Simona Botviciute, Editor (Asia – Far East) XINJIANG – Eight people were shot dead by the police during a violent clash in Yarkand country. According to the regional government’s news website, it raised the total death toll in recent Xinjiang’s clashes to at least 35 deaths since November 2013: “At around 6:30 a.m., nine thugs carrying knives attacked a police station in Kashgar’s Yarkand county, throwing explosive devices and setting police cars on fire,” said […]
Simona Botviciute, Editor (Asia — Far East) BANGKOK – Political crisis in Thailand has been ongoing since November 2013, after lower house passed a amnesty bill, which could potentially facilitate the former leader’s Thaksin Shinawatra’s return without him having to serve time in jail on a corruption conviction. The Senate has rejected the amnesty bill, however such controversy has caused major protests against his sister, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. The continuing demonstrations are being […]
Simona Botviciute, Correspondent (Europe) VOLGOGRAD – At least 18 people were killed and several others were injured in a suicide bomb attack in southern Russia. According to The National Anti-Terrorism Committee, the blast at the central railway station was set off by a female suicide bomber at 12:45 local time: “Today at around 1300 an unconfirmed explosive device was detonated in front of the metal detector at the entrance to the train station in […]
Simona Botviciute, Editor (Asia-Far East) MIURA – Two out of four crew members were injured after a navy Knighthawk helicopter crashed in Kanagawa Perfecture last Monday. According to the military officials, the aircraft’s crew sent a distress signal at 3:31 pm local time before failed emergency landing near the Yokosuka Naval Base. One of the crew members reported to the local authorities that the accident happened because of the transmission problem. According to the […]
Simona Botviciute, Editor (Asia-Far East) MANILA – Labangan Mayor Ukol Talumpa was declared dead on arrival at the hospital shortly after the shootings at Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Three other people, including his wife, his niece and a less than two-year-old boy, were shot fatally. Among five others injured was a three-year-old girl who suffered a head wound. The shootings blasted at Terminal 3, 11:20AM local time, shortly after Mr. Talumpa arrived from Zamboanga […]
Simona Botviciute, Editor (Asia — Far East) TOKYO — Japanese authorities approved the revised five-year defence plan to increase defence spending by five per cent. A new national security strategy proposed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is focusing on the China and Japan island dispute, with hopes to improve Japan’s military profile. The Cabinet announced that within the next five years, Japan will have its very first surveillance drones. Under the proposal, additional desired […]
Simona Botviciute, Editor (Asia – Far East) PONGYANG – In 1953, Merrill Newman was in a small group of US servicemen on the island located in the west coast of North Korea. He served as an officer in the US Army and supervised South Korean guerrillas during the horrid times of Korean War (1950-1953). What made him to set foot into the mainland of North Korea more than 60 years after the war is […]
Simona Botviciute, Editor (Asia – Far East) XICHANG – China has launched its first March-3B rocket carrying the Chang’e-3 lunar probe. The lunar rover mission blasted off from Xichang city in south China at 1:30 local time and is aimed to land in the northern hemisphere of the Moon around mid-December. The Long March rocket’s payload includes a robot rover “Yutu”, also known as Jade Rabbit, and a ground-penetrating radar. Both will be used to […]
Simona Botviciute, Editor (Asia – Far East) HONG KONG – Chinese Defence Ministry admitted to have monitored the flight of two unarmed U.S. B-52 bombers that flew over the new air zone in the East China Sea. Planes flew over the disputed islands on a training mission without informing Beijing. Japan Airlines and ANA Holdings also claim to have stopped providing flight plans and other information to the Chinese authorities. Both ANA and JAL airlines […]
Simona Botviciute, Editor (Asia – Far East) BEIJING – On November 15, 2013, President Xi Jinping announced an easing of China’s controversial one-child policy in an effort to improve human rights, including the abolishment of the “re-education” labour camps as part of a reform package. While some people look forward to the new policy which will permit them to have two children if either spouse is an only child, experts have expressed their scepticism […]
