Category Archives: Asia Pacific

Indonesia puts moratorium on new Bali hotels amid overtourism fears

Posted on by

Concern has been growing in the popular tourist destination about the strain that visitors place on the local infrastructure, environment and culture

Indonesia will suspend the construction of new hotels in some areas of Bali, amid fears about overdevelopment of one of its most famous tourist destinations.

Tourism has rebounded in Bali after the Covid pandemic, but there is growing concern about the strain visitors are placing on local infrastructure, the environment, and culture.

Continue reading...

Pathogenic microbes blown vast distances by winds, scientists discover

Posted on by

Living microbes that cause disease in humans and host antibiotic-resistance genes carried 1,200 miles

Microbes that cause disease in humans can travel thousands of miles on high-level winds, scientists have revealed for the first time.

The winds studied carried a surprising diversity of bacteria and fungi, including known pathogens and, some with genes for resistance to multiple antibiotics. Some of the microbes were shown to be alive – in other words, they had survived the long journey and were able to replicate.

Continue reading...

Japanese eels can escape predators’ stomach through their gills, finds study

Posted on by

Eels use tail-first technique to back up digestive tract of fish towards oesophagus before coming out of gills

It sounds like the plot of a horror movie – a predator swallows its prey only for the creature to burst out of its captor’s body. But it seems Japanese eels do just that.

Scientists in Japan have discovered that when swallowed by a dark sleeper fish, the eels can escape.

Continue reading...

Typhoon Yagi: dozens dead in Vietnam in region’s most powerful storm this year

Posted on by

Weather agency warns of more floods and landslides after at least 49 people killed with 22 missing

Typhoon Yagi and the landslides and floods it triggered have killed dozens of people in Vietnam, the government said, as authorities on Monday warned of more flooding.

The typhoon was Asia’s most powerful storm this year and made landfall on the country’s north-eastern coast on Saturday. It has disrupted power supplies and telecommunications in several parts of the country, mostly in Quang Ninh and Haiphong, the government said in a statement issued late on Sunday.

Continue reading...

Warm fronts to Y-fronts: Chinese city hit by underwear storm

Posted on by

Chongqing authorities say cloud seeding to break heatwave did not cause winds that sent laundry flying

It was the talk of the town. After authorities sought to break a long-running heatwave in Chongqing by using cloud-seeding missiles to artificially bring rain, the Chinese megacity was blasted by an unusual weather event – an underwear storm.

Termed “the 9/2 Chongqing underwear crisis”, an unexpected windstorm on Monday brought gusts of up to 76mph (122km/h), scattering people’s laundry from balconies on the city’s high-rises. Douyin, China’s sister app to TikTok, was filled with videos of pants and bras flying through the skies, landing in the street and snagging on trees.

Continue reading...

Celebrity ‘son of God’ pastor surrenders in Philippines after two-week manhunt

Posted on by

Apollo Quiboloy, who is also wanted in US on child trafficking charges, hands himself over to police after ultimatum

An influential pastor wanted in the US on child trafficking charges has been arrested in the Philippines, after a 16-day manhunt across a vast compound that included a network of underground tunnels and dozens of buildings.

Apollo Quiboloy, the founder of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) church, who claims to be the “appointed son of God” and was a spiritual adviser of the former president Rodrigo Duterte, is facing various charges, including in the US where he is wanted over alleged trafficking of women and girls as young as 12.

Continue reading...

Pope Francis welcomed to remote Papua New Guinea as he seeks ‘to break down distances’

Posted on by

The pontiff visited the small town of Vanimo after delivering mass to an estimated 35,000 people in the capital of Port Moresby

Pope Francis travelled to Vanimo, on Papua New Guinea’s remote north-west coast, after celebrating a mass in the capital of Port Moresby in front of an estimated audience of 35,000 people.

The pope received an enthusiastic welcome in the town located on a peninsula close to the border with Indonesia. He was greeted by members of the small Catholic community who are served by missionaries from his native Argentina.

Continue reading...

Super Typhoon Yagi hits China’s Hainan, killing two people and forcing 1 million to leave their homes

Posted on by

Yagi registers as the world’s second-most powerful tropical cyclone this year and has caused power outages in more than 800,000 homes

Asia’s strongest storm this year, Super Typhoon Yagi, made landfall in northern Vietnam on Saturday, the meteorological agency said, killing at least four people after tearing through China’s island of Hainan and the Philippines.

Super Typhoon Yagi hit island districts of north Vietnam at about 1pm (0600 GMT), generating winds of up to 160kph (99mph) near its centre, having lost power from its peak of 234kph (145mph) in Hainan a day earlier.

Continue reading...

Cleared man’s claim to wife’s fortune blocked as judge rules he did kill her

Posted on by

Family of Paula Leeson sued Donald McPherson after criminal prosecution over fatal drowning collapsed

A man who stood to claim a £4.4m estate from his wealthy wife has had his inheritance blocked by a judge who ruled he killed her.

The family of Paula Leeson, 47, who was found dead in a swimming pool in a Denmark holiday home in 2017, sued her husband, Donald McPherson, 51, for unlawful killing after a criminal prosecution collapsed when there was not enough evidence.

Continue reading...

Owner of 7-Eleven rejects $39bn takeover offer from Canadian rival

Posted on by

Japanese group says Couche-Tard plan undervalues firm, but leaves door open to higher offer

The parent company of the global convenience store chain 7-Eleven has rejected a near $39bn (£29.6bn) takeover offer from a Canadian rival, arguing it “grossly undervalues” the company.

Last month, Tokyo-based Seven & i revealed that it had received a bid from Alimentation Couche-Tard setting the scene for what could be Japan’s biggest ever foreign takeover.

Continue reading...

Weather tracker: Heat to ease in central and eastern Europe

Posted on by

Cooler temperatures expected to replace record highs in Estonia, while China braces for Super Typhoon Yagi

Since the start of September, swaths of central and eastern Europe have experienced temperatures well above average, with some places up to 10C (50F) above the seasonal norm.

A date temperature record was set in Estonia on Wednesday, where it hit 29.8C in Haapsalu. The September peak in the country is 30.3C, reached on 1 September 1992.

Continue reading...

‘I couldn’t say no’: anger grows over topless medical exams in Japan schools

Posted on by

Parents and campaigners have called on education and health authorities to end the practice of requiring children to strip off for school health checks

“My chest was completely exposed and I felt embarrassed,” writes a Japanese girl after undergoing an annual health checkup at her middle school. Another says: “Before the exam our teacher told us we would have to lift up our tops and bra … I didn’t want to do it but I couldn’t say no.”

The testimony from two 13-year-olds, seen by the Guardian, is typical of the discomfort – and in some cases trauma – felt by children attending schools in Japan that can require boys and girls as young as five – and as old as 18 – to strip to the waist during health examinations.

Continue reading...

China says it is ending foreign adoptions, prompting concern from US

Posted on by

US diplomats seeking clarity for hundreds of families in the process of international adoption

The Chinese government is ending its international adoption programme, and the US is seeking clarification on how the decision will affect hundreds of American families with pending applications.

At a daily briefing on Thursday, Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, said Beijing was no longer allowing intercountry adoptions of children from China, with the only exception for blood relatives to adopt a child or a stepchild.

Continue reading...

Fugitive former mayor Alice Guo arrives in Philippines after deportation from Indonesia

Posted on by

Arrest warrant was issued for Guo, who is accused of having links to Chinese criminal syndicates, after she failed to appear before a Senate inquiry

Alice Guo, a fugitive former mayor of a town in the Philippines accused of having links to Chinese criminal syndicates, has arrived back in the Philippines after she was deported from Indonesia.

Guo, whose case has gripped the Philippines, was the subject of an arrest warrant after she failed to appear before a Senate inquiry investigating financial scams and human trafficking found to be taking place at a sprawling compound in her town, Bamban, in Tarlac province.

Continue reading...

China detains five AstraZeneca staff over ‘data privacy and import breaches’

Posted on by

Detentions involve Chinese citizens who marketed cancer drugs for firm’s oncology division

Chinese police have reportedly detained five current and former AstraZeneca employees as part of an investigation into possible breaches related to data privacy and importing unlicensed medications.

The detentions took place earlier this summer, and targeted Chinese citizens who marketed cancer drugs for the oncology division of the British pharmaceutical company, according to Bloomberg.

Continue reading...

North Korea may have executed officials over flood response, reports say

Posted on by

South Korea’s intelligence service says it has ‘detected signs’ Kim Jong-un ordered executions of 20 to 30 officials

North Korea may have executed multiple officials over damage from devastating floods in July that wrecked thousands of homes and left up to 1,500 people dead or missing, according to South Korean intelligence.

South Korea’s national intelligence service said it was closely monitoring signs that the regime had carried out the executions after the North’s leader, Kim Jong-un, told an emergency meeting of the ruling party’s politburo that he would “strictly punish” those responsible for the damage, the South Korean Yonhap news agency reported.

Continue reading...

A new flashpoint has emerged at Sabina Shoal in the South China Sea – and a new danger

Posted on by

Analysts warn that the dispute over Sabina Shoal could lead to an even more drawn-out struggle between Manila and Beijing

Hopes that tensions in the South China Sea might ease have been short lived. Just weeks after the Philippines and China struck a deal to try to stop dangerous confrontations at Second Thomas Shoal, a new flashpoint has emerged.

Over recent weeks, Manila has accused Chinese personnel of ramming its boats, blasting them with water canon and firing flares at its aircraft, with incidents often centred on a new location, an atoll called Sabina Shoal. It comes as tensions in the South China Sea, a strategically important waterway that links the Indian and Pacific Oceans, were already at their highest in a decade.

Continue reading...

Māori queen Nga Wai Hono i te po Paki crowned in ‘new dawn’ for New Zealand

Posted on by

Only daughter and youngest child of the former Māori king Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII ascends to the throne in emotional ceremony

The second ever Māori queen in the eight-dynasty reign of the Kiingitanga movement in New Zealand has ascended to the throne in an emotional ceremony attended by thousands at Turangawaewae marae.

On Thursday morning Māori leaders hailed her as the “new dawn”.

Continue reading...

New Zealand to nearly triple tourist tax for international visitors

Posted on by

Australian tourists will be exempt from the NZ$100 levy which critics say will deter travellers

New Zealand will nearly triple entry fees for tourists, the government has said, spurring criticism from the key tourism sector that the higher levy will deter visitors.

The government said in a statement on Tuesday it would increase the international visitor and conservation and tourism fees starting on 1 October to NZ$100 ($61.85) from NZ$35 to “ensure visitors contribute to public services and high-quality experiences while visiting New Zealand.”

Continue reading...

What happened to Cathay Pacific’s A350 and how will it affect Rolls-Royce?

Posted on by

British manufacturer’s share price slumped 6.5% after engines failed on Cathay Pacific flight on Monday

• Cathay Pacific says 15 jets need new part after Rolls-Royce engine problem

An engine failure on a Cathay Pacific flight on Monday has put the spotlight on the British manufacturer Rolls-Royce, which makes and maintains the power plant on the Airbus A350.

As airlines that operate the twin-aisle plane inspect their fleets, investors are trying to establish whether there will be broader implications for Rolls-Royce. The A350, which carries up to 410 passengers, is used mainly on lon-haul routes.

Continue reading...