Difference between the west’s responses to human suffering in Ukraine and Palestine defies reasoning, Anwar Ibrahim says
The Malaysian prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim, says he has appealed directly to his Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese, to reinstate funding to UNRWA, arguing the aid agency was the most effective channel to “help the besieged civilians” of Gaza.
Continue reading...Bangkok customs officers arrest six after finding 87 animals, including lizards, birds, a monkey and snakes
Thai customs officials have arrested six Indian nationals for attempting to smuggle dozens of wild animals, including a red panda and cotton-top tamarin monkey, out of the country.
Officers found 87 animals, including monitor lizards, birds and snakes, packaged inside the suspects’ checked luggage at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport. They were trying to fly to Mumbai.
Continue reading...Foreign minister Wang Yi – speaking at the Two Sessions – said it was unacceptable some countries are at the table while others are ‘on the menu’
China’s top foreign affairs official has accused the US of trying to suppress China and has vowed to deepen relations with Russia, as Beijing continues to assert the importance of what it calls a “multipolar” world order.
Foreign minister Wang Yi accused the US of imposing sanctions on Chinese companies to a “bewildering” and “unfathomable” level, referencing Beijing’s opposition to “unilateralism and protectionism”, complaints that have become buzzwords in China’s official statements of late.
Continue reading...Questions asked over the place of protest in professional sport after Hurricanes Poua team in Wellington changed the lyrics for their haka just before a game
A row over the role of protest in professional sport has erupted in New Zealand after a women’s rugby team called the coalition government “rednecks” during a pre-match haka.
The Hurricanes Poua – the women’s rugby union team for Wellington – added lyrics to their haka just before their Super Rugby Aupiki match against the Chiefs Manawa in Hamilton on Saturday.
Continue reading...Congestion charge comes amid boom in tourism that has put pressure on infrastructure and increased potential for accidents
People hoping to ascend Mount Fuji along its most popular route will be charged ¥2,000 (£10.50, $13.35, A$20.50) when the climbing season starts in the summer, as local authorities try to ease congestion fuelled by Japan’s tourism boom.
The trails leading up Japan’s highest mountain – a Unesco world heritage site since 2013 – are becoming increasingly overcrowded, prompting concern over littering and “bullet ascents”, in which often inexperienced climbers try to scale the 3,776-metre peak without resting.
Continue reading...The Pritzker prize has been won by the 78-year-old Japanese master whose whose work ranges from an open-access Hiroshima fire station to a building seemingly made of books
From rows of public housing connected by elevated walkways and shared terraces, to sleek glass university buildings designed for maximum transparency between departments, the architecture of Riken Yamamoto has always been about seeing and being seen. Now it’s his turn to be put in the spotlight, as the 78-year-old Japanese architect has been named the 2024 recipient of the Pritzker prize, architecture’s highest honour.
It’s a surprising choice. Yamamoto has never been part of the fashionable avant garde, of the “starchitect” kind that the Pritzker has often honoured in the past. Nor is he from an overlooked or undervalued region, as the prize has looked to highlight in some recent years. Instead, during a career spanning the last five decades, he has produced a consistent body of work in a neutral, modernist style, creating cubic, gridded forms in steel, concrete and glass, which might be hard to get excited about at first glance.
Continue reading...Philippines says vessels were damaged and four people injured after Chinese boats caused two collisions
The Philippines has accused China of “dangerous manoeuvres” in the disputed South China Sea that damaged its vessels and left four Filipinos with minor injuries, warning such action had put lives at risk.
The Philippines said Chinese coastguard and maritime militia vessels had caused two collisions, which led to superficial structural damage to the hull of one of its coastguard vessels. The simultaneous use of water cannon by two Chinese vessels against a civilian supply boat shattered the vessel’s windshield and caused minor injuries to at least four personnel onboard, according to a Philippine national taskforce.
Continue reading...Economists say 5% target is ambitious, as premier Li Qiang tells annual gathering that global economy and problems at home are presenting hurdles to recovery
China has set its target for GDP growth at 5%, in line with analysts’ expectations for another year of historically modest ambitions for the economy, amid regional tensions and its demographic crisis.
China’s premier, Li Qiang, spoke of the “challenges” facing China’s leaders as he delivered his annual government work report on Tuesday. He cited the global economy and regional tensions as hurdles for China’s recovery, as well as domestic issues such as low consumer demand in a challenging labour market.
Continue reading...Prime minister Lee Hsien Loong confirmed an ‘arrangement’ for Singapore to be the only stop on Swift’s south-east Asia Eras tour
Singapore prime minister Lee Hsien Loong has defended an incentive provided to Taylor Swift by his government, to make the country the only stop in south-east Asia on her world tour, saying it was not a hostile act towards its neighbours.
“[Our] agencies negotiated an arrangement with her to come to Singapore and perform and to make Singapore her only stop in south-east Asia,” Lee told a press conference in Melbourne, where he is attending a regional summit.
Continue reading...Defence force aircraft draws fresh criticism as Christopher Luxon joins Ardern and Key in list of leaders held up by ageing planes
New Zealand prime minister Christopher Luxon was forced to travel on a last-minute commercial flight to Australia for a summit on Tuesday, after the country’s beleaguered defence force plane was once again grounded over maintenance issues.
The defence force loans planes to New Zealand leaders when they embark on international travel, but the ageing fleet has been plagued with problems in recent years – an issue that Luxon, the former chief executive of Air New Zealand, has previously labelled “incredibly embarrassing”.
Continue reading...Peter Foley, the program director for search led by Australian Transport Safety Bureau, says any chance of success needs the government to invest
The man who led Australia’s search for MH370 has urged the Australian government to support any new effort to find the plane, which disappeared 10 years ago on Friday.
On Sunday the Malaysian government said it was in talks with the US marine robotics company Ocean Infinity to discuss a new search. The company says it is willing and able to return to the search, and has submitted a proposal to the Malaysian government.
Continue reading...Anthony Albanese plans to boost clean energy and infrastructure exports, and increase visas for travellers from the region
Australia will set up a $2bn fund to “turbocharge” trade and investment in south-east Asia, with a focus on clean energy and infrastructure.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, will announce the fund in Melbourne on Tuesday when he addresses a gathering of 100 chief executives from Australia and south-east Asia.
Continue reading...Annual appearances were rare opportunity for foreign media to engage with high-ranking Chinese officials
China’s leading economics official, premier Li Qiang, will not address the press at the country’s major annual political gathering in Beijing, in a break with tradition.
The Two Sessions has started against a backdrop of major economic headwinds, decreasing transparency on government indicators, and growing concern among international business and investors.
Continue reading...Tourism industry disappointed but hopeful Chinese holidaymakers could return by year’s end – but economists predict a longer wait
In the two weeks either side of lunar new year, Mandy Ho, who manages a hot air balloon company in Melbourne, has many balls in the air.
Most mornings before dawn, when weather permits, her colleagues fly Chinese tourists from the vineyards of the Yarra Valley over Melbourne’s eastern suburbs to parkland on the city’s fringe. Interpreters make sure nothing is lost in translation.
Continue reading...Prime minister Anwar Ibrahim said Malaysia would reopen the investigation if there was compelling new evidence
Malaysia is willing to reopen an investigation into the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines MH370 if there is compelling new evidence, prime minister Anwar Ibrahim has said.
Flight MH370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, carrying 12 Malaysian crew members and 227 passengers, vanished from air traffic radar on 8 March 2014. Its disappearance sparked the largest ever search operation but the fate of the plane has never been resolved and it remains one of the greatest aviation mysteries.
“We have taken the position that if there is a compelling case, evidence that it needs to be re-opened, we’re certainly happy to reopen,” Anwar told a press conference in Melbourne. He was speaking on the sidelines of a summit of Australia and the Asean grouping of Southeast Asian nations.
Exclusive: Duggan’s legal team continues to fight US request for extradition on charges of arms trafficking and money laundering
The spy agency Asio says it has been cleared by the intelligence watchdog of allegations of impropriety raised by the Australian citizen Daniel Duggan as he fights extradition to the US.
Duggan, a former US marines pilot accused of training Chinese pilots to land fighter jets on aircraft carriers, had complained to the inspector general of intelligence and security (IGIS) about Asio’s role in securing his return to Australia from China.
Continue reading...Policy blueprint to be set out for year ahead and big personnel changes may be announced
Thousands of delegates are due to arrive in Beijing this weekend for China’s most high-profile political gathering, a closely observed series of meetings that will lay out the government’s policy blueprint for the year ahead.
The event, known as the “two sessions”, begins on Monday as China’s parliament, the National People’s Congress (NPC) convenes alongside a separate but parallel meeting of the country’s top political advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
Continue reading...High-budget series with largely Japanese cast avoids well-worn western orientalist fantasies and wins plaudits in Japan
Japanese audiences could have been forgiven for bracing themselves when Disney announced Shōgun, a 10-part adaptation of James Clavell’s classic 1975 novel.
With few exceptions, Hollywood depictions of Japan and the Japanese have relied on one-dimensional characters whose purpose is to confirm cultural stereotypes, set against the backdrop of an inscrutable archipelago whose people have much to learn from the western hero.
Continue reading...Report accused Hideo Kojima of inappropriate touching and patting female workers on their heads
A Japanese mayor facing 99 allegations of sexual harassment has resigned after he denied some cases and wept at a press conference.
An official investigation accused Hideo Kojima, the mayor of a town in the central Gifu region, of several incidents of harassment, including touching a colleague’s breasts and buttocks.
Continue reading...Court found those responsible for tour had not conducted adequate risk assessments ahead of deadly eruption
A New Zealand court has ordered the tour booking agents and managers of an island where a volcanic eruption killed 22 people to pay survivors more than NZ$10m ($6.1m) and fined them around NZ$2.6m.
Tour operators White Island Tours, Volcanic Air Safaris, Kahu New Zealand and Aerius, along with the corporate owner of the island, Whakaari Management Ltd, were found to have not sufficiently ensured the safety of visitors to the island, court filings showed.
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