shop to fool her alleged victims about her assets.

Wantanee Tippaveth, 28, known as Mae Manee, is accused of fraud and other financial crimes after allegedly setting up a Ponzi scheme offering 93% profit to a total of 2,977 investors. Her boyfriend Metee Chinpa, 20, has also been charged with financial misdemeanours.

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To the moon and back with the eastern curlew

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Ultra-endurance athlete, aerodynamic wonder … and facing extinction. Why the bird who flies 30,000km a year needs Australia’s mudflats

• Vote for your favourite in the 2019 bird of the year poll

The ascent is vertical. Up, up and into the jet stream. If the conditions are not right up there it will come back down and wait. But if there is a good tailwind in the right direction it will begin an epic journey that will take it around the curvature of the Earth; from the Arctic Circle to the southern hemisphere.

Using the sun and stars as a compass, and navigating by the Earth’s magnetic field, recognising landmarks, the far eastern curlew will fly nonstop to the Yellow Sea, where it fuels up on the mudflats of north-east China.

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In Jakarta’s cemeteries they’re stacking the dead six-deep

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What was meant to be a stopgap solution to a shortage of land for burial in the Indonesian capital has sparked family rifts and hit the poor the hardest

At Karet Bivak cemetery in Jakarta, the neat rows of headstones extend as far as the eye can see, seeming to sprout into skyscrapers at the horizon.

Driving his scooter through after Friday prayers, a friendly Muslim man wearing white robes and a taqiyah cap seems at peace with his fate. “This is my future home,” he says, leaning on the handlebars and indicating the graves. “Your home, my home – everybody’s home.”

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2020 Olympics: Tokyo accepts ‘painful’ decision to move marathon to Sapporo

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Move follows Olympic committee’s sudden decision to relocate event to avoid sweltering heat

Tokyo’s governor, Yuriko Koike, has reluctantly dropped her opposition to the International Olympic Committee’s surprise decision to move next year’s Olympic marathon and walking events from the capital to the northern Japanese city of Sapporo due to concerns about the heat.

“We cannot agree with the final decision, but the IOC [International Olympic Committee] has the authority to change [the location],” Koike said on Friday in a meeting with IOC representative John Coates. “The most important thing is to assure the success of next year’s Games.”

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North Korea hails test of ‘super-large multiple rocket launcher’

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Kim Jong-un ‘expressed satisfaction’ with the test and congratulated weapons scientists, state media said

North Korea conducted another test of super-large multiple rocket launchers on Thursday afternoon, calling it a success, the state news agency KCNA said on Friday.

The latest test of the “super-large multiple rocket launchers”, following two tests in August and September of the same weapon that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un oversaw, according to KCNA, indicates the progression of North Korea’s weapons development while talks with the US remain in limbo.

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New Zealand: just 11% of sexual violence reports lead to conviction

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Major Ministry of Justice report analysed tens of thousands of cases over four years, with nearly two-third involving children

Less than a third of sexual violence reports in New Zealand lead to a court case, and only 11% to a conviction, the most comprehensive analysis ever undertaken in the country has found.

The Ministry of Justice report, which looked at tens of thousands of cases over four years, “does not make for happy reading” and highlighted just how many people face barriers to justice, said Jan Logie, under-secretary to the minister of justice.

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Quarter of world’s pig population ‘to die of African swine fever’

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World Organisation for Animal Health warns spread of disease has inflamed worldwide crisis

About a quarter of the global pig population is expected to die as a result of the African swine fever (ASF) epidemic, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).

Global pork prices are rising spurred by growing demand from China, where as many as 100 million pigs have died since ASF broke out there last year. In recent months, China has been granting export approval to foreign meat plants and signing deals around the world at a dizzying rate. US pork sales to China have doubled, while European pork prices have now reached a six-year high.

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Body of Amelia Bambridge found in sea off Cambodia

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Briton, 21, disappeared after attending beach party on Koh Rong island last week

The body of the British backpacker Amelia Bambridge has been found at sea more than 30 miles (48km) from where she disappeared, according to Cambodian police.

The 21-year-old gap year student from Worthing, West Sussex, had been missing since last Thursday morning after leaving a beach party on the island of Koh Rong. Her body was found floating in the sea near the Thai border, police said.

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Japan Shuri castle fire: blaze engulfs revered world heritage site

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Fire spread quickly through 600-year-old site dating back to Ryukyu kingdom in Okinawa

A fire has swept through a historic castle on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa , destroying much of a structure that had come to symbolise the ancient Ryukyu kingdom and the island’s recovery from the second world war.

Flames engulfed Shuri castle, a Unesco world heritage site located in the island’s capital Naha, at around 2:40 am and quickly spread to other buildings in the complex, local police said.

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Amelia Bambridge: Cambodian police fear missing Briton has drowned

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Police chief says land and sea searches will continue until backpacker, 21, is found

Cambodian police have said they believe the missing British backpacker Amelia Bambridge has drowned.

Bambridge, 21, from Worthing, West Sussex, was last seen on Koh Rong island in the early hours of 24 October. She was reported missing after failing to check out of her hotel on time. Staff at Police Beach, a private venue on the island, found her purple rucksack with her purse, phone and bank cards inside the following morning.

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Thai king fires royal guards for ‘adultery’ as purges continue

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Purges, which come after royal consort was stripped of her titles, offer rare glimpse into the palace

Thailand’s king has sacked four royal guards, two of them for “adultery”, in a fresh wave of palace purges a week after his royal consort was stripped of all titles for “disloyalty”.

Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn, 67, ordered the dismissal of two male guards from the “bedroom section”, the Royal Gazette announced late on Tuesday.

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‘No problem at all’: New Zealanders praise England’s response to All Blacks haka

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Māori commentators lament that more rugby teams don’t come up with ways to challenge the traditional dance

New Zealanders have expressed disappointment at the decision to fine England for their v-shaped formation for the All Blacks haka in their Rugby World Cup semi-final, with many fans praising them for their dignity and dramatic flair.

On Saturday night, England delighted fans in both camps when players arranged themselves to face the All Blacks. The V – which many inside New Zealand took to stand for “victory” – was widely praised by New Zealanders, many of whom commented on the dignified and low-key response of the English side to what can be a confronting and emotional experience.

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