The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a free-trade agreement between the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) members plus Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea.The deal took effect in Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Japan, Laos, New Zealand, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam on January 1.South Korea will follow on February 1, but Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and the Philippines have yet to ratify the deal.According to a report in The…
Rohingya refugees undergo Covid-19 quarantine after Indonesia allows damaged boat to dock
A group of 120 Rohingya Muslims disembarked from a boat that had drifted for days off Indonesia’s northernmost province of Aceh and was towed by a navy ship into port, officials said on Friday.The refugees’ wooden boat was reportedly leaking and had a damaged engine. Efforts to rescue its passengers, who are overwhelmingly women and children, began after Indonesia’s government on Wednesday said it would allow them to dock because conditions on the boat were so severe.The broken-down boat was…
German court rules on statute of limitations for ineffective premium increases
Germany’s Federal Court of Justice (BGH) has ruled that a claim about insurance premium payments dating back to 2008 is time-barred because the limitation period started when the payments were made.
Suspect in Japan clinic fire that killed 25 dies in hospital
A 61-year-old man suspected of starting a fire at a Japanese mental health clinic that claimed 25 lives died in hospital on Thursday, local media said.Morio Tanimoto had been in critical condition due to burns and carbon monoxide poisoning following the deadly attack in Osaka on December 17.Tanimoto, a former patient of the clinic, died without being interrogated by police, public broadcaster NHK said, citing investigative sources.An Osaka police spokesman declined to comment when contacted by…
Beijing 2022 Olympics: Singapore to serve as aviation hub for athletes, delegates
Singapore will play the role of a “connecting hub” during the Beijing Winter Olympics by ferrying athletes and delegates from the region to the Chinese capital, officials on Wednesday said, amid growing uncertainty over the Games given the rapid spread of the Omicron variant globally.Transport minister S. Iswaran said that while air connectivity between China and Singapore stood at about 3 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, the Winter Games would be a “good opportunity” for the two countries to…
China-Australia relations: why Beijing’s new Australian wool quota is not a ‘real improvement’ in trade ties
Beijing’s decision to raise the import quota for Australian wool next year does not signify a thaw in relations between the two countries, only that China relies on the fibre too much to let it become the “victim of trade tension”.Beijing set its 2022 import quota for Australian wool at 40,203 tonnes, up from 38,288 tonnes a year earlier, according to a statement from the Ministry of Commerce on Wednesday.It is the second time China has boosted the import allowance for Australian wool since…
Philippine navy seeks ‘dream fleet’ in South China Sea, buys two South Korean warships to ramp up maritime defences
The Philippines signed a deal with South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries to buy two corvettes to form part of the navy’s dream fleet and to increase its defence capabilities amid rising tensions in the South China Sea.While the navy’s long-delayed plan to modernise the force called for the addition of 10 missile-capable corvettes by 2023, Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesman Colonel Ramon Zagala said that the two purpose-built small warships “will definitely improve the navy’s capability…
US condemns Myanmar military for Christmas Eve killings, seeks end to arm sales
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has condemned the Myanmar military’s killing of dozens of civilians on Christmas Eve, calling for an end to arms sales to the country’s ruling junta and urging a global response to its “atrocities”.The Friday attack, which occurred on a highway in the eastern Myanmar state of Kayah, left at least 35 dead, the international aid group Save the Children reported.According to the charity, which said two of its workers were among the dead, the Myanmar military…
Save the Children confirms two staff dead among Myanmar massacre
Save the Children confirmed Tuesday the deaths of two of its staff reported missing after the charred remains of more than 30 people were found in eastern Myanmar on Christmas Day.“It is with profound sadness that we are confirming today that two members of Save the Children’s staff were among at least 35 people, including women and children, who were killed on Friday December 24 in an attack by the Myanmar military in Kayah State,” the charity said in a statement.On Saturday, photos appeared…
Climate Change: Typhoons in coastal Asia and China could be twice as powerful by 2100, says Chinese University of Hong Kong study
The destructive power of typhoons in Asia could nearly double by the end of the century, according to a study by the Chinese University of Hong Kong.Their average wind speed at landfall could strengthen by 6 per cent, or 7.2 kilometres per hour, said a paper authored by researchers from the university and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area Weather Research Centre for Monitoring Warning and Forecasting in Shenzhen.“The projection also suggests that an average typhoon by then will…