Wednesday, October 16

World

Foreign journalists at ASEAN find Lao restrictions frustrating
16Oct By No Comments
Asia-pacific, Top News

Foreign journalists at ASEAN find Lao restrictions frustrating

Southeast Asian leaders wrapped up this month’s summit in the Lao capital Vientiane by reaffirming their commitment to an “open, inclusive and transparent” ASEAN community. But some of the international media covering the meeting of the 10 member countries complained the vision was far from reality due to tough local reporting restrictions. Authorities would not allow the hundreds of media members to talk to people on the streets to ask how they were coping with inflation that the Asian Development Bank forecasts will average 20% this year. The media coverage manual said the press must report only from the National Convention Center hosting the summit or the Media Center a few kilometers away. Permission to report in the field was not available during the Oct. 6-11 meetings, an offic...
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South Korea steps up commitment to South China Sea, with limits
16Oct By No Comments
World

South Korea steps up commitment to South China Sea, with limits

washington — South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's tour of Southeast Asian countries shows Seoul has stepped up the country's role in supporting regional security, but there are limits to what it can do to help them push back against China's growing aggression, analysts say.Yoon made several pledges to support regional security during visits to the Philippines, Singapore and Laos, where he attended the closing ceremony of the ASEAN summit on Thursday. He promised South Korea's help in modernizing the Philippine military, agreed to South Korea's active participation in multilateral drills with ASEAN countries, and upgraded ties with ASEAN to a comprehensive strategic partnership. Yoon also affirmed the importance of maritime security and promoting freedom of navigat...
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Secret Venezuelan court recordings show injustice of trial, journalist says
16Oct By No Comments
Top News, World

Secret Venezuelan court recordings show injustice of trial, journalist says

MADRID — The recordings are not very clear but that is because they were taken clandestinely, in a Venezuelan courtroom.Jesus Medina Ezaine managed to record his appearances in court to try to prove his innocence against charges of inciting hate, money laundering, criminal association and obtaining illegal profits from the public administration. Medina, who denied all charges, faced up to 20 years in prison if convicted. A journalist for Dolar Today — an independent daily that is critical of Venezuela’s government — Medina later published extracts from the court hearings on social media to show he had accurately described how the Venezuelan legal system denies basic rights. Medina, who went into exile last month, said he has been persecuted by the government of President Nicolas M...
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EXPLAINED: Xinjiang’s largest cotton producer turned 70; not everyone is celebrating
15Oct By No Comments
Top News, World

EXPLAINED: Xinjiang’s largest cotton producer turned 70; not everyone is celebrating

This month the Chinese Communist Party celebrated the 70th anniversary of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, or XPCC, a massive CCP-backed paramilitary group that functions as an armed force, corporate conglomerate and government administrative unit. China’s vice premier, He Lifeng, traveled to Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, to join the festivities, which included a performance by dancers holding replicas of giant vegetables to symbolize the bounty XPCC has brought to the region through land reclamation projects. He and other CCP officials praised the corps for protecting China’s western border and promoting social stability and called for the group to take an even more expansive role in Xinjiang’s development. That won’t come as welcome ne...
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North Koreans pray to Buddha statues for good luck
15Oct By No Comments
Top News, World

North Koreans pray to Buddha statues for good luck

Residents in North Korea are praying to small, handmade statues of Buddha for good fortune or hoping that they cancel out “bad luck,” residents told Radio Free Asia. North Korea is officially an atheist state, but its constitution guarantees religious freedom under certain conditions: religious practice must not encourage foreign influence or harm the state or the social order, and yet, the ruling Kim Dynasty enjoys almost god-like status, bolstered by a deeply embedded cult of personality that goes back three generations. But with so many people struggling to make a living under harsh economic conditions, some are turning to Buddha statues to give them luck. “These days, in the apartment I live in, there are more people who buy Buddha statues that are a little bigger than the pal...
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China’s Premier Li begins Pakistan visit amid rare strains in relations
15Oct By No Comments
Top News, World

China’s Premier Li begins Pakistan visit amid rare strains in relations

ISLAMABAD  — Chinese Premier Li Qiang began a four-day visit to Pakistan on Monday under tight security for bilateral talks and to attend the heads of government meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) hosted in Islamabad this week. Pakistan is on high alert after a recent increase in deadly insurgent attacks nationwide, including a suicide car bomb attack in Karachi last week that targeted a Chinese convoy and resulted in the deaths of two Chinese engineers. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif received Li at a military air base outside the Pakistani capital before the two led their respective teams’ delegations to review bilateral trade and progress on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Popularly known as CPEC, the Chinese-funded multibillion-dollar bil...
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18 killed in Israeli airstrike on northern Lebanon apartment building
15Oct By No Comments
World

18 killed in Israeli airstrike on northern Lebanon apartment building

At least 18 people were killed Monday in an Israeli airstrike on an apartment building in northern Lebanon far from Hezbollah militant strongholds in the south and east of the country, the Lebanese Red Cross reported. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, and it was not clear what the target was. The attack hit a small apartment building in the village of Aito. Hours earlier, an Israeli airstrike on a hospital courtyard in the Gaza Strip killed at least four people and triggered a fire that swept through a tent camp for people displaced by the war, leaving more than two dozen with severe burns, according to Palestinian medics. The latest strikes came a day after a Hezbollah drone attack on an army base in northern Israel killed four soldiers —...
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Venezuela voids passports of dozens of journalists, activists, rights group says
14Oct By No Comments
Top News, World

Venezuela voids passports of dozens of journalists, activists, rights group says

The Venezuelan government has canceled the passports of dozens of journalists and activists since President Nicolas Maduro claimed a reelection victory over the summer, marking what rights groups are calling a growing campaign of repression against the leader’s critics, according to media reports. At least 40 people — primarily journalists and activists — have had their passports nullified without any explanation, the Financial Times first reported Saturday, citing the Venezuela-based Laboratorio de Paz. The rights group said that people have had their passports confiscated while trying to board flights at the country’s main airport. The news comes after Maduro was declared the winner of Venezuela’s widely contested July vote by electoral and judicial authorities. Venezuela’s o...
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Taiwan president rejects China’s claim over Taiwan in National Day speech
11Oct By No Comments
Top News, World

Taiwan president rejects China’s claim over Taiwan in National Day speech

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan President Lai Ching-te sent a defiant message to Beijing on Thursday, emphasizing that the People’s Republic of China “has no right to represent Taiwan.” “The Republic of China [Taiwan’s official name] and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other,” Lai said during his first National Day speech since coming into power in May, adding that “democracy and freedom” are thriving in Taiwan. In a veiled response to the growing Chinese military and political pressure against Taiwan, Lai vowed to “resist annexation or encroachment” upon Taiwan’s sovereignty, emphasizing the importance of the self-ruled democracy to “demonstrate the strength of deterrence and ensure peace through strength.” While he reiterated his determination to uphold Taiwan...
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China defiant over South China Sea skirmishes in ASEAN talks, blames meddling by foreign forces
11Oct By No Comments
Asia-pacific, China

China defiant over South China Sea skirmishes in ASEAN talks, blames meddling by foreign forces

Vientiane, Laos — Southeast Asian leaders stepped up pressure on China to respect international law following clashes in the disputed South China Sea during annual summit talks on Thursday, but Chinese Premier Li Qiang was defiant as he blamed "external forces" for interfering in regional affairs. The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations' meeting with Li followed recent violent confrontations at sea this year between China and ASEAN members Philippines and Vietnam that heightened unease over China's increasingly assertive actions in the contested waters. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who will take over the rotating ASEAN chair next year, said the bloc has called for an early conclusion to a code of conduct to govern the South China Sea. Talks on the code of cond...
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