Simona Botviciute Editor (Asia – Far East) JAKARTA – Last week the entire global community was outraged by a report from Edward Snowden, revealing that Australia and the US mounted a large-scale joint surveillance operation on Indonesia during the 2007 UN climate talks in Bali. The report from the NSA leaker cited a document providing that the Australian spy agency the Defence Signals Directorate (DSD) worked side by side with America’s National Security Agency […]
Layanne Malluhi, Correspondent (Asia: Far East) MANILA – Striking the country on Friday, November 8 at 275 km/h, Typhoon Haiyan is the deadliest natural disaster to have ever beset the Philippines. An estimated 10,000 people died and more than four million affected. Devastation plagued the country with demolished homes and scattered corpses. The deaths were mostly as a result of being crushed by falling buildings and drowning. The typhoon struck through six of the […]
Simona Botviciute, Editor (Asia – Far East) TOKYO – Last week Japan and China relations took a turn for the worse due to their bitter territorial dispute. The tension escalated when Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told Japanese troops that Tokyo will not tolerate the use of force to change the region’s status quo. In addition, Japan has launched military exercises in the South China Sea with at least 34,000 troops taking part in […]
Simona Botviciute Editor (Asia:Far East) SEOUL — Google is trying to convince South Korea to ease up on the internet regulations that prevents the company from offering driving directions via Google Maps. Services that most of the world takes for granted cannot be used due to the laws restricting the use of mapping data, allowing the use of low-resolution maps only. South Korean government permits the data to be proceeded on servers inside the […]
Tiantian Liu, Correspondent (Asia: Far East) KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian Appeals court have overturned the decision of a lower court in 2009 and banned the word “Allah” for the use of non-Muslim citizens to describe God in the country. It was a local Catholic newspaper that triggered the ruling. The Herald, had been printing the word “Allah” to describe the Christian God in Malay languages, until the government deemed it was illegal and […]
Simona Botviciute, Editor (Asia: Far East) HANOI – Thousands of Vietnamese people gathered to mourn and pay respects to General Vo Nguyen Giap who passed away last Friday. The architect of Vietnam’s military victories in First Indochina War (1946-1954) and Vietnam War (1955-1975) passed away in Hanoi at the age of 102. The family opened their doors to the public on Sunday where everyone had a chance to pay a visit of condolence. Vo […]
Anshul Sharma, Correspondent (Asia — Far East) MANILA — The Philippine military finally rescued dozens of hostages as it successfully pushed back Muslim rebels. The attacks by the rebels were considered as the biggest security threat to President Benigno Aquino’s government ever since he took office, three years ago. The military recaptured 70% of the territory seized by the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) fighters since they began an offensive in the southern city […]
Simona Botviciute, Editor (Asia — Far East) BEIJING — More than 70 Chinese fishermen were reported missing after a typhoon hit the South China Sea last Sunday. Typhoon Wutip has also killed more than 20 people in Thailand and destroyed almost 1,00,000 buildings in central Vietnam. Reports claim that the floods have affected millions of people in Southeast Asia, many of whom had to be evacuated from their homes. According to the Xinhua news […]
Simona Botviciute, Editor (Asia: Far East) SEOUL – South Korean troops have fatally shot a man attempting to swim across a border river into North Korea. According to the military official, the shooting took place last Monday afternoon after a man got past a barbed wire fence and jumped into the Imjin River. The identity of a man dressed in civilian clothes was unknown at the time when local forces approached […]
Simona Botviciute, Editor (Asia- Far East) ZAMBOANGA – Philippnine troops have continuously exchanged fire with Muslim guerrillas since a stand-off took place in Zamboanga city last Monday. At least nine people were killed and many residents have fled the area in fear of facing the violence. Commercial flights to and from the city were suspended as well as the ferry services, which left approximately 13,000 civilians seeking shelter at the Zamboanga city sports stadium. […]
