During a panel discussion at last week’s Raisina Dialogue featuring top military officials from India, Australia, France and Japan, the moderator turned to the Indian navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh and asked: “How true is the statement that the number one, two and three concerns of this [Indo-Pacific] region are China, China and China?” There was stifled laughter from the audience in New Delhi but Singh calmly listed India’s concerns. The Chinese presence in the region, he said, had grown…
Facebook apologises for rude translation of Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s name
Facebook Inc said on Saturday it was working to find out how Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s name appeared as “Mr S***hole” in posts on its platform when translated into English from Burmese, apologising for any offence caused and saying the problem had been fixed.The error came to light on the second day of a visit by the president to the Southeast Asian country, where Xi and state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi signed dozens of agreements covering massive Beijing-backed infrastructure plans.A…
Taal Volcano: Philippine city turns ash into bricks to aid rebuilding efforts
A Philippine city shrouded in ash from the nearby Taal Volcano has turned adversity into an opportunity to help neighbouring towns hit by the natural disaster.The mayor of Biñan, in the neighbouring province of Laguna, has ordered residents to collect ash blanketing homes, cars and roads and put it in sacks to be sent to a state-owned factory and turned into bricks.“When the ash came, we thought we’d exchange the white sand which we mix with plastics to be converted into bricks with ash. We did…
World’s shortest man, Khagendra Thapa Magar, dies in Nepal at 27
The world’s shortest man who could walk, as verified by Guinness World Records, died on Friday at a hospital in Nepal, his family said.Khagendra Thapa Magar, who measured 67.08cm (2 feet 2.41 inches), died of pneumonia at a hospital in Pokhara, 200km (124 miles) from Kathmandu, where he lived with his parents.“He has been in and out of hospital because of pneumonia. But this time his heart was also affected. He passed away today,” said his brother, Mahesh Thapa Magar.Magar was first declared…
In fake news case, Singapore government says ordinary person would have misread SDP’s posts
The Singapore government on Friday argued that online posts made by an opposition party would have misled people into thinking local jobs were being lost to foreigners, as the city state’s first fake news hearing wrapped up.The Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma) – which allows ministers to order corrections on statements they determine to be false and which harm public interest – came into force last October and has been invoked four times in under a month, primarily…
Ex-police chief Oscar Albayalde, who oversaw Duterte’s drug war, to be charged for corruption in Philippines
The former chief police enforcer of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly war on drugs will be charged with corruption for allegedly protecting officers linked to the narcotics trade, the justice department said Thursday.Oscar Albayalde resigned in October after serving as Philippine police chief for more than a year, having presided over an anti-narcotics crackdown that left thousands of drug suspects dead.The episode that led to his sudden fall cast an unwelcome light on a drug war…
China admits fishing in Indonesian-claimed waters in South China Sea, vows to resolve things in ‘friendly manner’
China admitted on Thursday that its fishermen had recently caught fish in disputed waters claimed by Indonesia as part of its exclusive economic zone and by the Chinese as traditional fishing grounds.China’s Ambassador Xiao Qian told reporters after meeting with Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud MD that Chinese fishermen entered the waters on the southern edge of disputed South China Sea for a period of time last December to catch fish.Suggesting…
2019 was second hottest year ever, with more extreme weather on the way as expert warns to ‘raise the red flag’
Last year was the second hottest year since records began, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said on Wednesday, adding that heat was likely to lead to more extreme weather events like the Australian bush fires in 2020 and beyond.The figures from the Geneva-based WMO crunches several data sets, including ones from Nasa and the UK Met Office.It showed that the average global temperature in 2019 was 1.1 degrees Celsius (1.98 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, creeping…
Singapore debt collector wears Chinese funeral outfit to harass victim, gets 5 weeks’ jail
A Singapore debt collector, who showed up at a debtor’s workplace in a Chinese funeral outfit in a desperate bid to harass him to return his client’s money, was on Wednesday sentenced to five weeks’ jail.Peh Chong Wee, 59, pleaded guilty to four charges of harassment and using criminal force on a police officer, with another charge of harassment taken into consideration for sentencing.Peh’s loud shouting and whistle-blowing as he walked along a corridor caught the attention of the debtor’s…
US sanctions China-based entity over North Korean overseas workers
The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on two North Korean entities it accused of facilitating the export of workers from North Korea in violation of United Nations sanctions.The US Treasury Department announced the sanctions on the Korea Namgang Trading Corp and China-based North Korean lodging facility Beijing Sukbakso, despite US efforts to revive stalled talks aimed at persuading North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.It said the former entity had facilitated, or been…