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JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Indonesia has seized land tied to an automaker owned by the son of its late dictator Suharto in a fresh bid to recoup money from the influential clan, the government said Friday. Military troops and police in West Java province on Friday took control of some 124 hectares (300 acres) of land controlled by Tommy Suharto and his PT Timor Putera Nasional company over some 2.6 trillion rupiah ($181 million) […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan said Friday it will allow short-term business travellers, foreign students and other visa holders to enter the country, but tourists are still barred under pandemic border restrictions. From Monday, business visitors fully inoculated with an authorised vaccine will need to quarantine for only three days, down from a minimum of 10 days, the foreign ministry said. Daily cases in the country of 126 million have plunged from record highs […]
SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — Singapore faced calls Friday not to hang a mentally disabled Malaysian man for trafficking a small amount of heroin into the city-state, with campaigners criticizing the planned execution as “despicable”. Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam was arrested in 2009 for transporting 43 grams — equivalent to about three tablespoons — of the drug into Singapore, and sentenced to death the following year. After exhausting a series of legal challenges in the city-state, which […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Highways and school playgrounds in Beijing were closed Friday due to heavy pollution, as China ramps up coal production and faces scrutiny of its environmental record at make-or-break international climate talks. World leaders have gathered in Scotland this week for COP26 negotiations billed as one of the last chances to avert catastrophic climate change, though Chinese President Xi Jinping made a written address instead of attending in person. China — the […]
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MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan (AFP) — At least 20 people including children were killed on Wednesday when a bus plunged into a ravine in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, officials said. “The bus carrying up to 40 passengers was going to Rawalpindi when it plunged into a deep ravine while negotiating a sharp turn,” local disaster management authority official Raja Moazzam told AFP. He blamed speeding for the accident and said “authorities are trying to retrieve bodies and injured from […]
A man was arrested for attempted murder after a knife and fire attack on a train in Tokyo on Sunday, Japanese media said, with at least 10 people reportedly injured and one in a serious condition. A video clip published by public broadcaster NHK showed panicked passengers running down the train as smoke filled the carriage, with flames also visible. Another video posted on Twitter showed people climbing through windows to escape the Keio Line […]
KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — Taliban supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada addressed supporters in the southern city of Kandahar, officials announced Sunday, his first public appearance since taking control of the group in 2016. Akhundzada has been the spiritual chief of the Islamist movement since 2016 but has remained a reclusive figure, even after the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan. His low profile has fed speculation about his role in the new Taliban government, formed after […]
by Jerome TAYLOR Hong Kong’s decision to descend deeper into international coronavirus isolation as rivals reopen is causing consternation among managers at multinationals who see no end to a zero-Covid strategy imposed by a leadership beholden to Beijing. The southern Chinese business hub has kept the coronavirus at bay thanks to some of the world’s strictest quarantine rules with most arrivals undergoing 14 to 21 days of hotel confinement. Competitors such as London, New York, […]
Voting kicked off in Japan’s general election on Sunday with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida hoping to win over a pandemic-fatigued public with spending promises as his long-ruling conservatives seek a fresh start. Kishida became leader of the Liberal Democratic Party a month ago after Yoshihide Suga resigned just a year into the job, partly due to public discontent over his response to the Covid-19 crisis. Following a record wave of infections that pushed the Tokyo […]
YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Myanmar’s military junta sentenced a close aide of ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi to 20 years in prison for treason on Friday, his lawyer said. Myanmar has been in turmoil since the February 1 coup, with nationwide protests and more than 1,100 people killed by security forces, according to a local monitoring group. “U Win Htein was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment under section 124a by a special court,” […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China placed a third city under lockdown on Thursday to tackle Covid-19 numbers, with around six million people now under orders to stay home as Beijing chases zero cases before the upcoming Winter Olympics. The country has taken a zero tolerance approach to the virus since it first emerged in central China in 2019, stamping out emerging flare-ups with border closures, targeted lockdowns and strict quarantines. Although the hard-line measures have […]
