Proposal to Tokyo-based Seven & i by ACT could become biggest foreign takeover of a Japanese firm
The owner of the global convenience store chain 7-Eleven has received an offer from a Canadian rival to buy the company, in what could be Japan’s biggest ever foreign takeover.
The Tokyo-based Seven & i revealed on Monday that it had received a bid from the Canadian convenience store multinational Alimentation Couche-Tard (ACT) to buy its stake in the company.
Continue reading...Philippines says two coast guard vessels damaged by China’s ‘unlawful manoeuvres’, while Beijing says it took ‘control measures’ after vessels illegally entered waters around shoal
Chinese and Philippine vessels collided on Monday during a confrontation near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, the two countries said.
Both countries blamed each other for the incident near the Sabina Shoal.
Continue reading...Beijing is believed to be behind court bid to secure account of life inside Communist HQ
In the early hours of 4 June 1989, Li Rui, a veteran of the Chinese Communist party (CCP), was standing on the balcony of his apartment on Chang’an Boulevard in central Beijing. He could see tanks rolling towards Tiananmen Square.
For weeks, up to a million protesters had been gathering peacefully in Beijing’s plaza, demanding political reform. But they failed. Instead, as Li observed from his unique vantage point, troops opened fire, killing an estimated several thousands of civilians. It was the worst massacre in recent Chinese history. “Soldiers firing randomly with their machine guns, sometimes shooting the ground and sometimes shooting toward the sky,” Li wrote in his diary. A “black weekend”.
Continue reading...Beijing court rejects lawsuit brought by Xu Zaozao, who was seeking to widen access to fertility treatment in China
A Chinese woman who filed a groundbreaking lawsuit to win the right to freeze her eggs has lost her final appeal, exhausting the legal avenues in her fight to widen access to fertility treatment in China.
Beijing No 3 intermediate people’s court ruled that Xu Zaozao’s rights had not been violated when Beijing obstetrics and gynaecology hospital refused to freeze her eggs in 2018. Chinese regulations stipulate that assisted reproductive technology is only for married couples with fertility issues. Xu, now 36, said the doctor gave her some friendly advice instead: hurry up, get married and have children now.
Continue reading...Daughter of Thaksin Shinawatra approved as PM after frantic negotiations triggered by ousting of Srettha Thavisin
Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of the billionaire former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, has become Thailand’s youngest prime minister, taking office just days after her predecessor was ousted by a shock court ruling.
Paetongtarn was approved as the new head of government in a parliamentary vote that came after 24 hours of frantic negotiations triggered by a court judgment ordering Srettha Thavisin to step down as prime minister.
Continue reading...Data shows continued surge in wind and solar power amid hopes Chinese greenhouse gas emissions may have peaked
China added as much new clean energy generation in the first half of this year as the UK produced from all sources in the same period last year, data shows, as wind and solar power generation continued to surge in the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases.
Electricity generation from coal and gas dropped by 5% in China in July, year on year, according to an update from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) thinktank, basing its analysis on data released by the Chinese government on Thursday.
Continue reading...Two women and two MPs under the age of 50 are on potential list of candidates for next Liberal Democratic Party leaders
After a week in which Japan’s citizens braced themselves for a possible megaquake, the biggest seismic shift came from its political epicentre, as the prime minister, Fumio Kishida, announced his decision to step down next month.
His three years in office will end in late September when his ruling Liberal Democratic party [LDP] selects a new president, who is assured of being approved as Japan’s next prime minister in the LDP-controlled parliament.
Continue reading...David Neuberger was part of court panel that dismissed appeal of Jimmy Lai and six other pro-democracy activists
David Neuberger, the former president of the UK’s supreme court, has resigned from his role as chair of a legal advisory board to an international media freedom coalition, citing the “concern expressed” over his role as a judge in Hong Kong.
Lord Neuberger said he had been considering his position as chair of the high-level panel of legal experts that advises the Media Freedom Coalition (MFC), an international NGO, for several months.
Continue reading...Paul Watson fighting efforts byJapan to have him stand trial there for 2010 confrontation with whalers
A Greenland court has ordered the anti-whaling activist Paul Watson to remain in custody until 5 September pending a decision on his possible extradition to Japan.
Watson, an American-Canadian who has been detained since his arrest in Nuuk in July, had appealed against the court’s decision, the statement on Thursday added.
Continue reading...Justice minister signs extradition order for Megaupload founder 12 years after FBI-ordered raid over filesharing site
Kim Dotcom, who is facing criminal charges relating to the defunct filesharing website Megaupload, is to be extradited to the US, the New Zealand justice minister says, which could end more than a decade of legal wrangling.
German-born Dotcom has New Zealand residency and has been fighting extradition to the US since 2012 after an FBI-ordered raid on his Auckland mansion. The high court in New Zealand first approved his extradition in 2017, with an appeal court reaffirming the finding the year after. In 2020, the country’s supreme court again affirmed the finding but opened the door for a fresh round of judicial review.
Continue reading...Kishida’s three-year term has been marked by scandal, rising living costs and record defence spending
Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, has said he will not run for the presidency of his ruling Liberal Democratic party (LDP) next month – a decision that will result in the appointment of a new leader of the world’s fourth-biggest economy.
Kishida, who has been battling low approval ratings and a damaging fundraising scandal, said he would step down as LDP leader in September, telling reporters on Wednesday that the party needed an “open contest to promote debate”.
Continue reading...Srettha becomes fourth Thai PM dismissed by court in 16 years, after appointing former lawyer who served jail time
Thailand’s constitutional court on Wednesday dismissed the prime minister, Srettha Thavisin, for appointing to his cabinet a former lawyer who served jail time, raising the spectre of more political upheaval and a reset of the governing alliance.
Srettha, a real-estate tycoon, becomes the fourth Thai prime minister in 16 years to be removed by verdicts of the same court, after it ruled he had violated the constitution by appointing a minister who did not meet ethical standards.
Continue reading...Suga has apologised after he was found lying on the ground in the Yongsan district of Seoul following an apparent accident
Suga, a member of the K-pop supergroup BTS, faces a potential prison sentence or a hefty fine after a breathalyser test revealed he was over the blood-alcohol limit when he reportedly fell off his e-scooter in Seoul last week.
Suga, who along with other members of the band has taken a break from music to perform compulsory national service, was found lying on the ground in the Yongsan district of Seoul on 6 August after an apparent accident, South Korean media reported.
Continue reading...Woman wins visiting rights to see daughter, but not son, in first recognition that child can have two legal mothers
A woman fighting a landmark LGBTQ+ custody battle in China said she “still has faith for the future” after winning the right to make monthly visits to her daughter.
Last month, Didi, who is 42 and lives in Shanghai, travelled to Beijing to visit her seven-year-old daughter, who lives in the capital with Didi’s estranged wife and their other child. It was the first time Didi and her daughter had seen each other in four years.
Continue reading...Up to 400 people received parcels that could contain the contaminated lolly as police open a criminal investigation
A charity working with homeless people in Auckland, New Zealand unknowingly distributed sweets filled with a potentially lethal dose of methamphetamine in its food parcels, after the items were donated by a member of the public.
Auckland City Mission told reporters on Wednesday that staff had started to contact up to 400 people to track down parcels that could contain the sweets – which were solid blocks of methamphetamine enclosed in lolly wrappers. New Zealand’s police have opened a criminal investigation.
Continue reading...Film-maker who directed films starring Li, Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh and later worked as a Hollywood fight coordinator, died during the Covid pandemic two years ago
Celebrated Hong Kong martial arts actor and director Corey Yuen died two years ago during the Covid pandemic, it has been reported.
The Federation of Hong Kong Filmmakers confirmed Yuen’s death following a social media post by action star Jackie Chan naming Yuen (also known as Yuen Kwai) among a list of late disciples of China Drama Academy head Yu Jim-yuen, who died in 1997.
Continue reading...In return, Keating chastises former US House speaker for her ‘recklessly indulgent visit to Taiwan’ in 2022
A war of words has broken out between the former Australian prime minister Paul Keating and the former US House speaker Nancy Pelosi over Taiwan, after the prominent Democrat accused Keating of making a “stupid statement” about the territory.
Keating was quick to hit back on Tuesday, suggesting Pelosi had “very nearly” sparked a military confrontation between the US and China over her “indulgent” 2022 visit to Taiwan.
Continue reading...If historic waterway settings are the new must-have accessory for Olympic host cities, then Istanbul’s mayor wants the IOC to know his city has one.
If the key to getting the 2036 Summer Games is having hosted world championships in top-tier Olympic sports, then Qatar can point to its track record over the past decade.
Continue reading...Former governor speaks out after appeal court upholds convictions of seven activists over 2019 protest
Chris Patten, the former governor of Hong Kong, has decried as “unjust” a decision by the Chinese city’s top court to uphold the conviction of Jimmy Lai and other prominent pro-democracy activists for participating in a peaceful protest in 2019.
On Monday, Hong Kong’s court of final appeal unanimously agreed to uphold the convictions of seven activists who participated in an unauthorised 2019 protest in which 1.7 million people – roughly a quarter of Hong Kong’s population – took to the streets to oppose Beijing’s tightening grip on the city.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Move highlights ambition to reconnect with Beijing but minister will face pressure over human rights
David Lammy is planning a visit to China in September that would fall within the first 100 days of him taking office.
The foreign secretary is in talks over a trip to Beijing next month that would signal the UK wants to resume high-level engagement with the country.
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