Asia Health World

China dismisses complaints over quarantining US diplomats

Editorial Bureau September 30, 2022

China on Friday dismissed complaints from two U.S. congress members over the quarantining of American diplomats and their family members under the country’s strict COVID-19 regulations. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said China “adopts a science-based and effective epidemic prevention

Asia Tech World

Japan to pay up to $320M for US company’s chip production

Editorial Bureau September 30, 2022

Japan is providing a major U.S. chipmaker a subsidy of up to 46.6 billion yen ($322 million) to support its plan to produce advanced memory chips at a Hiroshima factory, the Japanese trade minister said Friday. The announcement to subsidize Micron Technology comes on the heels of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris’ visit in Japan […]

Asia Health World

Fewer trips for China’s Golden Week amid quarantine fears

Editorial Bureau September 30, 2022

While China’s top leaders commemorated revolutionary martyrs Friday, far fewer Chinese are expected to be traveling during the upcoming “Golden Week” National Day holidays amid rigid anti-COVID-19 restrictions and calls from health officials for people to stay put. China’s transport ministry estimates some 210 million trips will be made by road during the week-long holiday

Asia World

Thai court rules suspended PM Prayut can resume office

Editorial Bureau September 30, 2022

Thailand’s suspended prime minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha can resume office, the country’s constitutional court said Friday, ruling that he has not exceeded his eight-year term limit. The former army chief, who came to power in a 2014 military coup, was suspended last month while the court examined a legal challenge mounted by opposition parties who argued […]

Asia World

Kabul suicide blast kills 19, mostly girls, at education centre

Editorial Bureau September 30, 2022

A suicide bomb blast on a classroom of hundreds of people preparing for exams in the Afghan capital on Friday killed at least 19 people, with most of the casualties girls, police and a witness said. The blast ripped through Kaaj Higher Educational Center, which coaches mainly adult men and women ahead of university entrance […]

Asia Travel World

Fast and furious no more? Bangkok’s infamous No.8 bus

Editorial Bureau September 30, 2022

A “Pink Devil” roars down Bangkok’s busy streets, furiously overtaking tuk-tuks, cars and motorbikes, narrowly avoiding a collision as it slows to allow passengers to scramble on before veering back into the capital’s hectic traffic. Welcome aboard the No.8 bus. Infamous in the Thai capital, the No.8 route has spawned parody songs, viral TikToks,

USA World

NSA Cyber Specialist, Army Doctor Charged In US Spying Cases

Editorial Bureau September 30, 2022

A cyber specialist who worked at the US National Security Agency and an army doctor and her wife were charged Thursday in separate cases with seeking to sell US secrets to foreign governments. In one case, cybersecurity expert Jareh Sebastian Dalke, 30, spent less than four weeks working at the NSA, the government’s huge and […]

World

Indigenous Brazilians hope to turn page on Bolsonaro

Editorial Bureau September 29, 2022

Four years after President Jair Bolsonaro came to office vowing not to allow “one more centimeter” of protected Indigenous reservations in Brazil, native peoples accuse him of violent, environmentally harmful policies that have been disastrous for them and their land. With the far-right president fighting for re-election Sunday — trailing in the polls to

Oceania USA World

US rolls out red carpet to Pacific Islands amid China inroads

Editorial Bureau September 29, 2022

President Joe Biden’s administration on Wednesday rolled out the red carpet for Pacific Island leaders in the face of rising Chinese influence in the region and said it expected a united front, despite friction with one nation — the Solomon Islands. In a first-of-a-kind summit in Washington, the United States promised greater aid and diplomatic […]

Asia World

Fleeing Russians worry border will ‘close forever’

Editorial Bureau September 29, 2022

Fearing the border may close “forever” after President Vladimir Putin’s mobilisation order for the war in Ukraine, Russians are rushing to flee across Finland’s Vaalimaa crossing. On this foggy early morning, dozens of cars and buses with Russian licence plates are lined up at the border, their passengers hoping to make it into Finland before […]