Channel News Asia
Philippines says China ships still at shoal, but fishermen unhindered
China has scaled down its presence at a disputed South China Sea shoal but has not interfered with Filipino fishermen, the Philippine president’s security adviser said on October 30, after the administration had said China had withdrawn completely. Hermogenes Esperon said Chinese ships were still present ...
World body moves to curtail Japan's 'science' whaling
The world’s whaling watchdog moved on October 27 to curtail Japan’s annual whale hunt, conducted under scientific licence but blasted by critics as a commercial meat haul. A resolution on “improving” the review of deadly research programmes, which Japan alone conducts, split the 70-year-old International ...
PM Lee hails new partnership with old friend Australia in address to parliament
The Comprehensive Strategic Partnership agreement finalised in May this year will take the relationship between Singapore and Australia one step forward and will “cement our partnership for many years to come”, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told the Australian parliament on October 12. Mr Lee ...
Singapore population rises 1.3% to 5.61 million
Even as more Singaporeans had babies last year, Singapore’s population growth remained low, rising 1.3 per cent to reach 5.61 million in June. The statistics, released on September 27 by the National Population and Talent Division in its annual Population in Brief report, also showed that ...
Thai authorities downplay Zika risk, worried by tourism impact
Health and city officials in Thailand downplayed risks from rising infections from the mosquito-borne Zika virus, which is linked to serious birth defects, and expressed concern that disclosing information would damage its tourism industry. On September 9, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control warned ...
North Korea flooding kills 133, displaces 107,000 - UN
Flooding from heavy rain in North Korea has killed 133 people in its northeast while 395 are missing, with many homes and critical infrastructure destroyed, a U.N. agency said on September 12. News of the natural disaster came as North Korea looked even more isolated from ...
World Bank staff point to 'leadership crisis' at global lender
Staff at the World Bank delivered a broadside against its sitting president this week, saying the global lender faced a “crisis of leadership” and risked irrelevance on the world stage. The rebuke, made in an open letter from the Bank’s staff association, came as informal talks ...
ASEAN deadlocked on South China Sea after Cambodia blocks statement
Southeast Asian nations failed to find common ground on maritime disputes in the South China Sea on July 24 after Cambodia stuck to its demand the group make no reference to an international court ruling against Beijing in a statement, diplomats said. ASEAN is now facing ...
Tokyo stocks dive more than 8% on Brexit shock: report
Tokyo stocks went into a hair-raising dive on Brexit fears, plunging more than 8 per cent Friday (Jun 24), as major firms’ shares including Toyota and mobile carrier SoftBank went into freefall.The benchmark Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange dropped as much as ...
Asia stocks sag as oil slip dampens sentiment, dollar stalls
Asian stocks sagged on 1 June as a slip in crude oil prices dampened investors’ appetite for riskier assets, while the recently bullish dollar stalled against the euro and yen following a mixed bag of U.S. economic data. There was little market reaction to the official and private ...