Category Archives: Asia Pacific

Hayao Miyazaki’s ‘final’ film The Boy and the Heron hits No 1 at North American box office

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The Japanese director’s animation beats The Hunger Games prequel and Godzilla Minus One on its opening weekend in the US and Canada

The Boy and the Heron, reportedly the final film from Japanese master animator Hayao Miyazaki, has taken the number one spot at the box office on its North American release, as well as achieving record figures for the director.

Preliminary box office returns report that The Boy and the Heron took $12.8m in the US and Canada on its opening weekend, putting it a significant distance ahead of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which managed $9.4m. In third place was another Japanese film, the monster movie Godzilla Minus One, on $8.3m.

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Record low turnout as Hong Kong votes in ‘patriots’-only election

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Voters shun district election after pro-democracy candidates were prevented from running

A “patriots only” district election in Hong Kong that barred opposition democrats from the ballot sheet amid a national security crackdown had a record low voter turnout of 27.5% as many voters spurned what was seen as an undemocratic poll.

The sharp slide in turnout since the last such election in 2019 comes after Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law that has been used to clamp down on dissent, and overhauled the electoral system to shut out democrats and other liberals.

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Philippine festive flotilla turns back after Chinese ‘intimidation’

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Forty fishing boats loaded with donations, Father Christmas figurines and nativity had set sail in disputed South China Sea

A Philippine mission to bring Santa Claus to the South China Sea to spread holiday cheer to fisherfolk, troops and coastguard officials was cut short after organisers said Chinese vessels intimidated their convoy.

The flotilla of 40 fishing boats loaded with Christmas donations, Father Christmas figurines and nativity displays set sail from El Nido in Palawan province at 1am local time on Sunday (1700 GMT Saturday), on its way to disputed areas that Beijing claims, without legal grounds, as its own.

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David Cameron urged to tell China to free Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai

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Newspaper tycoon’s son seeks meeting with foreign secretary as Briton, 76, faces trial and possible life sentence

Foreign secretary David Cameron is being urged to demand the release of newspaper tycoon Jimmy Lai as the British national prepares for a high-profile trial in Hong Kong this month.

Lai, 76, is facing a life sentence, accused of colluding with foreign forces under the draconian national security law introduced by Beijing in 2020 following mass protests.

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Almost 100 journalists killed and 400 imprisoned in 2023, says report

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International Federation of Journalists says 68 killed covering Israel-Hamas war, more than in any other conflict in over 30 years

A leading organisation representing journalists worldwide has expressed deep concern at the number of media professionals killed around the globe doing their jobs in 2023, with more journalists killed during Israel’s war with Hamas than in any other conflict in more than 30 years.

In its annual count of media worker deaths, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said 94 journalists had been killed so far this year and almost 400 others had been imprisoned.

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Chinese weather balloon spotted near Taiwan a month ahead of presidential election

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Chinese military aircraft including 12 fighter jets also detected in Taiwan’s air defence zone in past 24 hours

Taiwan’s defence ministry has said that a Chinese balloon crossed the Taiwan Strait median line on Thursday, about a month before Taiwan’s presidential election.

The ministry of national defence (MND) earlier described it as a “surveillance balloon” but the defence minister, Chiu Kuo-cheng later told reporters at parliament: “our initial understanding is that it was a sounding balloon”.

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Kyoto Animation fire: Japan prosecutors seek death penalty over blaze that killed 36

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Shinji Aoba has admitted starting fire but has pleaded not guilty, saying a psychological disorder makes him incapable of distinguishing between right and wrong

Prosecutors in Japan are seeking the death penalty for the suspect in an arson attack in 2019 that killed 36 people in one of the country’s deadliest crimes for decades.

Shinji Aoba, who was not arrested until he had recovered from the burns he sustained in the attack on an animation studio in Kyoto, admitted in court in September 2023 to starting the fire.

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Oppenheimer to finally be released in Japan after ‘Barbenheimer’ backlash

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Internet references conflating the two films drew anger in Japan, which was twice attacked by nuclear weapons during the second world war

Audiences in Japan will finally get to see Oppenheimer – Christopher Nolan’s hit biopic about the creator of the nuclear bomb – following criticism that it was marketed in a way that trivialised the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The movie’s distributor in Japan, Bitters End, said on Thursday that the film, which examines L. Robert Oppenheimer’s moral quandary over his key role in the world’s first nuclear attack on 6 August 1945, would be released in 2024.

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Tokyo taxi driver arrested, accused of running over pigeon

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Atsushi Ozawa accused of using car to kill common pigeon, which vets said died of traumatic shock

To some, they are another species of feathered friend; to others, they are rats with wings whose droppings deface historic buildings.

But in Japan, pigeons may have become the victims of crime, after police arrested a Tokyo taxi driver on suspicion of deliberately driving into a flock of the birds, killing one of them.

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Electric plane set to deliver mail across New Zealand in decarbonisation push

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Air New Zealand says using the ALIA electric cargo plane to deliver parcels will help plot route towards zero-emissions passenger flights in a ‘new age of propulsion’

Parcels and letters will soon be distributed by electric aircraft between regions of New Zealand as the sparsely populated country embarks on a “new age of propulsion” in its attempts to decarbonise its reliance on aviation.

On Wednesday, Air New Zealand announced it had purchased a battery-powered, all-electric five seater cargo aircraft, which will be put to use running mail between airports with New Zealand’s postal service from 2026.

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Fears grow for hundreds of Rohingya refugees adrift for two weeks

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UN warns of possible tragedy unless people are rescued from two boats on Andaman Sea

About 400 Rohingya refugees have been adrift in two boats on the Andaman Sea for about two weeks, according to the United Nations, which called on regional governments to help rescue them.

The number of Rohingya Muslims fleeing by boats in a seasonal exodus – usually from squalid, overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh – has been rising since last year due to cuts to food rations and an increase in gang violence.

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EU expected to issue veiled warning to China over supply of cut-cost goods

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European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen to meet Chinese president Xi Jinping at summit on Thursday

The EU is to tell China that its €400bn (£343bn) trade deficit is not sustainable long term amid fears that it will flood the bloc with subsidised electric cars, solar panels and medical devices, threatening European manufacturing and jobs.

Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission chief, and Charles Michel, the European Council president, will meet Xi Jinping at a summit on Thursday, the second of its kind this year.

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Moody’s cuts China credit outlook to negative as economy slows

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Rating agency says Beijing may need to bail out local governments as property sector collapses

China’s ability to repay its government borrowing has been downgraded by the credit rating agency Moody’s, which said the ripple effects from a crisis in the property sector would undermine efforts to revive its flagging economy.

Moody’s warned that Beijing would need to bail out local and regional governments and state-owned enterprises that were struggling with rising debts, hampering efforts to boost investment and growth.

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Mount Marapi eruption: 23 people confirmed or presumed dead in Indonesia

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Rescuers find more bodies, after second eruption halted search for missing climbers on Monday

Rescuers searching the hazardous slopes of Indonesia’s Mount Marapi volcano found more bodies among the climbers caught by a surprise eruption two days ago, raising the number of confirmed and presumed dead to 23.

More than 50 climbers were rescued after the initial eruption on Sunday, and 11 others were initially confirmed dead. Another eruption on Monday spewed a new burst of hot ash as high as 800 metres (2,620ft) into the air and temporarily halted search operations.

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‘Charles’ or ‘skin rash’? Māori MPs’ oath of allegiance to king sparks translation debate

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At the opening of parliament, lawmakers for New Zealand’s Māori party used a word for Charles that can also be used to describe skin conditions

Māori party MPs have departed from the traditional oath of allegiance to King Charles III at the opening of New Zealand’s 54th parliament, sparking a debate about whether the Māori word they used to describe him meant “Charles” or “skin rash”.

As part of the formalities to open parliament, MPs must swear allegiance to New Zealand’s head of state, something Te Pāti Māori, a Māori political party, has long protested against. MPs can say the oath in either English or Te reo Māori.

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New Zealand: thousands protest against new government policies that unravel Māori gains

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The new government recently announced it would dial back use of Māori language in government organisations, and scrap Māori Health Authority

Thousands of Māori protesters took to the streets across New Zealand on Tuesday morning, objecting to policies of the new government that Māori say will unravel decades of indigenous progress.

Protesters blocked traffic on key roads and lined streets in towns and cities while calling for the coalition to scrap plans to review the Treaty of Waitangi, the country’s 180-year-old founding document which was signed between the Crown and Māori leaders.

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Australia urged not to rely on ‘drug dealer’s defence’ for gas exports and help wean Japan off fossil fuels

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Diplomats for Climate group says if government wants to use that defence ‘it needs to be the dealer who takes their clients to rehab and supports them off their habit’

The Albanese government should do more to leverage its relationship with Japan – arguably the world’s most important energy partnership – to help its trading partner move away from gas and towards a rapid and ambitious decarbonisation, former diplomats say.

Diplomats for Climate, an organisation supported by more than 100 former Australian officials, says “the future of gas lies in the ground”, but that a ban on new fossil fuel developments – the focus of a growing community campaign backed by scientific evidence – would not cut global emissions unless international demand was reduced.

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US air force Osprey crash wreckage and remains of five crew found off Japan

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Aircraft crashed last week off south-western Japan carrying eight American personnel on training mission

US and Japanese divers have discovered wreckage and remains of five crew members from a US air force Osprey aircraft that crashed last week off south-western Japan, the air force announced on Monday.

The CV-22 Osprey carrying eight American personnel crashed last Wednesday off Yakushima island during a training mission. The body of one victim was recovered and identified earlier.

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China’s Evergrande wins more time to restructure debts

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Hong Kong court gives property developer until 29 January to formulate deal for creditors

The property developer Evergrande has been granted an extension until late January to try to restructure its debts and avoid liquidation in one of the most high-profile cases in China’s long-running property crisis.

Evergrande was once China’s biggest property developer, but a default on offshore debt obligations in 2021 started a lurch from one crisis to another. It has reported debts of more than $300bn (£237bn), much of it to individuals whose properties were never built.

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Mount Marapi eruption: 11 hikers found dead on Indonesian volcano

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Rescuers say dozens of hikers were on the volcano when it erupted on Sunday, with three found alive and at least 12 missing

Indonesian rescuers have found the bodies of 11 climbers after the eruption of the Mount Marapi volcano in West Sumatra.

A rescue official said three people were found alive on the volcano and at least 12 climbers were still missing. Another official put the number of missing at 22.

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