Asian News

The recent whirlwind of diplomacy over North Korea has sparked hopes in Japan of a breakthrough in the painful decades-long issue of citizens kidnapped by Pyongyang. US President Donald Trump pledged after a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to work “very, very hard” to “try and bring these folks back.” Trump also met relatives of the abductees during his last visit to Tokyo, the emotional high point of his trip as grieving families clutched pictures of...

April 19, 2018 9:34 PM

DHAKA (AFP) - The first rains of the year have flooded parts of the crowded Rohingya camps in Bangladesh, aid workers said on Thursday (April 19), wreaking havoc and raising fears for the nearly one million refugees ahead of the monsoon.

IPL side Chennai Super Kings charter a special train to take fans over 1,000km to Pune for their latest 'home' match

A former Indian soldier who disappeared in 1978 finds his family after they spot him on YouTube.

President Donald Trump pledged to go through with a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un but said he could still pull out if he feels it’s “not going to be fruitful”. Speaking alongside Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday, amid stormy negotiations on US-Japan trade where both expressed opposition to China’s steel overproduction and alleged intellectual property theft, Trump said CIA Director Mike Pompeo and Kim had “got along really well”...

Alibaba’s plans for a new digital free-trade zone in Thailand signal it will press on in championing global free trade despite the looming threat of a US-China trade war, the Chinese e-commerce giant’s founder Jack Ma said on Thursday. Speaking in Bangkok at a signing ceremony for the new Alibaba-led “smart digital hub” in Thailand – the second such initiative in Southeast Asia – Ma once again warned all parties to step back from the precipice of an all-out...

Spread across three acres, the tree is reportedly the second largest of its kind in the world.

April 19, 2018 7:57 PM

BEIJING (REUTERS) - Chinese President Xi Jinping told British Prime Minister Theresa May in a telephone call on Thursday (April 19) that there needs to be a comprehensive, just and objective probe into a suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria, state television reported.

A peace treaty to formally end the Korean war “must be pursued”, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Thursday, ahead of a summit next week with Kim Jong-un, leader of the nuclear-armed North. “The armistice that has dragged on for 65 years must come to an end,” Moon told media company representatives at the presidential Blue House, adding: “The signing of a peace treaty must be pursued after an end to the war is declared.” The 1950-53 Korean war ended in...

April 19, 2018 6:34 PM

In his article, the writer says the ride-hailing and online payments company Go-Jek's expansion plans will mirror its achievements in Indonesia.

April 19, 2018 6:33 PM

In its editorial, the paper says both New Delhi and Islamabad should make religious pilgrimage easier for people across the border.

April 19, 2018 6:30 PM

MANILA (REUTERS) - Annual US-Philippine military exercises involving thousands of troops will be expanded for the first time to include other countries, with Japanese and Australian forces invited to join what will be the 34th edition of the war games.

April 19, 2018 6:02 PM

BEIJING/TAIPEI (REUTERS) - Chinese aircraft have again flown around self-ruled Taiwan in what China's air force on Thursday (April 19) called a "sacred mission", as Taiwan denounced its big neighbour over what it called a policy of military intimidation.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has given his young, stylish wife the title of first lady in what analysts say is a major boost to her status ahead of back-to-back summits with South Korea and the United States. Ri Sol-ju has often accompanied Kim to official events but made her first solo public appearance last weekend at a ballet performance by a visiting Chinese troupe. The North’s state media reported the outing, referring to her as the “respected first lady” – the...

April 19, 2018 5:30 PM

BEIJING (XINHUA) - Many elderly Chinese spend their retirement looking after grandchildren or travelling the world, but Mr Bai Wuming, 62, reignited his career by popularising science.

April 19, 2018 5:21 PM

MANILA (REUTERS) - Police at the helm of the Philippine war on drugs were given top posts in the national force on Thursday (April 19), indicating no let-up in a brutal crackdown that has caused international alarm, and defined President Rodrigo Duterte's 21-month presidency.

By Jonathan Loh Finally, the Google Home and Home Mini have officially landed in Singapore, priced at S$189 (US$144.38) and S$79 respectively on the Google Store. Singaporeans will be glad to know that Google Home and Home Mini devices sold here are fitted with the tech giant’s “Singaporean English” voice command support, which was first introduced in November last year. According to Google, this means that made-in-Singapore terms such as “kopitiam”, Paya Lebar and...

April 19, 2018 5:10 PM

MUMBAI (AFP) - An Indian man missing for 40 years was to be reunited with his family on Thursday (April 19) after a YouTube video of him singing a popular Hindi film song went viral.

Rivals are jockeying to replace Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as the embattled Japanese leader struggles with sinking support, but so far none have offered detailed policy alternatives to his “strong defence, strong economy” platform. Battered by scandals involving suspected cronyism, Abe’s ratings have slid near or below 30 per cent, dampening his chances of gaining a third three-year term as Liberal Democratic Party leader in a September vote, and sparking talk he might step...

April 19, 2018 4:47 PM

SEOUL - In his upcoming summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, US President Donald Trump is aiming to eliminate the country's arsenal of chemical and biological weapons as well as nuclear ones, the top American envoy to Japan said on Thursday (April 19).