No evidence of physical trauma on Greta Marie Otteson and Arno Els Quinton, who were found in separate rooms
The bodies of a British woman and her fiance have been discovered in separate rooms at a tourist villa in Vietnam, police said.
The victims were named locally as Greta Marie Otteson, a 33-year-old Briton, and Arno Els Quinton, a 36-year-old South African, who were staying at the complex in Hội An in the central Quang Nam province.
Continue reading...About 807,800 Australians visited Japan between January and November last year, nearly 200,000 more than the previous record in 2019
Japan’s tourism board has urged holidaymakers to swap Tokyo and Kyoto for towns in Tohoku and Kanazawa as Australian tourists flood Japan’s cities in record numbers.
About 807,800 Australians visited Japan between January and November last year, nearly 200,000 more than the previous record in 2019, according to provisional estimates from the Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO).
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Continue reading...Letter rallying supporters comes as he faces arrest over declaration of martial law and allegations of insurrection
South Korea’s impeached president, Yoon Suk Yeol, has rallied his supporters in a letter saying he will “fight until the end” as he faces an attempt by authorities to arrest him over his short-lived declaration of martial law, a lawyer said.
“I am watching on YouTube live all the hard work you are doing,” Yoon wrote late on Wednesday to the hundreds of supporters who had gathered near his official residence to protest against the investigation into him.
Continue reading...Airline sends support staff to Nadi after reports of assault during a night out in the early hours of 1 January
A suspect known to Fijian police has been questioned over an alleged sexual assault of a Virgin Australia flight crew member amid ongoing investigations.
Fijian authorities were investigating allegations the crew member was assaulted while celebrating New Year’s Eve, and separately, that another crew member was robbed.
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Continue reading...Pressure builds on authorities to establish cause of crash which killed 179 people
Police in South Korea have raided Muan international airport, the scene of Sunday’s plane crash, in which 179 people died, as well as the office of the airline that operated the flight, media reports said.
Jeju Air flight 2216 was carrying 181 people from Thailand to South Korea when it issued a mayday call and belly-landed on the runaway, before crashing into a barrier and bursting into flames. Two flight attendants survived the crash, the worst aviation disaster on the country’s soil.
Continue reading...Leila de Lima enraged Rodrigo Duterte when she began investigating killings carried out during his ‘war on drugs’
Leila de Lima, one of fiercest critics of the former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody “war on drugs” who was jailed for more than six years on baseless charges, will try to return to politics in 2025.
De Lima was one of the few politicians who criticised Duterte during his time in office, and enraged the former leader when she began investigating killings carried out during his anti-drugs crackdowns. She knew to expect retaliation, she said. “I thought it would just be regular vilification, the slut-shaming, the verbal attacks,” she said. She did not anticipate that she would spend more than six and a half years in prison.
Continue reading...Authorities hope for vital clues as contents of cockpit recorder are converted into audio format
Investigators in South Korea have extracted data from one of two black boxes retrieved from a Jeju Air plane that crashed shortly after landing on Sunday, killing all but two of the 181 people onboard.
The country’s deputy minister for civil aviation, Joo Jong-wan, said initial data had been retrieved from the Boeing 737-800’s cockpit voice recorder, and that the contents were being converted into audio format.
Continue reading...Experts hope flight recorders will provide answers to key questions surrounding crash in which 179 died
As investigators set to work unpicking the cause of Sunday’s devastating plane crash in South Korea, the black boxes carried on the aircraft will be of prime importance, with retrieval of data from the cockpit voice recorder under way.
All but two of the 181 people onboard died in the disaster, with the victims aged from three to 78. The Korean airline’s chief executive, Kim E-bae, said he wanted “to bow my head and apologise”, according to a statement on the company’s website, adding it was “difficult to determine the cause of the accident”.
Continue reading...President seeks to allay fears that world’s second-largest economy will falter in 2025 because of high US tariffs
China’s economy is on course to expand by 5% in 2025, according to its president, Xi Jinping, meeting official growth targets and rebutting concerns that Donald Trump’s incoming US administration will harm Beijing’s prospects in the new year.
Using his annual address to the nation, Xi sought to allay fears that the world’s second-largest economy would falter over the next 12 months after the government battled to prevent a slide towards recession during 2024.
Continue reading...Claims a Chinese state-sponsored actor was behind breach this month are ‘groundless’, says foreign ministry
Beijing has hit back at accusations that a China state-sponsored actor was behind a cyber breach at the US treasury department, calling the claims “groundless”.
The breach was orchestrated via a third-party cybersecurity service provider. Hackers were able to gain access to a key used by the vendor to override certain parts of the system, according to a letter the treasury department sent to lawmakers on Monday.
Continue reading...Gulf province councillor says growing numbers are leaving, in what climate activist describes as a ‘humanitarian crisis’
Two years ago fisher Siri James lived on the southern coast of Papua New Guinea, in a small village near Pariva beach. But as the tides continued to rise, James was forced to move further in from the shore.
“It’s not easy moving inland, I was born and raised by the seas, I am a fisherman. I know the flow of tides and currents, I know when the wind will come strongly and when it will rain – but now I don’t understand why everything is changing,” says James, who is in his early 40s.
Continue reading...The warrant was sought over Yoon’s controversial and short-lived decision to impose martial law early in December
A court in South Korea has approved an arrest warrant for the country’s suspended president, Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached over his ill-fated decision to impose martial law early this month, investigators said.
Yoon’s decision to declare martial law late on 3 December plunged Asia’s fourth-biggest economy into its worst political crisis for decades and caused concern in Washington.
Continue reading...Mizo Games wants players to have a chance to ‘experience war on the tabletop before it reaches us’
As families in Taiwan prepare to gather for lunar new year celebrations in January, a game that will be released that month promises to offer some war-themed fun over the festive period.
The board game 2045, developed by the Taiwanese company Mizo Games, invites players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years in the future. Players are given roles that include Taiwanese army officers, Chinese sleeper agents and volunteer citizen fighters.
Continue reading...Even as experts remain puzzled by Jeju Air crash, they are sceptical a bird strike was sole cause of fatal disaster
One day after the fatal airline disaster in South Korea, the answer as to what went wrong with Jeju Air 2216 remains elusive.
Even as experts remain puzzled by what caused the crash that killed 179 people, experts say that a bird striking the engine is unlikely to be the sole factor.
Continue reading...After 179 die at Muan airport, a team of US investigators will join local authorities to look at possible causes of the flight 2216 accident
Choi orders transport ministry to conduct emergency safety inspection of country’s entire airline system
Circling back to earlier remarks from acting president Choi Sang-mok:
Continue reading...Authorities announce probe as shocked citizens began a second day of official mourning
South Korea’s acting president has ordered an emergency safety inspection of the country’s entire airline operations, while authorities plan a separate check of all Boeing 737-800s, after 179 people died in a Jeju Air crash involving the aircraft on Sunday.
As shocked citizens began a second day of official mourning and flags flew at half-mast, the government said it would carry out the audit of all 101 of the aircraft in domestic operation, with US investigators, possibly including Boeing, joining the probe.
Continue reading...Authorities plan to question Yoon on allegations of abuse of authority and orchestrating a rebellion after his short-lived declaration of martial law
South Korean law enforcement officials have requested a court warrant to arrest impeached president, Yoon Suk Yeol, as they investigate whether his short-lived martial law decree amounted to rebellion.
The Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials, which is leading a joint investigation with police and military authorities into the power grab that lasted only a few hours on 3 December, confirmed it requested the warrant from a Seoul court. They plan to question Yoon on allegations of abuse of authority and orchestrating a rebellion.
Continue reading...Team from NTSB, FAA and manufacturer Boeing to assist investigation of Jeju Air crash that killed 179
The US is sending air accident investigators to South Korea to help determine what went wrong with the Jeju Air plane that crash-landed at Muan airport and skidded into a barrier early on Sunday, killing 179.
The team of investigators includes the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Boeing, which manufactured the 17-year-old aircraft.
Continue reading...Footage appears to show Boeing 737-800 skidding along runway at Muan airport before hitting wall and catching fire
All but two of 181 people onboard a plane that crashed while landing at an airport in South Korea are presumed to have died, in the country’s worst domestic civil aviation disaster.
Officials said they had confirmed that 177 people died in the crash on Sunday at Muan international airport in the country’s south-west, while two crew members – a man and a woman – had been rescued. Two people remained missing nine hours after the incident.
Continue reading...Hundreds of thousands gather in central Seoul to protest against president suspended over martial law declaration
Hundreds of thousands of South Koreans flooded central Seoul on Saturday in the latest wave of protests demanding the removal of the country’s suspended president, Yoon Suk Yeol, a day after parliament voted to impeach his acting replacement.
Organisers claimed that more than 500,000 people participated in the rally, which took place amid a large police presence.
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