Category Archives: Asia Pacific

The 1975 sued by Malaysian festival over Matty Healy’s onstage gay kiss

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Good Vibes Festival organizer seeks $2.4m after band’s violation of behavior code led to a shutdown last July

The organizer of Malaysia’s Good Vibes Festival has sued the 1975 and all of the British pop-rock band’s members individually, following lead singer Matty Healy’s purported protest against the country’s anti-LGBTQ+ law on stage.

Future Sound Asia, the music festival’s organizers, are seeking $2.4m (£1.9m) after the band’s violation of the event’s behavior code resulted in the festival being shut down last July.

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William Laws Calley, face of My Lai massacre in Vietnam War, dead at 80

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Lieutenant Calley was the only person convicted over the largest killing of civilians by US army in the 20th century

William Laws Calley Jr, the only person convicted over the notorious My Lai massacre by US soldiers during the Vietnam war, has died at the age of 80.

A lieutenant during the war, Calley was a member of Company C, which alongside his superior, Ernest Medina, he commanded during the search for Viet Cong combatants in the south Vietnamese village of My Lai and its neighbouring hamlets on 15 March 1968.

This article was amended on 30 July 2024. An earlier version stated that Seymour Hersh’s reporting led to Calley and other officers being court martialed. An internal military investigation was already underway when Hersh reported on the story.

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Standard Chartered plays down fears of US-China trade war under Trump

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Chief executive says tensions ‘not impacting’ business as bank reports pre-tax profits of $1.6bn for second quarter

Fears of a China trade war erupting under a second Trump presidential term are overblown, according to bosses at Standard Chartered bank, as they suggested that the country’s real estate woes were “largely in the rearview mirror”.

While the London-headquartered bank makes most of its money in Asia, particularly in Hong Kong and Singapore, its chief executive, Bill Winters, played down the impact that increasingly strained relations between Washington and Beijing might have on the business.

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Indonesia president begins working from new capital despite construction delays

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Nusantara scheduled to host Independence Day celebrations instead of Jakarta next month but relocation plan has come into question

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has begun working from the presidential palace in the country’s ambitious new administrative capital, the flagship project of his two terms in office but which has been plagued by delays.

The capital is due to move from traffic-clogged and sinking Jakarta to the planned city of Nusantara in East Kalimantan province on Borneo, but the $33bn project announced in 2019 is months – even years – behind schedule.

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Japan cracks down on use of rideable electric suitcases amid tourist boom

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Use of the motorised luggage which is popular in parts of Asia, require safety equipment and a driver’s licence, according to Japanese law

As record numbers of tourists flock to Japan to take advantage of the weakness of the Japanese yen, some are running into trouble with authorities thanks to the growing popularity of motorised, rideable suitcases.

Two major Japanese airports have already asked travellers not to ride motorised suitcases within their facilities, according to Kyodo news agency, while police are urging domestic retailers to warn customers of the strict laws concerning their use.

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Japan and US upgrade military ties citing threat from China as ‘greatest strategic challenge’

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US defence secretary says China is 'engaging in coercive behaviour, trying to change the status quo in the East and South China Seas’

Japanese and US defense chiefs, as well as top diplomats, agreed to further bolster their military cooperation by upgrading the command and control of US forces in the east Asian country and strengthening American-licensed missile production there, describing the rising threat from China as “the greatest strategic challenge.”

US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, joined their Japanese counterparts, Yoko Kamikawa and Minoru Kihara, at the Japan-US Security Consultative Committee in Tokyo – known as “2+2” security talks – where they reaffirmed their bilateral alliance in the wake of President Joe Biden ’s withdrawal from the November presidential race.

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‘Dangerous’ and ‘retrograde’: Māori leaders sound alarm over policy shifts in New Zealand

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Experts say policy changes that include scrapping Māori-led programs will harm communities and put New Zealand’s ‘great reputation’ at risk

Leading Māori figures from across New Zealand have sounded the alarm over the government’s changes to policies that affect Māori, after analysis by the Guardian highlighted the far-reaching scope of the proposals.

The policy shifts proposed by the rightwing coalition have been described by experts as “chilling” and “dangerous” and have created a “deeply fractured” relationship between Māori and the crown, or ruling authorities.

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Wong announces new digital cable centre to limit China’s influence in Indo-Pacific

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The new centre, staffed by Australians, will enable sharing of information and help Pacific island governments regulate important undersea cables

Australia is stepping up its attempts to limit China’s influence in the Pacific, with the establishment of a new “cable connectivity and resilience centre” designed to boost connectivity for Pacific nations.

The foreign Minister, Penny Wong, will announce the centre while in Japan for the Quad foreign ministers’ meeting alongside counterparts from the United States, Japan and India.

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Four million vaccine doses for children and pregnant women flown to North Korea

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Delivery of first medical aid since Covid raises hopes that country could open up again to UN agencies and NGOs

More than 4 million vaccine doses have been flown toPyongyang, raising hopes that North Korea could open up again to UN agencies and NGOs amid reports of a worsening health situation in the authoritarian state.

“The return of essential vaccines marks a significant milestone towards safeguarding children’s health and survival in this country,” Roland Kupka, Unicef’s acting representative for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, said in a statement.

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Professor sacked over abuse claims in rare win for China’s #MeToo movement

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Swift response by Renmin University to student’s post creates shockwave in a country where accusers are often ignored or sued

Public allegations of sexual harassment are rare in China. Swift responses to punish the accused are rarer still. So a recent case at one of China’s top universities, in which a student posted a video online accusing her supervisor of sexually harassing her, leading to his sacking, has created shockwaves.

On 21 July, a woman who identified herself as Wang Di posted an hour-long video on Weibo, in which she accused her PhD supervisor at Renmin University in Beijing, Wang Guiyuan, of physically and verbally abusing her for more than two years. The professor, a former Chinese Communist party representative at the university, threatened to block her graduation prospects, Wang Di said.

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North Korea vows to ‘totally destroy’ enemy as regime marks end of Korean war

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Military officials aim to strengthen war efficiency by following any attack order by Kim Jong-un ‘anytime and without delay’

North Korea has vowed to “totally destroy” its enemies in case of war when leader Kim Jong-un gives an order, state media KCNA reported on Sunday, as the regime marked the end of hostilities in the Korean war.

Senior military officials including Col Ri Un-ryong and Lt Cdr Yu Kyong-song made the comments “out of surging hatred” towards the US and South Korea at a meeting on Saturday attended by Kim, marking the 71st anniversary of the Korean war armistice, according to KCNA.

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IOC ‘deeply apologises’ after South Korean athletes introduced as North Korean

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Olympic Games organisers said they “deeply apologise” for introducing South Korea’s athletes as North Korean during the opening ceremony in Paris.

As the South Korean athletes waved their nation’s flag on a boat floating down the Seine on Friday evening, they were announced in both French and English as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. South Korea is the Republic of Korea.

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Weather tracker: Typhoon Gaemi wreaks havoc in Philippines and Taiwan

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Half a million people evacuated, 21 deaths confirmed so far and capsized tanker in Manila causes huge oil spill

Typhoon Gaemi has been wreaking havoc, with the Philippines government forced to declare a state of calamity last week in its capital Manila, and flooding and at least three deaths in Taiwan. . Manila received more than 300mm of rainfall, with resulting floods reaching as high as one-storey buildings in places. More than half a million people have been evacuated or displaced, with 21 deaths confirmed so far.

Gaemi initially developed on Sunday as a tropical storm to the east of the Philippines and then tracked north-west, strengthening until it achieved typhoon status on Monday as it drew level with the northernmost tip of the Philippines. Despite not making landfall in the Philippines, the typhoon interacted with existing monsoon weather systems, worsening the already heavy rains across the island of Luzon and causing several landslides.

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Typhoon Gaemi: ‘race against time’ to contain massive oil spill in Philippines

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Coastguard reports 4km oil slick as strong winds hamper cleanup efforts after 25 die in the Philippines and Taiwan

The Philippines coastguard said it was “racing against time” to contain a massive oil spill that was at risk of becoming the biggest in the country’s history.

The MT Terra Nova, a Philippine-flagged tanker carrying 1.4m litres of oil, capsized in Manila Bay in the early hours of Thursday, as Typhoon Gaemi charged through the busy shipping route, whipping up aggressive winds and leaving 25 people dead in Taiwan and the Philippines.

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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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