World

The foreign ministers of China and Russia on Friday walked out when it was their Japanese counterpart's turn to speak at an Association of Southeast Asian Nations-related meeting in Phnom Penh, diplomatic sources said. China's Wang Yi and Russia's Sergey Lavrov left their seats apparently in protest at Japan's criticism of Beijing's military exercises that began in response to U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan and its condemnation of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. Wang, Lavrov and Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi were participating in the foreign ministerial session of the 18-member East Asia Summit. Hayashi and Wang locked horns Thursday over Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, with Wang slamming her trip and Hayashi expressing deep concern over China's retali...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is scrambling to protect its assets as the descendants of the last sultan of the remote Philippine region of Sulu look to enforce a US$15 billion arbitration award in a dispute over a colonial-era land deal. In 1878, two European colonists signed a deal with the sultan for the use of his territory in present-day Malaysia – an agreement that independent Malaysia honoured until 2013, paying the monarch's descendants about US$1,000 a year. Now, 144 years later after the original deal, Malaysia is on the hook for the second largest arbitration award on record for stopping the payments after a bloody incursion by supporters of Sultan Mohammed Jamalul Alam's heirs in which more than 50 people were killed. "It is a fascinating and unusual case," said lawyer Paul Cohen, a...

The chaos engulfing many major airports in North America and Europe since summer began hasn't abated much, and news outlets and social media users continue to report on hordes of impatient travelers and mountains of misplaced suitcases. Source: Getty Images Canceled flights. Long lines. Staff walkouts. Missing luggage. Sound familiar? The chaos engulfing many major airports in North America and Europe since summer hasn't abated much, and news outlets and social media users continue to report on hordes of impatient travelers and mountains of misplaced suitcases. Just this week, German carrier Lufthansa canceled nearly all its flights in Frankfurt and Munich, stranding some 130,000 travelers due to a one-day walkout by its ground staff who were on strike for better pay. London's Heathrow Ai...

LONDON :Reece Topley recorded the best figures for an England bowler in one-day international cricket as the hosts roared back against India after their drubbing at the Oval to level the three-match series with a 100-run win in the second game on Thursday. Chasing 247 on a Lord's wicket that had eased up after the first innings, India never found their stride and folded for 146 in 38.5 overs. Topley (6-24) landed a double blow early in the chase by getting rid of opposition captain Rohit Sharma (0) and Shikhar Dhawan (9) before Virat Kohli (16), returning from a groin strain, edged behind off David Willey after a fluent start. "Terrific team performance to bounce back from the other day," said Topley, who was named player of the match. "Happy to play my part. Means a lot, makes it all w...

NEW DELHI :Twitter asked an Indian court on Tuesday to overturn some government orders to remove content from the social media platform, a source familiar with the matter said, in a legal challenge which alleges abuse of power by officials. The U.S. company's attempt to get a judicial review of the orders is part of a growing confrontation with New Delhi. Twitter has been asked by Indian authorities over the past year to act on content including accounts supportive of an independent Sikh state, posts alleged to have spread misinformation about protests by farmers and over tweets critical of the government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. "Be it any company, in any sector, they should abide the laws of India," India's IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told Reuters partner ANI on Tuesday, ...

MANILA : The Asian Development Bank (B) on Thursday slashed its growth forecasts for developing Asia for this year and next, reflecting the economic fallout from Russia's war in Ukraine and aggressive tightening by global central banks to tame inflation. Also contributing to its weaker growth forecasts was a sharper-than-expected deceleration in China prompted by its lingering COVID-19 lockdowns, the B said in a supplement to its Asian Development Outlook report. Downgrading its 2022 forecast for a third time, the B said it now expects the bloc's combined economy, which includes China and India, to expand 4.6 per cent, slower than its 5.2 per cent projection in April. "Risks to developing Asia's economic outlook remain elevated and mainly associated with external factors," the B said, c...

SINGAPORE: The Singapore dollar has been growing in strength and trading at record levels against several currencies. For instance, the Japanese yen. At the start of the year, one Singapore dollar would get you about 85 yen. This rose to an all-time high of 99.71 yen on Thursday (Jul 21) – marking an increase of about 17 per cent from the start of the year. The Singapore dollar also broke its record against the Malaysian ringgit on Thursday as it touched 3.2062, up 4 per cent from about 3.08 at the start of January. The local currency has been strengthening against the euro and the pound as well, touching historical peaks last week. Wall Street Journal data showed the euro trading at S$1.4297 on Thursday, just shy of the S$1.3969 low on Jul 14. At the start of the year, one euro could ...

SINGAPORE: A Malaysian doctor who sexually assaulted patients after sedating them has been deported from New Zealand back to Malaysia, according to media reports on Wednesday (Aug 3). David Lim Kang Huat was convicted of sexually assaulting four men while they were unconscious at a clinic located in Hastings, a city in New Zealand’s North Island in 2014. The victims, who had consulted Lim for minor ailments, were sedated with the anesthetic Midazolam, the New Zealand Herald reported. They woke up to find the general practitioner rubbing their private parts. In a report from 2017 covering Lim’s court hearing, the newspaper quoted a crown prosecutor saying the victims were aged between 18 and 30. DEPORTED AFTER SERVING SENTENCE Lim, who is reported to have transitioned from male to fem...

SINGAPORE: A man was on Friday (Jul 15) found guilty of sexually assaulting his sister's friend, who was staying over at his family's flat after a night of drinking in 2016. Norvan Tan En Jie, 26, was convicted after claiming trial to two counts of sexual assault by penetration and two counts of outrage of modesty. The identity of the victim, who was 19 at the time, is protected by gag order. She was a friend of Tan's sister. The victim and Tan's sister returned to the flat in the early morning on Dec 26, 2016. The victim was heavily intoxicated and Tan's sister had to help her change her clothes. Around the same time, Tan returned home with two friends. Deputy Public Prosecutors Ng Yiwen, Sheryl Yeo and Niranjan Ranjakunalan put forth the case that the assaults took place while Tan's ...

Myanmar's Southeast Asian neighbours issued a stinging rebuke on Tuesday (Jul 26) of the ruling military's execution of four political activists, calling it "highly reprehensible" and destructive to regional efforts to de-escalate the crisis. The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which includes Myanmar, said it "denounces and is strongly disappointed" by the executions, as well as by their timing, just a week ahead of the bloc's next meeting. "While the complexity of the crisis is well recognised and the extreme bellicose mood can be felt from all corners of Myanmar, ASEAN as a whole has called for utmost restraint," said Cambodia, this year's ASEAN chair, in an unusually strong statement. "The implementation of the death sentences just a week before the 55th ASE...