Category Archives: Asia Pacific

At least 26 killed in Papua New Guinea village attacks, including 16 children

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Police say gang of more than 30 youths also raped women and girls before massacres in remote villages

At least 26 people were killed, including 16 children, during attacks by a gang of young men on three Papua New Guinea villages last week, police have said, adding that their houses were torched and other villagers were still missing.

Angoram police station commander Inspector Peter Mandi told reporters on Thursday an unconfirmed number of women and girls were also raped before being killed in the Sepik River villages of Tamara, Tambari, and Angrumara in East Sepik’s Angoram district.

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‘High quality, low price and dizzying variety’: how the Chinese switched to electric cars

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The country has long been the world’s biggest market – but the government’s interest is more geopolitical than environmental

When Kenzi, an advertising worker in Shanghai, bought an electric vehicle in November she wasn’t even thinking about the environmental benefits. She had read Elon Musk’s biography and thought the Tesla 3 looked good. She also knew that if she bought an EV she could bypass the long wait and cost of getting licence plates, which are rationed by the government.

“It’s not easy to get a licence plate in Shanghai, but you get a licence for free when you buy an EV,” she said.

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Africa to overtake Asia with highest number of hungry people by 2030, says UN

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Annual report says climate crisis, conflict and economic shocks leave the global food system ‘disastrously vulnerable’

Africa will overtake Asia as the continent with the highest number of people experiencing hunger in the world by 2030, the UN has predicted.

In its annual state of food security and nutrition report, five UN agencies said there was a “clear trend” of rising prevalence of undernourishment in Africa.

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Reality TV contestant apologises for killing and eating protected New Zealand bird

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An American contestant on Race to Survive has apologised for eating a weka, a large, brown flightless bird known for its curiosity

Things got a little too real on the reality TV show Race to Survive when one of the contestants killed and ate a protected New Zealand bird species, prompting a warning from authorities.

The contestants had been warned that certain food groups – including protected ones – were off limits. Spencer Jones, who killed and ate the weka, has since apologised, saying, “I made a mistake. It was shortsighted, it was foolish,” according to the website RealityTea.com.

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‘National disgrace’: landmark New Zealand report finds 200,000 victims of abuse in state care

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PM declares ‘dark and sorrowful day’ as royal commission details decades of abuse in state and faith-based institutions

The treatment of people in New Zealand’s state and faith-based care institutions has been described as a “national disgrace” after a landmark report revealed the harrowing scale of abuse 200,000 children and adults suffered at the hands of those entrusted with their safety.

New Zealand’s royal commission into the abuse is by far the largest and most complex royal commission the country has held. Out of similar inquiries around the world, it had the widest scope.

In New Zealand: Lifeline Aotearoa’s suicide crisis helpline 0508 828 865; the Mental Health Foundation 09 623 4812; Youthline: 0800 376 633

In Australia, crisis support services can be reached 24 hours a day: Lifeline 13 11 14; Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467; Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800; MensLine Australia 1300 78 99 78; Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255.

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Businesses in Japan consider charging tourists more amid surge in visitors

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Record-high 17.78 million foreign tourists came to Japan in the first half of year, with arrivals in June led by travellers from South Korea, China, Taiwan and the US

Businesses in Japan are considering a dual pricing system for foreign tourists and local people amid a surge in inbound visitors and the continued weakness of the yen.

The head of the Hokkaido Tourism Organization has called on businesses in Japan’s northernmost prefecture, known for its beautiful scenery and winter resorts, to set lower prices for locals.

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Rubbish balloons from North Korea land on presidential office compound in Seoul

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Resumption of flights comes after South boosted frontline broadcasts of K-pop songs and propaganda messages across the border

Balloons carrying rubbish sent by North Korea have fallen on the compound of South Korea’s presidential office, according to the Yonhap news agency.

Other South Korean media reported the balloons caused no damage. AFP reported that the balloons prompted Seoul to mobilise chemical response teams. Yonhap gave no further details.

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Head of Japan drugmaker to resign over dietary supplement potentially linked to 80 deaths

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President of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical standing down after damning report said company failed to act with sufficient urgency after alarm was raised in January

The chairman and president of a major Japanese dietary supplement maker is to resign, as the company probes up to 80 deaths potentially linked to dietary supplements meant to lower cholesterol.

Kobayashi Pharmaceutical, a household name in Japan, is at the centre of heath fears linked to its over-the-counter tablets containing red yeast rice, which is fermented with a mould culture.

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Palestinian factions including Hamas agree to form future unity government

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Diplomatic coup for China as Beijing declaration sets out deal to unite across territories and prepare for elections

Leaders from Hamas, Fatah and other Palestinian factions have agreed after three days of talks in Beijing to form a national unity government at an unspecified point in the future, in a move that has bolstered China’s status as a global mediator, particularly in the Middle East.

The “Beijing declaration”, signed by 14 Palestinian factions, also represents a significant step forward in negotiations between the groups, although it is light on detail about how to actually achieve Palestinian unification.

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Director of New Zealand’s pharmaceutical funding agency quits over rollback of Māori rights

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The right-wing government had told Pharmac that it no longer needed to consider the Treaty of Waitangi in its funding decisions

A director of New Zealand’s medicine funding agency Pharmac has resigned in protest of a government directive telling the agency that it no longer needed to consider the Treaty of Waitangi, the country’s founding document which upholds Māori rights, in its funding decisions.

In a letter to Pharmac, the associate health minister and leader of the libertarian Act party David Seymour set out his expectations of the government agency, including his thoughts on how the principles of Treaty of Waitangi, or Te Tiriti o Waitangi, should be applied.

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Weather tracker: Summer storms end hot spell in Slovenia

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Strong winds and heavy rain trigger 230 weather-related events across the country, while Tropical Storm Gaemi nears Taiwan

Slovenia was hit by heavy rain and strong winds on Friday as a series of storms brought an abrupt end to a prolonged hot and dry spell.

More than 230 weather-related events including flooding and landslides have been reported across the country. The worst-hit regions were in the Gorenjska municipality of Preddvor, and in Koroška in the north, which experienced similarly devastating floods last August.

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Hong Kong is global trade hub for world’s most brutal regimes, report says

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Pro-democracy campaign group finds exports of goods to Russia, vital to its war efforts, roughly doubled in a year

Hong Kong has become a global trade hub for “the world’s most brutal regimes”, according to a report examining the city’s role in facilitating the flow of goods to countries under sanctions by the west, including Russia, Iran and North Korea.

A report published on Monday by the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, a campaign group, found that between 2021 and 2022, exports of semiconductors from Hong Kong to Russia roughly doubled to $400m (£310m), second only to shipments from mainland China. Semiconductors are vital to Russia’s war effort as they are a component in weaponry such as drones and cruise missiles.

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China and Philippines reach tentative deal to defuse tensions at South China Sea flashpoint

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Temporary deal agreed to prevent escalation of standoffs around the Sierra Madre, a Philippine ship grounded on the disputed Second Thomas Shoal

The Philippines says it has “reached an understanding” with China on resupply missions to a beached Filipino naval ship that has been a key flashpoint between the two countries in the South China Sea

The Chinese foreign ministry confirmed the “temporary arrangement” with the two sides agreeing to jointly manage maritime differences and de-escalate the situation in the South China Sea.

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Exiled pro-democracy Hong Kong activists blocked from accessing pensions

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Case raises questions about complicity of western financial institutions in persecution of Chinese government critics

Two exiled pro-democracy Hong Kong activists have been blocked from accessing their pensions, depriving them of tens of thousands of US dollars of their savings and raising questions about the complicity of western financial institutions in the persecution of Chinese government critics.

Assets, including pension savings, belonging to Ted Hui, a former pro-democracy legislator who is now based in Australia, were frozen shortly after he fled from Hong Kong in December 2020. The assets are held by HSBC, a British bank.

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Indonesians who paid thousands to work on UK farm sacked within weeks

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Exclusive: Several sent home for slow fruit picking face debts as watchdog investigates alleged illegal fees

Indonesian workers who paid thousands of pounds to travel to Britain and pick fruit at a farm supplying most big supermarkets have been sent home within weeks for not picking fast enough.

One of the workers said he had sold his family’s land, as well as his and his parents’ motorbikes, to cover the more than £2,000 cost of coming to Britain in May and was distressed to find himself unemployed with few possessions.

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Donald Trump says Xi Jinping wrote him a ‘beautiful note’ after rally shooting

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US presidential contender’s reference echoes the ‘love letters’ he received from North Korea’s Kim Jong-un as he calls authoritarian leaders ‘smart, tough’ people

Donald Trump has said China’s president wrote him a “beautiful note” after the assassination attempt a week ago, as he continued to court leaders whom Joe Biden has criticised as dictators.

In his first campaign rally since narrowly escaping the attempt on his life in Pennsylvania, Trump told a crowd in Michigan on Saturday: “[President Xi Jinping] wrote me a beautiful note the other day when he heard about what happened.”

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Chinese artefacts in repatriation row were ‘given willingly’ to British Museum

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Amid calls to return antiquities, historian finds documents that reveal many were not result of imperial plunder

The British Museum boasts one of the biggest collections of Chinese antiquities in the west, but it has faced repeated calls to return them to China. Now historical documents reveal that many of the antiquities were acquired with the full cooperation of Chinese officials in the last century.

US historian Justin M Jacobs has unearthed evidence that shows the Chinese government “willingly and enthusiastically helped them remove these treasures from their lands” because they wanted closer ties with the west and appreciated new scholarship.

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At least 11 killed and dozens missing as Chinese bridge collapses amid floods

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President Xi Jinping calls for ‘all-out efforts’ to find more than 30 people after incident in Shaanxi province

Torrential rain has caused a bridge to collapse in northern China, killing 11 people and leaving more than 30 missing, state media has said.

The bridge over a river in Shangluo, Shaanxi province, buckled at about 8.40pm on Friday “due to a sudden downpour and flash floods”, the Xinhua agency said, citing the provincial public relations department.

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Two Australians and three Indonesians survive helicopter crash in Bali, officials say

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Bell 505 Jet Ranger X helicopter came down in Pecatu village on the southern side of Bali after it was entangled in a kite string

Two Australians and three Indonesians have survived a tourist helicopter crash in Bali after it became entangled in a kite string, officials say.

The Bell 505 Jet Ranger X helicopter, owned by PT Whitesky Aviation, came down in Pecatu village in the coastal area on the southern side of Bali, a statement from Indonesia’s transportation ministry said.

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Vietnam’s Communist leader dies aged 80 creating power vacuum

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Nguyen Phu Trong was one of the country’s longest-serving politicians and known for anti-corruption drive

Nguyen Phu Trong, the general secretary of Vietnam’s ruling Communist party and the country’s most powerful politician, has died aged 80, creating a power vacuum.

Trong died early on Friday afternoon “after a period of illness”, according to his medical team, state media reported.

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