Category Archives: Asia Pacific

Weather tracker: heavy snow hits eastern highlands in South Korea

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As much as 40cm fell in less than a day in part of Seoraksan national park. Plus, a powerful tornado in Australia

There was unusually heavy snowfall this week in the highlands of the mountainous region of eastern Gangwon province in South Korea. Between 5.30pm local time on Wednesday and 9am on Thursday, as much as 40cm fell at the Socheong shelter of Seoraksan national park, while 20cm was recorded at its Jungcheong shelter.

This unexpected snowfall has caused damage ahead of a harvest on wild vegetable farms that operate on the mountains. Conditions over the next few days are expected to improve, with warmer and drier weather over the weekend.

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Chinese social media companies remove posts ‘showing off wealth and worshipping money’

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Targeting posts boasting of personal wealth appears to be part of campaign to ‘purify the internet cultural environment’

Chinese social media companies have launched a new crackdown on user content, targeting posts that show off personal wealth and financial extravagance.

In a statement posted online on Wednesday, Weibo said it had spent this month carrying out special management work on “undesirable value-orientated content”, including content “showing off wealth and worshipping money”.

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Putin and Xi announce plans to strengthen military ties in Beijing

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Russian leader praises ‘comradely’ talks with Chinese president ahead of concert to mark 75 years of ‘friendship’

Russia and China have announced they will deepen their already close military ties, as Vladimir Putin met Xi Jinping in Beijing on his first foreign trip since being inaugurated for a new term as Russia’s president.

It is the latest in a string of statements and signals that the warm relationship between the two countries is as strong as it has ever been.

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Zelenskiy says situation is ‘difficult’ on visit to Kharkiv; Putin calls China relationship an international ‘stabilising factor’ – as it happened

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Ukrainian military says its has forced Russia to reduce tempo of offensive; Russian president thanks Xi Jinping for ‘trying to solve Ukraine crisis’. This live blog is closed

Vladimir Putin has said that Russia-China cooperation is not directed against any other power and is a stabilising factor for the world, during his meeting with Xi Jinping.

It is of crucial significance that relations between Russia and China are not opportunistic and are not directed against anyone. Our cooperation in world affairs today acts as one of the main stabilising factors in the international arena.”

In our new journey we intend to remain good neighbours, trusted friends and reliable partners, consistently strengthening the relationship between our two nations … defending international equality.”

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Hundreds of French police deployed amid New Caledonia riots

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State of emergency in place because of deadly unrest over bill that will let French people vote in provincial elections after 10 years of residence

Hundreds of police reinforcements have arrived in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia as the government in Paris insisted talks would not happen until calm had been restored.

As many as 1,000 extra police and gendarmes are being deployed to bolster the 1,700-strong force already in New Caledonia after three nights of violent riots that have killed five people, including two police officers.

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Putin arrives in China on mission to deepen partnership with Xi

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During the Russian leader’s two-day visit, the war in Ukraine, energy and trade will be on the agenda

President Vladimir Putin has arrived in Beijing for talks with his Chinese counterpart and “old friend” Xi Jinping as he seeks to deepen ties after launching some of Russia’s most significant incursions into Ukraine since its invasion in 2022.

It is Putin’s second visit to Beijing in less than a year, and his first foreign visit since being sworn in for a new term that will keep him in power until at least 2030. The visit will also celebrate 75 years since the Soviet Union recognised the People’s Republic of China in 1949.

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YouTube blocks videos set to Hong Kong protest anthem

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Court order compelled Google subsidiary to block local access to 32 videos of Glory to Hong Kong judged to be prohibited content

Alphabet’s YouTube on Tuesday said it would comply with a court decision and block access inside Hong Kong to 32 video links deemed prohibited content, in what critics say is a blow to freedoms in the financial hub amid a security clampdown.

The action follows a government application granted by Hong Kong’s court of appeal requesting the ban of a protest anthem called Glory to Hong Kong. The judges warned that dissidents seeking to incite secession could weaponize the song for use against the state.

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Concerns grow for Chinese citizen journalist after supposed jail release

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Zhang Zhan, jailed for reporting on Covid in Wuhan, has made no contact with outside world

Concerns are growing about the wellbeing of one of China’s most prominent citizen journalists who has failed to make contact with the outside world after she was supposed to have been released from prison.

Zhang Zhan, 40, a lawyer turned citizen journalist, was detained in May 2020 after she travelled to Wuhan to report on the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. Her videos and social media posts drew attention to the government’s stifling of information about the spread of the disease and the harsh lockdowns that were being imposed.

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Burberry profits slump by 40% as demand for luxury goods slows

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British fashion retailer hit by drop in sales in Asia and Americas, and expects challenging first half of 2025

Burberry’s profits have slumped by 40% in a year amid a wider slowdown in demand for luxury goods that has pushed down sales in Asia and the Americas.

The high-end UK fashion retailer posted a pre-tax profit of £383m for the year up to 30 March in its preliminary results on Wednesday, a 40% drop on the £634m in the previous 12 months. Global sales fell by 8% in the second half of the year.

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South China Sea: huge civilian Filipino flotilla heads to disputed shoal to ‘assert sovereign rights’

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Philippines coast guard and navy watch as wooden boats head to Scarborough shoal to place buoys and hand food packs to local fishers

A flotilla of about 100 mostly small fishing boats led by Filipino activists has set sail for a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, where Beijing’s coast guard and suspected militia ships have used powerful water cannon to ward off what they regard as intruders.

The Philippine coast guard and navy deployed one patrol ship each to keep watch from a distance on the activists and fishers, who set off on wooden boats with bamboo outriggers on Wednesday to assert Manila’s sovereignty over the Scarborough shoal. Dozens of journalists joined the three-day voyage.

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Singapore to get guitar-playing new PM in first transfer of power for 20 years

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Lee Hsien Loong will stand down and hand power to his deputy Lawrence Wong at a challenging time for the city state

Singapore’s prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, will stand down on Wednesday and hand power to his deputy Lawrence Wong, the first change of power in the city state in two decades.

Wong, 51, a US-trained economist credited with managing the country’s response to the pandemic, will be the fourth prime minister to lead Singapore, and is the first leader to have been born after the country’s independence in 1965. He is also only the second leader who is not a member of the founding Lee family. He will be inaugurated in a ceremony on Wednesday night.

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France declares state of emergency in New Caledonia after deadly riots

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Macron holds crisis meeting amid unrest over plan to increase number of French nationals eligible to vote in Pacific territory

France has said it will impose a state of emergency in New Caledonia for at least 12 days, after a second night of unrest over changes to voting rights in the overseas territory that has resulted in the deaths of at least four people.

More than 130 people have been arrested and more than 300 injured, according to the french high commission.

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‘Impossible’ heatwave struck Philippines in April, scientists find

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Human-caused climate crisis brought soaring temperatures across Asia, from Gaza to Delhi to Manila

The record-breaking heatwave that scorched the Philippines in April would have been impossible without the climate crisis, scientists have found. Searing heat above 40C (104F) struck across Asia in April, causing deaths, water shortages, crop losses and widespread school closures.

The extreme heat was made 45 times more likely in India and five times more likely in Israel and Palestine, the study found. The scientists said the high temperatures compounded the already dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where displaced people are living in overcrowded shelters with little access to water.

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Political activist held in Thai jail dies after 65 days on hunger strike

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Netiporn Sanae-sangkhom, 28, faced seven court cases including two for criticising Thailand’s monarchy

A political activist charged with insulting the king of Thailand has died in pre-trial detention after spending 65 days on hunger strike calling for an end to the imprisonment of political dissidents.

Netiporn Sanae-sangkhom, 28, had been detained since 26 January and maintained a hunger strike until the end of April, refusing food and water, according to her lawyers. The corrections department said she had experienced cardiac arrest on Tuesday morning and was unresponsive to treatment.

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Biden announces 100% tariff on Chinese-made electric vehicles

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White House levy to protect US makers from cheap imports likely to inflame trade tensions

The US president, Joe Biden, has announced a 100% tariff on Chinese-made electric vehicles as part of a package of measures designed to protect US manufacturers from cheap imports.

In a move that is likely to inflame trade tensions between the world’s two biggest economies, the White House said it was imposing more stringent curbs on Chinese goods worth $18bn.

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Dozens killed in cold lava mudslides on Indonesian island of Sumatra

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Nearly 20 missing after monsoon rains trigger flash floods, sending torrents of volcanic material and mud down slopes of Mount Marapi volcano

Heavy rains triggered flash floods and caused torrents of cold lava and mud to flow down a volcano’s slopes on Indonesia’s Sumatra island, killing at least 41 people and leaving more than a dozen others missing, officials have said.

Monsoon rains and a major mudslide from a cold lava flow on Mount Marapi caused a river to breach its banks and tear through mountainside villages in four districts in West Sumatra province just before midnight on Saturday. The floods swept away people and submerged more than 100 houses and buildings, national disaster management agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said on Sunday.

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South Korean state-owned nuclear developer in talks to build UK plant

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Kepco has held discussions about developing Wylfa Newydd site on Anglesey

South Korea’s state-owned nuclear developer has discussed building a multibillion-pound power plant in Wales with the UK government, it has emerged.

Kepco, the largest utility provider in South Korea, has held early-stage discussions with Westminster officials about developing the Wylfa Newydd site on the island of Anglesey (Ynys Môn), the Financial Times reported.

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Sake takes UK by storm as Japan’s national drink goes mainstream

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No longer just drunk for courage at karaoke clubs, the ‘food-friendly’ rice spirit is becoming a first choice of connoisseurs

When sommelier Erika Haigh opened the UK’s first independent sake bar, in London’s West End in 2019, passersby would wander in and try to order milkshakes, bewildered by the unfamiliar drink advertised in the window.

“Today, that confusion has largely disappeared,” said Haigh, who has since opened Mai Sake, a shop offering tasting events and meals. “You can now go on a sake bar crawl across London, and you’ll find it featured on the beverage lists of many restaurants – including non-Japanese establishments.”

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Chinese woman jailed for reporting on Covid in Wuhan to be freed after four years

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Citizen journalist Zhang Zhan’s search for the truth during the early days of the pandemic was seen as a threat by the authorities

A Chinese citizen journalist who has been in prison for four years after reporting on the early days of the Covid-19 epidemic in Wuhan is due to be released on Monday.

Zhang Zhan, a former lawyer, travelled to Wuhan in February 2020 to document the Chinese government’s response to what became the start of a global pandemic. She shared her reports on X (then known as Twitter), YouTube and WeChat. She was one of the few independent Chinese reporters on the ground as Wuhan and the rest of China went into lockdown.

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Shein ‘steps up plan for London IPO’ amid US listing hurdles

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Sources say Singapore-based online fashion retailer founded in China prefers a float in New York but faces tougher scrutiny than expected

The fast-fashion company Shein is stepping up preparations for a London listing after its attempt to float in New York faced regulatory hurdles and pushback from US lawmakers, sources have told Reuters.

The online clothing retailer plans to update China’s securities regulator on the change of the initial public offering (IPO) venue and file with the London Stock Exchange (LSE) as soon as this month, said one source.

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