Asia

Indonesia revokes licences of drug firms over syrups linked to child deaths

  Jakarta, Indonesia | AFP | Indonesia’s food and drug agency on Wednesday revoked the licences of two chemical firms to distribute materials used in syrup medicines linked to a wave of child deaths caused by kidney failure or damage. The move comes as the Southeast Asian country suffers a spike in cases of acute kidney injury that has killed nearly 200 children since the end of August, prompting an investigation and ban on the […]

US-China rivalry, N. Korea to dominate ASEAN summit

Phnom Penh, Cambodia | AFP | by Suy SE The US-China rivalry and growing fears of a new North Korean nuclear test will loom over a meeting this week of Southeast Asian leaders attended by US President Joe Biden. Leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will meet in Phnom Penh from Friday, kicking off a diplomatic blitz in the region that also takes in next week’s G20 in Bali and an APEC […]

North Korea fires ballistic missile, Seoul’s military says

Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korea fired at least one ballistic missile Wednesday, Seoul’s military said, the latest launch from Pyongyang following a record-breaking testing blitz earlier this month. The launch comes as the United States counted votes in the midterm elections for the House and Senate, which Seoul’s spy agency had previously warned would be a possible moment for Kim Jong Un to conduct a long-expected nuclear test. “North Korea fires an […]

Australian sentenced to 129 years in Philippine child sex abuse case

Manila, Philippines | AFP | by Allison Jackson and Mikhail Flores An Australian man has been sentenced to 129 years in a Philippine jail as part of a child sexual abuse case involving victims as young as 18 months, a prosecutor said Wednesday. It was the second conviction for Peter Gerard Scully, who is already serving a life sentence for an initial batch of charges involving the rape and trafficking of girls. The Philippines has […]

Six killed in Nepal earthquake

Prelim M5.6 Earthquake Nepal Nov-08 20:27 UTC, updates https://t.co/AOuHGMuJHT — USGS Tweet Earthquake Dispatch (@USGSted) November 8, 2022 Kathmandu, Nepal | AFP | Six people were killed in a 5.6-magnitude earthquake that struck western Nepal in the early hours Wednesday, causing tremors as far away as New Delhi, authorities said. The epicentre was near the Nepalese municipality of Dipayal, 340 kilometres (210 miles) west of Kathmandu at a depth of 15 km at around 2:00 […]

Southeast Asia’s Russian dilemma as summits loom

Bangkok, Thailand | AFP | by Lisa Martin and Alexis Hontang Southeast Asian countries look set to maintain ties with Russia as a trio of global summits loom, despite US-led efforts to isolate Moscow over its Ukraine invasion. The Ukraine conflict and its repercussions — higher fuel, energy and food costs and supply chain disruptions — will loom over the back-to-back gatherings in Phnom Penh, Bali and Bangkok. The diplomatic whirl begins this week with […]

World ‘burning up faster’ than it can recover: Pakistan PM

  Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt | AFP | Climate change is outpacing the capacity of developing nations to cope with its devastating impacts, the Pakistani premier told COP27 on Tuesday, as his country reels from historic floods. Talks at the UN climate conference in Egypt have been dominated by calls for wealthier nations to fulfil pledges to financially help poorer nations green their economies and build resilience. “The world is burning up faster than our […]

EU extends Myanmar sanctions, targets minister and judge

  Brussels, Belgium | AFP | The EU on Tuesday extended its sanctions on Myanmar’s junta, targeting 19 more individuals and entities including a minister and a chief justice. The measures against Myanmar were announced by the European Council because of “the continuing escalation of violence and grave human rights violations following the military takeover two years ago”. It was the fifth package of EU sanctions on the southeast Asian country, under military rule since […]

The weakest link? North Korea’s crumbling air force

by Claire Lee and Sunghee Hwang Agence France-Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea on Tuesday described its record-breaking blitz of missile launches last week as a “just counteraction” to the biggest-ever US-South Korea air exercises. Pyongyang has long condemned joint military exercises by Seoul and Washington, calling them rehearsals for an invasion — but it has appeared especially sensitive to air force drills. That is because North Korea’s air force is the weakest […]

Armenia, Azerbaijan hold US talks hours after new shootout

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Armenia and Azerbaijan held peace talks on Monday, mediated by the United States, just hours after a fresh shootout along their troubled border in a conflict which has left hundreds dead in recent months. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken hosted the foreign ministers of the rival nations. “The United States is committed to the peace negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” Blinken said before the meeting. “Direct dialogue is the […]

North Korea dismisses as ‘groundless’ US claims of arms supplies to Russia: state media

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea said Tuesday that claims by the United States that Pyongyang is supplying artillery ammunition to Moscow for its war in Ukraine were groundless, state media KCNA reported. The rebuke comes amid heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula after a spate of North Korean weapons tests last week — including an intercontinental ballistic missile — as the United States and South Korea conducted their biggest-ever air force exercise. The […]