Asia News fra SCMP

The husband of a Korean Air heiress known for a “nut rage” tantrum that sparked uproar in South Korea has accused his wife of abusing him and their young children, police said on Thursday.Cho Hyun-ah shot to international infamy in 2014 when she lost her temper over the way she was served nuts in first class before take-off from New York.She was sentenced to a year in prison for hampering an air route after ordering the Seoul-bound Korean Air plane back to the gate so she could have a flight […]

The political party that stunned Thailand with its now-vetoed nomination of King Maha Vajiralongkorn’s sister as its prime ministerial candidate has resumed campaigning following a temporary suspension, with its leaders putting up a defiant front ahead of a court ruling over the contentious move.Chaturon Chaisang, one of the Thai Raksa Chart party’s top leaders, said this week that he and his colleagues would continue to campaign as usual until the Constitutional Court decides their fate. T […]

The world’s largest bee – a giant insect roughly the size of a human thumb – has been rediscovered in a remote part of Indonesia in its first sighting in nearly 40 years, researchers said Thursday.Despite its conspicuous size, no one had observed Wallace’s Giant Bee – discovered in the 19th century by British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace and nicknamed the “flying bulldog” – in the wild since 1981, the Global Wildlife Conservation said.“To actually see how beautiful and big the species is in […]

The Malaysian government has promised to set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the nation’s judiciary, following shocking allegations of collusion and misconduct by an appeal court judge.Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad confirmed that the government had agreed to form a commission into the allegations on Thursday, according to reports in domestic media.“We are setting up the [commission] and it’s up to them to look into the allegations made by the judge,” he said, adding that the terms of […]

US officials negotiating with North Korea to rid the country of nuclear weapons do not know if Pyongyang intends to accept that goal, a senior administration official said on Thursday, contradicting earlier comments made by US President Donald Trump and his administration.“I don’t know if North Korea has made the choice yet to denuclearise, but the reason why we’re engaged in this is because we think there’s a possibility that North Korea can make the choice to fully denuclearise, and that’s […]

A car, it is said, is an extension of one’s personality. For drivers in northeastern Australia, this could quite literally be a reality, thanks to one company in Queensland that is giving them the option of adding emojis to their licence plates.It will be positive vibes only on the morning commute after the firm announced that from March, drivers can add the smiling, winking, laughing-out-loud, heart-eyed and sunglasses emoji to their plates.The state’s largest automotive organisation has […]

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has expanded leave benefits for working new mothers, a move that could bring more women to the workforce in a nation with the least female participation in Southeast Asia.A new law has increased paid maternity leave to 105 days from 60, of which seven can be given to fathers, Senator Risa Hontiveros, one of the measure’s main proponents, said in a statement on Thursday. Single mothers will get additional 15 days.Luring and keeping more women in the job […]

A Japanese woman, along with her boyfriend, was arrested on Thursday after admitting to injuring her young daughter by binding her wrists and forcing her to take a cold bath because she had “wet the bed”, police said.The couple, both 29, allegedly injured the girl at the bathroom of the woman’s home in Fukuoka Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on the afternoon of January 24.Jun Yahiro, the boyfriend who lived at the same address, also allegedly hit the girl several times around midnight that day, […]

The “Belt and Road Initiative” is a vast China-centred strategy to grow global trade that involves dozens of countries and more than US$1 trillion in investment.It spans Asia, Europe and Africa, although projects in other regions have also been named under its banner.Supporters laud it as a bold plan to fulfil the need among emerging markets for infrastructure investment, which Beijing has promoted as a way to boost regional cooperation and connectivity.But critics warn about a lack of […]

The Diaoyu archipelago (known as the Senkakus in Japanese) is an uninhabited chain of islands in the East China Sea claimed by China, Taiwan and Japan.A long-standing controversy over the islands’ ownership has periodically soured relations between China and Japan. In recent years, the increased presence of Japanese and Chinese vessels in nearby waters has heightened concerns about possible clashes between the two countries.What is the dispute about?The Japanese-administered island chain, […]