Asia

Super typhoon takes aim at Japan

A super typhoon described as a “once-in-decades storm” headed for Japan on Monday (July 7), set to rake the southern Okinawa island chain with heavy rain and powerful winds before making landfall on Kyushu, Japan’s westernmost main island. Typhoon Neoguri was already gusting at more than 250 km an hour (150 mph) and may pick up still more power as it moves north, growing into an “extremely intense” storm by Tuesday (June 8), the Japan […]

PHL and Vietnamese foreign ministers discuss need to peacefully resolve rising South China Sea tensions

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Foreign Affairs announced Thursday (July 3) the successful and fruitful visit of Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert F. del Rosario to Hanoi, Vietnam on July 2 where he and his Vietnamese counterpart discussed the urgent need to address peacefully the escalating challenges and tension in the South China Sea. Del Rosario  expressed his appreciation to the Government of Vietnam for its warm hospitality. In his meetings with Deputy Prime Minister […]

Thai military government looks to neighbours for support

(Reuters) – Thailand’s military government is shoring up diplomatic ties with Asian neighbours to provide a counterweight to criticism from the West about its seizure of power in May and its reluctance to set an early date for a return to civilian rule. In the latest move, acting Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow reassured Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday that Cambodian workers who had fled home after the coup, fearing a crackdown on immigrants, […]

Hong Kong protesters lifted kicking and screaming from downtown rally

By James Pomfret and Clare Baldwin HONG KONG Wed Jul 2, 2014 2:30am EDT (Reuters) – Hundreds of Hong Kong police forcibly removed kicking and screaming protesters from the Central business district on Wednesday, holdouts of a mass rally demanding greater democracy from Communist Party rulers in Beijing. The pro-democracy march on Tuesday, which organisers said attracted more than 510,000 people, and a subsequent sit-in by mainly student groups could be the biggest challenge yet […]