Category Archives: Asia Pacific

‘A place where music fills the air’: Bangkok to host Eurovision’s first Asia song contest

Posted on by

Spin-off launched with 10 nations, as original event remains mired in protests and boycotts over Israel’s involvement

Eurovision is seeking to expand into the Asian market by hosting a version of its song contest in Bangkok this year, just as the original annual event is being buffeted by discord and boycotts on the eve of its 70th anniversary edition.

The grand final of the inaugural Eurovision song contest Asia will take place in Thailand’s capital on Saturday 14 November, the Switzerland-based organisation announced on Tuesday. Broadcasters from 10 countries have confirmed their participation.

Continue reading...

US-based dissident artist put on trial in China over satirical Mao sculptures, says rights group

Posted on by

New York-based Gao Zhen was detained in 2024 during a family visit to China and then tried for ‘defaming national heroes’

The Chinese dissident artist Gao Zhen, known for making satirical sculptures of China’s former leader Mao Zedong, has been tried over accusations of “defaming national heroes and martyrs”, his wife and a rights group have said.

Gao, 69, who was detained in 2024 during a visit to China from the US, faces a maximum three-year prison sentence, his wife, Zhao Yaliang, and Shane Yi, a researcher at the Chinese human rights defenders group, said.

Continue reading...

Vanuatu Indigenous leaders raise concerns over plans to build resort for cruise tourists

Posted on by

Exclusive: Environmental impact assessments are ‘incomplete’, say leaders, and private beach club could harm fragile ecosystems

Indigenous community leaders in Vanuatu have raised concerns over plans by the cruise operator Royal Caribbean to build a private beach club on the island of Lelepa, arguing environmental impact assessments by the company are “incomplete” and “misleading”.

The community leaders outlined the issues in a letter sent to Royal Caribbean on 26 February, which has been seen by the Guardian. The leaders also said the development could harm fragile ecosystems and a nearby Unesco world heritage site.

Continue reading...

Australia will be left with no submarines if it abandons Aukus, senior defence official warns

Posted on by

Malcolm Turnbull asks defence department official what Australia would do if the promised Virginia-class and Aukus-class submarines don’t arrive

Australia will be left with no submarines if it abandons the Aukus deal with the US and UK, a senior defence official has warned, declining to publicly countenance an alternative plan if Australia’s promised nuclear-powered fleet does not arrive under Australian command.

“Defence has been directed to pursue Aukus and we are pursuing Aukus and that’s our plan. I would not venture into the space about ‘Plan B’ or ‘Plan C’,” defence department deputy secretary, Hugh Jeffrey, told a Sovereignty and Security Forum in Canberra on Friday.

Continue reading...

Trump’s trip to meet Xi Jinping in China rescheduled for May due to Iran war

Posted on by

US president says he will host Chinese leader in a reciprocal visit later this year

Donald Trump will meet Xi Jinping in May during the US president’s first visit to China in eight years, a closely watched trip that had been postponed due to the Iran war.

Trump was initially slated to travel next week, but will now visit Beijing on 14 and 15 May, he wrote in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday. Trump said he would host the Chinese leader in a reciprocal visit in Washington later this year.

Continue reading...

‘They can reach me wherever’: China using financial tactics to coerce people who flee, says report

Posted on by

UK urged to tackle transnational repression, as dissidents say Beijing has targeted them with tax bills and other threats

“I didn’t feel safe, even though I’m not based in Hong Kong any more,” said Christopher Mung Siu-tat after getting tax bills from Hong Kong authorities. “The regime can reach me by their long arms wherever I am.”

Siu-tat, the executive director at the Hong Kong Labour Rights Monitor, a UK-based NGO, fled Beijing’s sweeping national security laws years ago. The letters are the latest example of a series of transnational repression (TNR) tactics the 54-year-old has faced in recent years.

Continue reading...

Philippines declares ‘national energy emergency’ and boosts coal power as Iran war grinds on

Posted on by

President’s declaration allows officials to tackle fuel hoarding or profiteering, while energy secretary says country will lean more heavily on coal

The Philippines president, Ferdinand Marcos, has declared a state of “national energy emergency” as a result of the Middle East war, which his administration said posed “an imminent danger of a critically low energy supply”.

The state of emergency, which will initially last for a year, was declared just hours after the country’s energy secretary said the Philippines planned to boost the output of its coal-fired power plants to keep electricity costs down as the war wreaks havoc with gas shipments.

Continue reading...

Philippines declares ‘national energy emergency’ and boosts coal power as Iran war grinds on

Posted on by

President’s declaration allows officials to tackle fuel hoarding or profiteering, while energy secretary says country will lean more heavily on coal

The Philippines president, Ferdinand Marcos, has declared a state of “national energy emergency” as a result of the Middle East war, which his administration said posed “an imminent danger of a critically low energy supply”.

The state of emergency, which will initially last for a year, was declared just hours after the country’s energy secretary said the Philippines planned to boost the output of its coal-fired power plants to keep electricity costs down as the war wreaks havoc with gas shipments.

Continue reading...

Albanese urged to help Australians struggling with fuel crisis, as NZ offers first-of-its-kind cash relief

Posted on by

David Pocock says a flat 25% export levy on gas producers could redirect ‘wartime profits’ to struggling Australians

Pressure is mounting on the Albanese government to help households struggling with fuel prices, with working from home and free public transport posited as possible solutions.

Nearly 150,000 New Zealand families will soon receive a weekly cash payment to help them afford petrol, believed to be the world’s first fuel relief package that directly pays citizens since the Israel-US war on Iran began.

Continue reading...

Japan to begin biggest-ever oil release from national reserves as Middle East energy crisis bites

Posted on by

PM Sanae Takaichi says about 80m barrels of stockpiled oil to be provided to refiners – equivalent to 45 days of domestic demand

• Middle East crisis – live updates

Japan will begin the biggest-ever release of oil from its strategic reserves this week, the prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, has said, as the country braces for possible shortages caused by the US-Israel war on Iran.

The government last week approved the release of 15 days’ worth of private-sector reserves, amid concern that the conflict in the Middle East will continue to hinder the flow of tanker traffic along the strait of Hormuz.

Continue reading...

New Zealand to give cash payments to some low income families as global fuel crisis worsens

Posted on by

Policy begins on 1 April and is aimed to ease financial pressure as the price of fuel surges due to conflict in the Middle East

Nearly 150,000 New Zealand families will soon receive a weekly cash payment to help them afford petrol, the government has announced, in what is believed to be the world’s first fuel relief package that directly pays citizens since the Iran war began.

On Tuesday, prime minister Christopher Luxon and finance minister Nicola Willis announced roughly 143,000 families with children will get an extra NZ$50 ($29.20; £21.80) a week through a boost to the in-work tax credit – a payment to families with dependent children where at least one parent is in paid employment and neither parent receives benefits. Another 14,000 families on slightly higher incomes will also be eligible for payments, but will receive less than $50 per week.

Continue reading...

Hong Kong police can demand phone and computer passwords under amended national security law

Posted on by

Refusing to comply could lead to year in jail and hefty fine, while providing false information carries up to three years in prison

Hong Kong police can now demand that people suspected of breaching the city’s national security law provide mobile phone or computer passwords in a further crackdown on dissent.

The amendments to the law also empower customs officers to seize items that are deemed to have “seditious intention”, regardless of whether any person has been arrested for an offence endangering national security because of the items.

Continue reading...

New Zealand PM’s ratings dip as fragile economy fails to impress before November election, poll shows

Posted on by

National leader Christopher Luxon drops in preferred PM stakes with rise in people saying country heading in wrong direction

The personal ratings of New Zealand’s prime minister, Christopher Luxon, have dipped, polling shows, as his government’s handling of the economy fails to impress voters ahead of the November election.

The RNZ-Reid Research poll, released on Monday, also found a growing number of people felt that New Zealand was heading in the wrong direction.

Continue reading...

At least 14 people killed in fire at South Korean car parts factory

Posted on by

Almost 60 injured in blaze in Daejeon with footage seemingly showing people jumping from burning building to escape

A fire at a car parts factory in South Korea has killed 14 people and injured almost 60 others.

Firefighters said all of the missing are now accounted for after a search operation of the wreckage of the three-storey building.

Continue reading...

BTS release new album Arirang ahead of comeback concert

Posted on by

Boyband drops album that speaks to its Korean roots ahead of Seoul comeback concert, with more than a quarter of a million fans expected to attend

K-pop stars BTS released a new album on Friday billed as reflecting the maturing boy band’s Korean roots and identity, as buzz built ahead of their open-air comeback concert in the heart of Seoul.

The Saturday night gig, which is expected to draw around 260,000 people, will be BTS’s first after a hiatus of almost four years while all seven members served compulsory military service. It comes ahead of an 82-date world tour.

Continue reading...

Trump mocks Japan about Pearl Harbor in response to question about Iran war

Posted on by

US president was meeting with Japanese PM when he said: ‘Who knows better about surprise than Japan?’

It would be funny if it wasn’t so Trumpy.

Hosting the Japanese prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, in the Oval Office on Thursday, Donald Trump could not resist mocking Japan about its 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor during the second world war.

Continue reading...

Hong Kong apartment fires: hearings to begin into Wang Fuk blaze that killed 168 people

Posted on by

Independent committee to investigate safety standards and whether building practices contributed to worst residential fires in decades

Public hearings in Hong Kong begin on Thursday into a devastating fire that ripped through a housing complex last year, killing 168 people.

A judge-led independent committee will investigate whether fire safety standards were inadequate, if construction practices contributed to the fire, and if there were failures on the part of government officers or contractors.

Continue reading...

Seoul raises terror alert as it prepares to host BTS comeback concert

Posted on by

Thousands of police prepare to deploy to South Korea’s capital ahead of K-pop’s most anticipated comeback

Seoul has stepped up security ahead of BTS’s huge comeback concert on Saturday, which more than a quarter of a million fans are expected to attend, with authorities raising the terror alert in the area and preparing to deploy thousands of police to the capital.

South Korean president Lee Jae Myung warned at a cabinet meeting this week that “the issue is safety” and urged heightened vigilance by the interior ministry and emergency services to prepare for every possibility. He described the concert as an important occasion to reaffirm the country’s global cultural standing.

Continue reading...

Looking for leverage: China keeps close eye on US politics after summit delay

Posted on by

Beijing seeks to decipher effect of Iran war on US midterms and best way to apply pressure when Trump meets Xi

The White House said on Wednesday that China had agreed to postpone Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing, as war in the Middle East rages on, complicating the US president’s position at home and abroad.

China has not yet commented on the delay to the highly anticipated trip, in which Trump and the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, will meet in person for the first time since October. Trump previously said he hoped to delay the trip, originally scheduled to run from 31 March to 2 April, for “five or six weeks”.

Continue reading...

How you walk reveals to others how you are feeling, researchers say

Posted on by

Study highlights the movements in people’s gait that give away most about their emotional state

A long face is not the only sign that someone is down in the dumps. How people walk is revealing too, particularly the swing of the arms and legs, researchers say.

Scientists asked volunteers to guess people’s emotions from video clips of them walking and found that bigger swings portrayed more aggression while smaller swings implied fear and sadness.

Continue reading...