Category Archives: Asia Pacific

Philippines: Duterte to run as mayor despite inquiry into his drugs crackdown

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Former president to run in his home city of Davao despite ICC’s investigation into possible crime against humanity

The former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, whose anti-drugs crackdown is being investigated by the international criminal court as a possible crime against humanity, has registered to run for mayor of his home city.

Duterte, 79, filed his papers with the Election Commission in Davao City, where he had served as mayor for about two decades before winning the presidency in 2016. His son, incumbent Davao city mayor, Sebastian Duterte, would run as his vice-mayor in next year’s midterm elections, officials said.

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Biden to visit Angola as global powers vie for African influence

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US and EU are supporting infrastructure projects in Angola, which has historically been closer to Russia and China

When Joe Biden travels to Angola on Sunday, it will be the first trip to an African country of his presidency and the first to the continent by a sitting US president since Barack Obama visited Kenya and Ethiopia in 2015.

It is a marker of how Africa’s 54 countries are increasingly courted by global powers, drawn to the continent by geopolitical shifts and an abundance of minerals needed for electric cars and other battery-powered technologies.

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Rescued elephants drown as heavy flooding hits Thai tourist hub Chiang Mai

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Northern Thailand has been hit by severe floods over recent weeks, with Typhoon Yagi worsening the seasonal monsoon rains

Two elephants have drowned, while power was cut and hotels were forced to evacuate guests after the Thai tourist hotspot Chiang Mai was hit by its worst flooding in decades over the weekend.

Across Thailand, 20 provinces are flooded, including nine in the northern region, where 8,625 households are affected according to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.

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New Zealand navy ship Manawanui sinks off Samoa

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All crew safe after specialist dive and hydrographic vessel ran aground near the southern coast of Upolu as it was conducting a reef survey

A Royal New Zealand Navy vessel has run aground and sunk off Samoa – the first time the navy has lost a ship since the second world war, the New Zealand Defence Force said in a statement on Sunday.

Manawanui, the navy’s specialist dive and hydrographic vessel, ran aground near the southern coast of Upolu on Saturday night as it was conducting a reef survey, Commodore Shane Arndell, the maritime component commander of the New Zealand Defence Force, said in a statement. All 75 crew and passengers were safe.

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Communist China not the motherland, says Taiwan’s president, because our republic is older

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Lai Ching-te argues the reverse may be true because the Republic of China – the mantle that nationalists carried with them to Taiwan – predates the People’s Republic

It is “impossible” for the People’s Republic of China to become Taiwan’s motherland because Taiwan has older political roots, the island’s president has said.

Lai Ching-te, who took office in May, is condemned by Beijing as a separatist. He rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying the island is a country called the Republic of China that traces its origins back to the 1911 revolution overthrowing the last imperial dynasty.

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Typhoon Krathon hits Taiwan, killing two people and wreaking destruction

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Several missing and more than 120 injured after storm makes landfall in Kaohsiung, with authorities pleading for people to stay inside

Typhoon Krathon has made landfall in Taiwan, bringing destructive wind and rain to the island’s second biggest city.

The storm has killed at least two people, with several more reported missing and more than 120 injured.

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Bird flu outbreak kills dozens of tigers in Vietnam zoos

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The H5N1 virus killed 47 tigers, three lions and a panther at the My Quynh safari park and the Vuon Xoai zoo, according to state media

Forty-seven tigers, three lions and a panther have died in zoos in south Vietnam due to the H5N1 bird flu virus, state media reported.

The deaths occurred in August and September at the private My Quynh safari park in Long An province and the Vuon Xoai zoo in Dong Nai, near the capital Ho Chi Minh City, the official Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported on Wednesday.

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North Korean defector crashes stolen bus in failed bid to return home

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Defectors seeking to cross back into North Korea from the South are rare, though many struggle to adapt to life in their democratic, capitalist neighbour

A North Korean defector living in South Korea has been detained after ramming a stolen bus into a barricade on a bridge near the heavily militarised border, in a failed attempt to return to his isolated homeland.

The man – who fled to the South in 2011 – ignored warnings from soldiers to stop while attempting on Tuesday to drive through the Tongil Bridge in Paju, just south of the heavily fortified demilitarised zone (DMZ) between the two Koreas, according to media reports citing South Korean provincial police.

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Typhoon Krathon: one person killed and two missing in Taiwan

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Seventy reported injured as schools, offices and financial markets shut and people urged to stay at home

One person has been killed, two are missing and 70 injured in bad weather from a typhoon approaching Taiwan, which grounded flights and closed all schools, offices and financial markets for Wednesday and Thursday.

Typhoon Krathon reached super typhoon status in recent days but movement stalled overnight and its intensity has weakened as it moves slowly towards Taiwan’s south-west. Authorities warned the threat of strong winds and storm surges remained for coastal and low-lying communities on the densely populated west coast, and the mountainous areas remained at high risk of landslides and torrential rain.

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Buried US second world war bomb explodes at Japanese airport

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Unexpected blast at Miyazaki airport makes crater in taxiway and leads to grounding of 80 flights but no injuries

A US bomb from the second world war that had been buried at a Japanese airport has exploded, causing a large crater in a taxiway and the cancellation of more than 80 flights but no injuries, Japanese officials said.

Land and transport ministry officials said there were no aircraft nearby when the bomb exploded at Miyazaki airport in south-western Japan on Wednesday.

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Former Nintendo factory in Kyoto opens as nostalgia-fuelled gaming museum

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Museum features consoles from 1983’s Famicom to 2017’s Switch, as well as honouring Nintendo’s pre-video-game era

Traditionally, visitors to Kyoto in October come for momijigari, the turning of the autumn leaves in the city’s picturesque parks. This autumn, however, there is a new draw: a Nintendo museum.

The new attraction, which opens on Wednesday, is best described as a chapel of video game nostalgia. Upstairs, Nintendo’s many video game consoles, from 1983’s Famicom through 1996’s Nintendo 64 to 2017’s Switch, are displayed reverently alongside their most famous games. On the back wall, visitors can also peer at toys, playing cards and other artefacts from the Japanese company’s pre-video-game history, stretching back to its founding as a hanafuda playing card manufacturer in 1889. Downstairs, there are interactive exhibits with comically gigantic controllers and floor-projected playing cards.

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New Caledonia election postponed for a year by France’s new prime minister

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The French Pacific territory has been hit by violent unrest between communities loyal to Paris and pro-independence Indigenous Kanaks

France’s new prime minister, Michel Barnier, has announced that a provincial election scheduled for December in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia has been postponed for a year.

During his inaugural address to parliament on Tuesday, Barnier also said a controversial bill proposed by President Emmanuel Macron to amend the constitution to change voting lists in the territory would not be forwarded to a joint meeting of parliament for ratification. The territory’s Indigenous Kanak people fear changes to the voting registry would favour recent arrivals to the Pacific archipelago.

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Many children feared dead after fire on school bus in Thailand

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Double-decker coach carrying 38 children and teachers reportedly caught fire after crashing with burst tyre

More than 20 people, including young children, are feared dead after their school coach caught fire during a field trip on the outskirts of the Thai capital, Bangkok.

The double-decker coach, which was carrying 38 students and six teachers, is reported to have caught fire after a burst tyre caused the vehicle to scrape along a metal crash barrier, creating sparks that ignited the petrol tank.

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Seoul crowd crush police sent to jail for deadly failings in Itaewon disaster

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South Korean court hands out three jail terms, one of them suspended, to officers for professional negligence after 159 mostly young people died

A South Korean court has given three police officers prison sentences over their handling of a 2022 Halloween crush in a Seoul nightlife district that killed 159 people.

The convictions on Monday are the first over the failure by authorities to prevent or adequately respond to the overcrowding that occurred in the popular Itaewon district. No top-level officials have been charged or held accountable, prompting criticism from bereaved families and opposition politicians.

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British judge Nicholas Phillips steps down from Hong Kong court

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Phillips, who the court of final appeal said was stepping down for ‘personal reasons’, is fifth foreign judge to leave city’s judiciary this year

The British judge Nicholas Phillips has stepped down from Hong Kong’s top appeals court, the fifth overseas judge to leave the city’s judiciary this year.

Phillips, 86, is leaving Hong Kong’s court of final appeal (CFA) after 22 years for “personal reasons” after his fourth term ended on Monday and he said he did not wish to extend it, the court said.

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Japan’s incoming prime minister Shigeru Ishiba to call snap election – reports

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The 67-year-old will seek an early public mandate after seeing off a rightwing challenge to become the leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic party

Japan’s incoming prime minister Shigeru Ishiba is poised to call a snap election for the end of the month, according to media reports, days after he promised to lift his party’s dwindling fortunes and “put a smile” back on the faces of the public.

Ishiba, a moderate who saw off a rightwing challenge on Friday to become the new leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic party (LDP), will be approved as prime minister in parliament on Tuesday and appoint his cabinet later the same day.

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New Zealand reclaims world record for largest mass haka

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More than 6,000 people perform Māori dance at Eden Park rugby stadium in Auckland, to break France’s record

New Zealand has reclaimed the world record for the largest mass haka after more than 6,000 people performed the Māori dance, dethroning France.

The record was broken in deafening fashion at Eden Park rugby stadium in Auckland, where thousands of men, women and children combined on the pitch to complete the traditional dance involving vigorous movements, stamping feet and rhythmic shouting.

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Promise of ‘glass skin’ drives surge in sales of K-beauty products in UK

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South Korean skincare brands expected to follow country’s music, film and TV exports in becoming blockbusters

We’ve had South Korean pop, film, fashion and food, and now the latest trend is K-beauty, with sales of Korean skincare brands taking off in the UK as consumers are seduced by products that promise to conjure a radiant complexion.

Britons are cutting back in other areas, but they are still chasing what the beauty industry describes as the “glass skin” look, with retailers reporting a rise in spending on high-end skincare.

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Who is Japan’s new prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba?

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Moderate faces challenges over cost-of-living crisis, public trust and threats to regional stability from China and North Korea

Shigeru Ishiba’s determination to lead Japan has never been in question, and now the veteran MP is poised to achieve that goal at the fifth time of asking after winning the race to lead the ruling Liberal Democratic party (LDP) on Friday.

The 67-year-old will be installed as Japan’s new prime minister on Tuesday by the LDP-controlled parliament.

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Japan’s ruling party picks Shigeru Ishiba to become next PM

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Former defence chief elected leader of Liberal Democrats and vows to end ‘widespread distrust’ in party

Shigeru Ishiba, a veteran moderate, will next week be installed as Japan’s prime minister after he was elected leader of the governing Liberal Democratic party (LDP).

The 67-year-old, a former defence minister, beat his rightwing rival Sanae Takaichi, who was attempting to become the country’s first female prime minister, by 215 votes to 194 in a runoff election at the LDP headquarters in Tokyo on Friday.

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