Asia

Tight security at Indonesia court as opposition pushes for fresh election

Editorial Bureau June 14, 2019

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Lawyers for Indonesia’s political opposition called on Friday for President Joko Widodo’s election victory to be annulled, telling the Constitutional Court it had been achieved through “systematic electoral fraud and abuse of power”. Official

Asia

Banks re-open as Hong Kong returns to normal ahead of weekend protest

Editorial Bureau June 14, 2019

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Police kept a close watch over central Hong Kong on Friday as the Asian financial hub returned to normalcy, with banks re-opening branches closed during violent protests against a proposed extradition bill with mainland China. Further demonstrations are planned at the weekend, however, as the city’s government shows no signs of […]

Asia

China turns its anger on ‘Cold War warrior’ Pompeo

Editorial Bureau June 14, 2019

BEIJING (Reuters) – Beijing has found its villain in its multi-fronted conflict with the United States: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The former CIA chief has been singled out for scorn, in Chinese state media and even at the foreign ministry, over his criticism of everything from Chinese tech giant Huawei to its record on […]

Asia

China ministry summons mayors of six cities for failing to meet smog targets

Editorial Bureau June 13, 2019

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s environment ministry has summoned the mayors of six northern Chinese cities to a meeting in Beijing to account for their failures to meet winter targets to cut smog, it said in a notice on Thursday. Average air quality worsened significantly in much of northern China over the winter compliance period from […]

Asia

Cyclone Vayu spares Indian west coast a direct hit, to skirt coast

Editorial Bureau June 13, 2019

MUMBAI (Reuters) – A powerful cyclone that threatened the western Indian state of Gujarat, has changed course and it is now expected to just brush past the coast, authorities said on Thursday, although ports and coastal airports remained shut. Cyclone Vayu, with wind speeds equivalent to those of a Category 1 hurricane, is moving in […]

Asia

Taiwan president wins ruling party’s nomination for 2020 election

Editorial Bureau June 13, 2019

TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen on Thursday won the ruling party’s hotly contested nomination for the 2020 presidential election in a boost to her administration, which suffered a poll defeat amid rising threats from China. Tsai beat her former premier, William Lai, in a national tally for the party’s primary race, Cho Jung-tai, […]

Asia

Thousands of Hong Kong protesters gather, government offices shut after violence

Editorial Bureau June 13, 2019

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Thousands of protesters readied in Hong Kong on Thursday for more potential clashes with police over a planned extradition law with mainland China, a day after police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at unarmed demonstrators. Small scuffles broke out between police and demonstrators around the city’s legislature, the epicentre of […]

Asia

Putin says Russia-U.S. relations are getting ‘worse and worse’ – Mir TV

Editorial Bureau June 13, 2019

MOSCOW (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin said in an interview published on Thursday that relations between Moscow and Washington were getting worse and worse, noting that the current U.S. administration had imposed dozens of sanctions on Russia. “They (relations) are deteriorating, getting worse and worse,” Putin told the Mir TV channel. Putin made his

Asia

India evacuates hundreds of thousands as cyclone Vayu builds fury

Editorial Bureau June 12, 2019

MUMBAI (Reuters) – India evacuated hundreds of thousands of people to shelters along the coast in its western state of Gujarat as a cyclone gathering intensity over the Arabian Sea was expected to hit land on Thursday. Weather officials said Cyclone Vayu, with wind speeds equivalent to those of a Category 1 hurricane, is set […]

Asia

Trump and Kim one year on: A ‘beautiful letter’, stalled diplomacy

Editorial Bureau June 12, 2019

SEOUL (Reuters) – A year after President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un met for the first time, they appear committed to a personal bond upon which hopes for peace appear to rest, despite a stalemate in efforts to get Kim to abandon nuclear weapons. Trump and Kim agreed at the first U.S.-North […]