Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Human rights experts have hailed a sharp drop in executions for drug offences in 2018, even as they expressed worries over a large number of people worldwide still facing the death penalty for non-violent drug crimes. In a new report on Tuesday, Harm Reduction International (HRI) said it documented 91 executions for drug crimes last year, compared with 288 in… Read more »
Malaysia: Mahathir asks China to define claim on South China Seatoday Huawei takes US to court, claims ban unconstitutionaltoday China’s Huawei sues US over ban on using its productstoday UN human rights chief calls for release of Saudi activiststoday Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has said China should define its “so-called ownership” in the disputed South China Sea so other claimant countries can start to gain… Read more »
Western Australia’s environmental protection authority has announced tough new measures aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions from large projects. The EPA, which works independently and makes recommendations to the WA government about whether new developments should be granted environmental approval, said on Thursday it was setting a “higher bar” for how it would assess the impact of major projects on… Read more »
An eminent Chinese professor has warned that an “over-promoted” programme to lure hi-tech talent home is fuelling foreign suspicions about international students’ ties to the Chinese government. Wei Yingjie, a cardiovascular health specialist at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, said during the annual gathering of the political elite known as the “two sessions” that China should also stop sending… Read more »
NEW DELHI — The planned city of Gurugram, one of India’s industrial hubs, has glass-sided office buildings and swanky, high-rise apartments. But now, according to a new report, it can claim a less desirable distinction: the city with the world’s worst air. India holds 15 of the top 20 spots in that category, according to the report, which was released this… Read more »
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea has started rebuilding the facilities it uses to launch satellites into orbit and test engines and other technologies for its intercontinental ballistic missile program, according to American military analysts and South Korean intelligence officials. The revelation comes days after the breakdown of the second summit meeting between the North’s leader, Kim Jong-un, and President… Read more »
JALALABAD, Afghanistan — At least 16 civilians were killed Wednesday in a complex attack on a construction company in eastern Afghanistan, officials said. The attack started with an early morning suicide explosion at the entrance of a construction company in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar Province. After the blast, four armed attackers wearing suicide vests entered the compound and shot… Read more »
SEOUL, South Korea — When the armored train carrying Kim Jong-un back from his summit meeting with President Trump in Vietnam reached Pyongyang Station at 3:08 a.m. Tuesday, throngs of flower-waving North Koreans greeted their leader with “boundless emotions and excitement,” the country’s state-run media said. But Mr. Kim returned home empty-handed — without relief from international sanctions — prompting… Read more »
After the US-North Korea summit talks in Hanoi ended abruptly, President Donald Trump said his stumbling block with Kim Jong-un was over one key point: What North Korea would get in exchange for disabling its Yongbyon nuclear facility. Yongbyon is the site that produces material that could be used in North Korea’s nuclear weapons. Long ahead of the Hanoi talks,… Read more »
Before she went on holiday with her boyfriend, the young woman from Hong Kong told friends about his pledge to her. “He said I am his first and last girlfriend,” the woman, Poon Hiu-wing, 20, wrote on Facebook. It would be her last Facebook post. After their trip to Taiwan in February 2018, the boyfriend, Chan Tong-kai, returned alone. Her… Read more »