Tag Archives: Asia Pacific

BEIJING (AP) — Unable to buy a train ticket, or even see a doctor at a hospital, a Chinese pastor found that even after his release from prison, he is not quite free. The Rev. John Sanqiang Cao was arrested and sentenced to seven years in prison while coming back from a missionary trip in Myanmar. Now back in his …

HONG KONG (AP) — Criticizing laws or chanting anti-government slogans can be enough to jail someone for sedition in Hong Kong, an appeal court ruled Thursday in a landmark case brought under a colonial-era law increasingly used to crush dissent. Hong Kong’s Court of Appeal upheld a 40-month sentence for pro-democracy activist Tam Tak-chi, the first person tried under the …

HONG KONG (AP) — As Hong Kong moves toward enacting a new national security law, four years after Beijing imposed a similar law that all but wiped out dissent and vocal pro-democracy media in the semi-autonomous Chinese city, concerns are spreading among the city’s international business and media communities. Critics say the legislation will make Hong Kong’s legal system increasingly …

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean and U.S. troops will begin their expanded annual military drills next week in response to North Korea’s evolving nuclear threats, the two countries said Wednesday, a move that will likely enrage North Korea because it views its rivals’ joint training as an invasion rehearsal. In recent months, North Korea has inflamed animosities on …

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife pleaded not guilty Tuesday in a graft case alleging they accepted a gift of land from a real estate tycoon in exchange for large sums of laundered money, officials said. The case is the second to indict Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, over acts of corruption …

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s first moon lander responded to a signal from Earth, suggesting it has survived a second freezing weekslong lunar night, Japan’s space agency said Monday. JAXA called the signal, received late Sunday night, a “miracle” because the probe was not designed to survive the lunar night, when temperatures can fall to minus 170 degrees Celsius (minus 274 …

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — The eldest daughter and close aide of Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday became the country’s first-ever female chief minister in eastern Punjab province. Her rivals accused authorities of nepotism and boycotted the session of the provincial assembly. Mariam Nawaz, 50, became chief minister in a 220-0 vote in her favor, beating out her …

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Lee Ho-yang, a prominent K-pop composer and producer better known by his professional name of “Shinsadong Tiger,” was found dead on Friday, South Korean police said. The Seoul Metropolitan Police said Lee, 40, was discovered dead at his Seoul studio. Police gave no further details and there was no word on the cause of death. …

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia and Australia held high-level talks in Jakarta on Friday as the neighboring countries seek to strengthen security ties by signing a defense cooperation agreement in the coming months. Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, who is set to become Indonesia’s next leader, said that he and Australian counterpart Richard Marles discussed ways of maintaining and enhancing the …

NEW YORK (AP) — Komal Vilas Thatkare says she doesn’t have anyone to ask about her most private health questions. “There are only men in my home — no ladies,” said the 32-year-old mother and housewife in Mumbai. “I don’t speak to anyone here. So I used this app as it helps me in my personal problems.” The app she …