The US and Japan have said that an attack in space would trigger their security treaty, as senior officials from both countries warned that China represents the “greatest strategic challenge” to regional security. “We agree that [China] is the greatest shared strategic challenge that we, our allies and partners face,” the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said on Thursday after meeting his Japanese counterpart, Yoshimasa Hayashi, in Washington. US and Japanese defence chiefs agreed that attacks “to, from and within” space could invoke article five of their security treaty,…
Day: January 11, 2023
Vietnam’s sports minister orders cleanup of Hanoi’s shabby stadium
It was supposed to be a symbol of national pride. Now some see Hanoi’s My Dinh National Stadium as emblematic of everything that’s wrong with Vietnam’s economy. The stands have cracks and dirty puddles, the equipment and changing rooms are shabby and the toilets smell, according to the Nhan Dan newspaper. Even the soccer pitch is uneven, with withered yellow grass. “This is not due to a lack of funding or My Dinh Stadium forgetting to carry out maintenance. That’s been done frequently,” Dang Ha Viet, general director of the…
Experts: North Korea’s Purge of Top Official Shows Loyalty May Be Insufficient
WASHINGTON — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s purge of former Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, who was instrumental in two summits with the U.S. in 2018-19, could have sent “a shock wave” through the ranks of Pyongyang’s diplomats, said experts. If Ri was executed, as some unconfirmed reports have suggested, the shock would be even greater. Ri disappeared from public view two years ago, prompting speculation about his fate. The respected diplomat had played a key role in the summits between North Korean leader Kim and former U.S. President…
Australia’s credibility on human rights blighted by laws targeting climate protesters and jailing children, report says
The detention of children under 14 and new laws targeting climate protesters are harming Australia’s credibility to stand up for human rights in the region, a leading rights body has warned. Human Rights Watch called on Australia to address its own “alarming deficiencies” when the organisation on Thursday published its annual reports on the performance of nearly 100 countries. It specifically raised alarm about New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania introducing “new laws targeting peaceful climate and environmental protesters with disproportionate punishments and excessive bail conditions”. The organisation took aim…
Stranded Myanmar Refugees Seek Answers in Thailand
Myanmar refugees have been trapped in Thailand for more than a year waiting to be released for travel to third countries. According to NGOs assisting the refugees, there are around 1,100 people who have been approved for resettlement in the United States and other countries but haven’t been allowed to leave Thailand. These people have received refugee status from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in Thailand. They are receiving assistance from the International Organization for Migration, which has placed the refugees in temporary housing pending their release to leave…
Head of Vietnam’s vehicle registration agency arrested on bribery charges
Police arrested the head of the Vietnamese agency responsible for registering cars, trains, ships and other industrial products on charges of taking bribes on Wednesday, the Ministry of Public Security posted on its website. The arrest of Dang Viet Ha came after police said they conducted investigations on 83 suspects in a nationwide crackdown on alleged corruption in offices under the agency, called the Vietnam Register. The investigations spanned 13 registration centers, including eight in Ho Chi Minh City, Lt. Gen. To An Xo, a spokesperson at the Ministry of…
Australia news live: ‘couldn’t think of anything more distressing for victim-survivors’ – Daniel Andrews rules out George Pell state funeral
From 44m ago No state funeral service for George Pell: Victorian premier Benita Kolovos Victoria’s premier, Daniel Andrews, says there will not be a state funeral service for George Pell out of respect for victims of institutional child sexual abuse. Asked if Pell, who died on Wednesday morning AEDT from heart complications arising from hip replacement surgery in Rome, would receive a state-funded service, he replied that he would not: I couldn’t think of anything that would be more distressing for victim-survivors than that. <gu-island name="TweetBlockComponent" deferuntil="visible" props="{"element":{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TweetBlockElement","html":" Victoria's premier,…
Hong Kong will need to wait a little longer for influx of tourists from mainland China, industry leaders say
Hong Kong lawmaker Perry Yiu Pak-leung, who represents the tourism sector, said he doubted many mainlanders would visit the city during the Lunar New Year holiday, which begins on January 22. “Most mainlanders will return to their hometowns to visit their families first for Lunar New Year,” he said. “Only after that will they start thinking about travelling for leisure. I expect there will be more independent travellers and group tours afterwards.” Advertisement Some middle-class Chinese families said that while they were once again interested in travelling to Hong Kong,…
China bans photos, videos of cemeteries as COVID deaths surge in Tibet
Chinese authorities in Tibet are clamping down on the taking of photos or video recordings at local cemeteries in a bid to keep news of rising COVID deaths in the region from reaching the outside world, Radio Free Asia has learned. Deaths in Tibetan areas of China have continued to climb after lockdowns aimed at controlling the spread of the disease were ended by authorities in early December, Tibetan sources said on Tuesday. Around 15 to 20 dead bodies are now brought each day to a cemetery in Drigung in…
Hun Sen demands opposition party advisor vacate his home within the month
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has ordered an opposition party advisor to turn over his house to the government within a month, the latest wrinkle in a property dispute that dates back to the 1980s. Kong Kaom, who was once Cambodia’s deputy foreign affairs minister, is the father of Kong Monika, a senior official in the main opposition Candlelight Party. Since 1982, he has been living on property that Hun Sen claims is owned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “It is time for the ministry to take the land…