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Wenheng Zhao, 26, pleaded guilty in October to passing sensitive military information to Chinese intelligence officerA US navy petty officer who pleaded guilty to providing sensitive military information to a Chinese intelligence officer was sentenced to more than two years in prison on Monday, the US justice department said.Wenheng Zhao, 26, and another US sailor, Jinchao Wei, were arrested in August on suspicion of...

Authorities had begun hunting sharks after a series of attacks in 2023 and say they will appeal the decisionA court in New Caledonia’s capital Noumea has ordered authorities to stop culling sharks, a practice brought in after a series of attacks last year, one of which killed an Australian tourist.The administrative court said that the systematic culls were “disproportionate in regard to the aim...

Animals have been popping up on golf courses and surfing contests in Dunedin as they reestablish a foothold on the South IslandA growing population of sea lions in the New Zealand city of Dunedin is provoking “overlapping chaos” as their breeding season coincides with residents enjoying peak summer weather.Two sea lions gave birth on a golf course, another swam alongside competitors in a surfing...

Tokyo district public prosecutors’ office says it has arrested Yoshitaka Ikeda, a former vice-education ministerProsecutors in Japan have made their first arrest in a financial scandal that has engulfed the country’s ruling party and sparked speculation about the future of the prime minister, Fumio Kishida.The Tokyo district public prosecutors’ office said on Sunday it had arrested Yoshitaka Ikeda, a former vice-education minister, who is...

Corruption and the cost of living have trumped concerns about a belligerent neighbour in close race for the presidencyDeep in the mountains of Hsinchu county in north Taiwan, a few dozen residents of Smangus are holding their daily morning meeting in a weatherboard hut, overlooking the towering peaks nearby.The remote Indigenous village, home to about 200 Atayal people, is preparing for Saturday’s presidential election....

Boy, five, among 126 people dead, after boiling water spilled on him during Monday’s 7.6 magnitude quakeA woman in her 90s has been pulled alive from a collapsed house in western Japan, 124 hours after a major earthquake hit the region, killing at least 126 people, toppling buildings and setting off landslides.The woman in Suzu city, Ishikawa prefecture, survived for more than five days...

Number of missing lowered to 211 as thousands of troops join rescue effort and experts warn of disease risk at evacuation centresThe death toll from a major earthquake in western Japan reached 100 on Saturday as rescue workers fought aftershocks to carefully pull people from the rubble.Deaths had reached 98 earlier in the day, but two more were reported in Anamizu, while officials in...

Will Fransen was on a solo fishing trip south of Auckland in New Zealand when he was yanked into the water after hooking a big fishA New Zealand man who survived more than 23 hours in cold waters and an encounter with a shark has been rescued after fishers spotted the reflection from his watch.Will Fransen, 61, had set off on a solo fishing...

Intense speculation over future role for Kim Jong-un’s daughter, who is reportedly 10, comes as North Korea fires shells near South Korean islandsThe young daughter of Kim Jong-un is seen as her father’s heir apparent, South Korea’s spy agency has said for the first time, after speculation that the North Korean ruler is grooming her to become the fourth member of the dynasty to...

White House says Moscow likely to supply Pyongyang with advanced technologies in exchangeRussia has started using ballistic missiles supplied by North Korea to attack Ukraine, the White House has said.Washington also alleged Russia was in talks with Iran to buy short-range ballistic missiles. The US intelligence assessment is that Iranian missiles have not yet arrived in Russia, but that the deal will eventually be...

Analysts suggest popularity of A Guilty Conscience is down to portrayal of recent abuses in judicial systemHong Kong’s highest grossing Chinese language film of all time is a courtroom drama exploring themes of power and justice in a city where many feel both have been abused in recent years.A Guilty Conscience, the directorial debut of the Hong Kong screenwriter Ng Wai-lun, tells the story...

Hong Kong media mogul’s team raises concerns over testimony of former democracy activist who was imprisoned in ChinaThe international legal team for the imprisoned media mogul Jimmy Lai, who is on trial for national security offences in Hong Kong, has filed an urgent appeal with the United Nations special rapporteur on torture regarding one of the key prosecution witnesses in Lai’s trial.Lai’s lawyers say...

Flight attendants needed permission from cockpit to open emergency exits, broadcaster reportsPilots on a Japan Airlines plane that became engulfed in flames just after all 379 passengers and crew escaped were initially unaware the aircraft was on fire, according to fresh details reported in local media.The airliner collided with a coast guard plane after landing at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport on Tuesday evening. All but...

In a recording from the control tower apparently taken before impact, a voice can be heard advising JAL’s flight to ‘continue approach’A passenger jet that collided with a coast guard plane in a catastrophic accident at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport had been given permission to land, Japan Airlines executives have said, as police reportedly prepared to investigate whether the crash involved professional negligence.Five people on...

Ishikawa and its Noto peninsula, one of the worst affected areas, has been hit by more than 100 aftershocksJapanese rescuers were scrambling to search for survivors as authorities warned of landslides and heavy rain after a powerful earthquake that killed at least 62 people.The 7.5-magnitude quake on Monday that rattled Ishikawa prefecture on the main island of Honshu triggered tsunami waves more than a...

Lachlan Galbraith says he feels ‘deep regret’ for stealing a drink bottle lid, but the Hunting and Fishing store in Queenstown says embarrassment ‘is punishment enough’Ocean Alley keyboardist Lachlan Galbraith has publicly apologised after a shop in New Zealand shared CCTV footage of him shoplifting.Hunting and Fishing Queenstown uploaded footage to Facebook and Instagram showing Galbraith placing a A$17.95 drink bottle lid in his...

Build Your Dreams outsells rival in final quarter of 2023 figures for battery-only vehiclesElon Musk’s Tesla has been overtaken by its Chinese rival, BYD, as the world’s top selling electric carmaker.BYD, which has been backed by the US investment billionaire Warren Buffett since 2008, has beaten Tesla’s production for a second consecutive year. Continue reading...

Fumio Kishida, Japan’s prime minister, says country faces ‘battle against time’ to rescue people as at least 48 killed in earthquakesA Japan Airlines aircraft is on fire at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, NHK reports, adding that work is ongoing to extinguish the fire.Live footage of the plane, surrounded by smoke, can be seen here. Continue reading...

Media tycoon and pro-democracy activist is accused of conspiring to commit foreign collusion and publish seditious material Jimmy Lai pleaded not guilty to all charges at the resumption of his national security trial in Hong Kong on Tuesday.The media tycoon and pro-democracy activist is facing up to life in prison if found guilty on the charges against him, brought under the 2021 national security...

South Korean news agency Yonhap reported that Lee’s assailant had been arrested at the scene in the port city of BusanSouth Korea’s opposition party leader Lee Jae-myung has been hospitalised after being attacked during a visit to the southern port city of Busan, sustaining injuries that health officials said were not life-threatening.A 67-year-old man stabbed Lee, 59, on the left side of his neck...

The quakes, the largest of which had a magnitude of 7.6, have left 48 dead and led to tsunami warnings which were later liftedJapan’s prime minister has said the country is facing a “battle against time” to rescue those affected by a series of major earthquakes which reportedly killed at least 48 people, injured dozens and sparked fires that destroyed homes.Police and local authorities...

Japan Meteorological Agency issues tsunami warnings for coastal prefectures of Ishikawa, Niigata and ToyamaThe first reports of injuries are coming in from hospitals, including broken bones, but no fatalities have been confirmed so far.Fires have broken out in what appear to be homes on the Noto peninsula. Continue reading...

Japan Meteorological Agency warnings apply to Ishikawa, Niigata and Toyama prefectures• Japan quake: latest updatesJapan has issued tsunami warnings for three of its central west coast prefectures after a series of earthquakes in the Sea of Japan, one with a preliminary magnitude of 7.6.A tsunami of 1.2 metres was confirmed to have arrived in Wajima city, in Ishikawa prefecture. The Japanese public broadcaster NHK...

Joining court would allow investigation of Xi Jinping if he were to order act of war against TaiwanTaiwan’s government is considering joining the international criminal court, in part to increase deterrence of a Chinese attack or invasion.Supporters also say it would help universalise the international legal system, which has a low presence in Asia, and increase Taiwan’s global participation at a time when Beijing...