~theguardian-world | Bookmarks (120)

Social media users get around government crackdown on negativity via US embassy conservation updateA social media post about giraffe conservation has become the latest place for people in China who are unhappy about the economy to vent their frustration, as the Chinese government increasingly cracks down on negative commentary.On 2 February, the US embassy in China posted an update on its Weibo account about...

Australia’s foreign minister says government is ‘appalled’ by sentence, which could mean life in prisonThe Australian academic Yang Hengjun has been given a suspended death sentence by a Chinese court, after five years in detention on espionage charges. His sentence came on the same day that the women’s rights activist Li Qiaochu was sentenced to three years and eight months by a court in...

Now deceased man said he was Satoshi Kirishima who was allegedly member of radical group in 1970s that bombed Japanese firmsA dying man in a Japanese hospital told police that he was one of the country’s most wanted fugitives and had been on the run for nearly 50 years for being part of a radical group that carried out bombings in the 1970s, police...

As Beijing has increased its efforts to recruit Taiwanese people, the number of spying cases has risenIn November, a Taiwan court heard accusations that two serving soldiers had accepted bribes from Chinese agents to record a video declaring their loyalty to China and their intention to defect in the event of a war. The video reportedly made its way into Chinese propaganda materials.Weeks later,...

Leaked intimate images allegedly depicting affair between two ministers captivate nation and rattle prime minister Sitiveni Rabuka’s coalitionA sex scandal involving allegations of an extramarital affair between two ministers, leaked intimate images and suggestions of drug use during a ministerial trip has gripped Fiji, rattling the government and raising questions over whether the coalition can survive.The conservative Pacific nation of about 1 million people...

Ten people extradited on Tuesday accused of being key figures in fraud involving victims of traffickingMyanmar has extradited 10 people, including notorious warlords, to China, where they are wanted for their alleged role in running abusive online and telephone fraud centres in which tens of thousands of foreign nationals are trapped and forced to run scams.The centres – which target people in China as...

Opposition leader rejects claims party is seeking to cause deterioration of monarchyThailand’s constitutional court has ruled that the opposition party’s pledge to reform the country’s lese-majesty law is unlawful and that it must cease such efforts.The court ordered the Move Forward party and its leader, Pita Limjaroenrat, to stop all forms of communication aimed at bringing reforms to the law, under which criticism of...

Ferdinand Marcos Jr hits back with fentanyl insult amid breakdown in relations between political familiesThe former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte accused his successor, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, of being a drug addict who risked being ousted from office in an expletive-laden tirade that underlined the breakdown in relations between the two powerful political families.Duterte’s speech on Sunday, in which he claimed Marcos Jr’s allies were...

Nathy Odinson, 33, had parachute problem after climbing up building in Pattaya and jumping offA British Base jumper has died after his parachute failed to open during a stunt in Thailand.Nathy Odinson, 33, from Cambridgeshire, who had performed skydives and Base jumps around the world, is said to have illegally climbed up a 29-storey building in the coastal resort of Pattaya and jumped off...

First two episodes inaccessible to viewers in city, with some attributing censorship to umbrella protest scenesAmazon’s big-ticket series Expats, set and filmed in Hong Kong, is not available for viewing in the city despite being billed as a worldwide release.The first two episodes of the drama, starring Nicole Kidman and directed by The Farewell’s Lulu Wang, were released on Friday but listed as “currently...

Judge says ‘enough is enough’ after developer, which has $300bn in debt, fails to provide convincing restructuring plan Embattled Chinese development company, Evergrande, has been ordered to liquidate by a Hong Kong court after an 18-month long hearing.Evergrande, which holds the ignominious title of the world’s most indebted property developer with about $300bn in liabilities, failed to convince the court that it had a...

Legislation will further erode differences between legal systems of Hong Kong and mainlandA new law giving Chinese courts the authority to enforce rulings in commercial disputes in Hong Kong comes into effect on Monday, further reducing the barriers between the Hong Kong and Chinese legal systems.The law puts into effect an agreement signed between China’s supreme people’s court and the government of Hong Kong...

Sawangjit Kosoognern charged with illegal possession after video showing animal being driven around Pattaya gains 2.6m viewsA Thai woman has been charged with illegal possession of a lion cub, police said on Friday, after a video of the animal cruising in a Bentley went viral online.The police ordered an investigation after a video showing a lion cub riding around the raucous Thai resort town...

One candidate has said he wants to review the Pacific country’s relationships with Taiwan and China, just weeks after Nauru switched allegiances to BeijingTuvalu election explainedVoting has started in the tiny Pacific island nation of Tuvalu, in a national election that could reverberate from China to Australia, amid a tussle for influence in the region.With just over 11,500 people spread across nine islands, Tuvalu...

Japan media reported Shinji Aoba held a grudge against the studio when he doused the entrance in petrol and set it ablaze in 2019A court in Japan has sentenced to death a man convicted of murdering 36 people in an arson attack on an animation studio in 2019.The attack on Kyoto Animation, better known as KyoAni, sent shock waves through Japan, where violent crime...

Women will take part in the hadaka matsuri in Inazawa, in which thousands of men dressed in next to nothing drive away evil spiritsWomen in Japan have been permitted to take part in an ancient ceremony, known as the naked festival, for the first time in the event’s history, albeit with modifications.Every February, thousands of men dressed in next to nothing take part in...

Biggest reduction since December 2021 will allow 1tn more yuan to be released in form of new loansChina’s central bank has announced a surprise cut to the amount of cash that banks must hold in reserve, hoping to boost the lending available to households and businesses as policymakers try to steer the economy through a fragile recovery.Pan Gongsheng, the governor of the People’s Bank...

Pita Limjaroenrat’s party was blocked from taking power last year after complaints led to his suspensionThailand’s constitutional court has ruled that a pro-reform opposition figure whose party was blocked from taking power last year did not violate election law and can be reinstated as an MP.The court rejected a complaint brought against Pita Limjaroenrat by conservative politicians that he had violated election law by...

The Arch of Reunification – built in 2000 after a landmark inter-Korean summit – has disappeared from satellite imageryNorth Korea has demolished a monument that symbolised hope for reconciliation with the South, days after the regime’s leader, Kim Jong-un, said the peaceful reunification of the two Koreas was no longer possible.In the latest sign of rising tensions on the peninsula, the Arch of Reunification...

Authorities warn of potentially widespread damage after the 7.0-magnitude quake, with tremors felt in neighbouring countriesA 7.0-magnitude earthquake has struck along the China-Kyrgyzstan border, as authorities warned of potentially widespread damage.The China Earthquake Networks Center said the quake hit Wushu county in Aksu prefecture shortly after 2am local time, according to the state-run Xinhua press agency and about 200 rescuers were dispatched to the...

Fire broke out in dormitories of primary school in central Henan provinceThirteen pupils have died after a fire broke out in dormitories at a primary school in central Henan province, Chinese state media reported.All of the dead were third-grade students, a teacher at Yingcai school told Zonglan news, a state-backed media outlet from Hebei province. One person rescued from the scene was being treated...

Slim spacecraft landed on the moon and is communicating with earth but is not generating electricityJapan’s Slim spacecraft lands on moon but struggles to generate power(I’m really enjoying the soft piano music being played in the background of this Japanese space agency live feed. Very calming in a tense situation!)The probe is now “scanning the surface” and looking for a place to land, space...

Footage shows two 16-year-olds being sentenced in front of hundreds of their peers in an amphitheatreVideo footage released by an organisation that works with North Korean defectors shows North Korean authorities publicly sentencing two teenagers to 12 years’ hard labour for watching South Korean videos.The footage, which shows the two 16-year-olds in Pyongyang convicted of watching South Korean films and music videos, was released...