The United States and China may have called a truce on tariffs, but tensions remained high during a diplomatic meeting in Switzerland this week. International frustration over America’s protectionist stance boiled over during a closed-door review of U.S. trade policy at the World Trade Organization, according to an official in Geneva. India called America unpopular. Japan made reference to Old Glory,… Read more »
China is flexing its muscles. As the second richest economy in the world, its businessmen and politicians are involved just about everywhere in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Now, though, China is taking a big interest in a very different part of the world: the Arctic. It has started calling itself a “near-Arctic” power, even though Beijing is almost 3,000km… Read more »
State-owned shipbuilder CSIC is working against the clock to get its two aircraft carriers ready for military use, and in time for 70th anniversary celebrations marking the founding of the People’s Republic of China in October next year.SCMP TODAY: INTL EDITIONGet updates direct to your inboxE-mail *By registering you agree to our T&Cs & Privacy Policy At present, both warships are being worked on… Read more »
Tagum, Philippines – Teacher Nerhaya Talledo was on her way to a remote village in the southern Philippines bringing supplies of rice, canned fish and noodles when her van was stopped at a recently-built military checkpoint. A group of doctors and volunteers were in another truck with much-needed medicines. The soldiers told them they couldn’t continue their journey to Sitio Dulyan, an… Read more »
At least 42 people have been injured in a suspected gas explosion that destroyed wooden buildings housing a restaurant and a real estate office in northern Japan, according to police and local media reports. The powerful blast on Sunday in Sapporo, the capital city of Japan’s northern main island of Hokkaido, shook nearby buildings, broke windows and scattered wooden debris across… Read more »
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Mark Rayan Darmaraj has spent nearly 15 years tracking tigers in Malaysia. But he’s only once seen a Malayan tiger, one of the world’s five remaining subspecies. That was in 2009, and the animal was in agony. Trapped in a poacher’s snare, its right paw was nearly severed. Darmaraj will never forget the cat’s roars of anguish and the… Read more »
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) – Cambodia released 14 government critics on Tuesday, in a move by Prime Minister Hun Sen that some observers say is aimed at appeasing foreign criticism of a flawed general election last month. The 14, who are all members or supporters of Cambodia’s now dissolved main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), were released from Phnom Penh’s Prey… Read more »
HANOI (Reuters) – A court in central Vietnam has jailed an activist accused of trying to overthrow the state to 12 years in prison, his lawyer said on Thursday, days after two rights campaigners were barred from attending a meeting of the World Economic Forum in Hanoi. Nguyen Trung Truc, 44, was also given five years of house arrest following… Read more »
HANOI (Reuters) – Vietnam on Friday released a long-waited draft decree on guidelines to implement a cybersecurity law that global technology companies and rights groups have said could undermine development and stifle innovation. The draft required firms providing a range of services, including email or social media, to set up offices in Vietnam if they collect or analyze data, let… Read more »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union reached a deal on Tuesday allowing businesses to seamlessly transfer personal data between the bloc and Japan, deepening economic links as the two sides also agree a free-trade pact. The EU and Japan concluded several years of data talks in Tokyo in the margins of a bilateral summit and the deal should come into… Read more »