Browsing: Asian News

A Cambodian court sentenced three foreigners from Australia, France and Nigeria to between 23 and 27 years in prison on Wednesday for attempted heroin smuggling. Australian woman Yoshe Ann Taylor, 41, and French woman Charlene Savarino, 19, were arrested…

India’s new Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday to crack down on militant groups while stressing his desire for closer economic ties, the foreign ministry said. Modi “underlined our concerns related…

Sony will bring its PlayStation consoles to China through two joint ventures, the Japanese gaming giant and its Chinese partner both said Monday, as they seek to tap a newly opened market. China in January formally authorised the domestic sale of game…

Sony will bring its PlayStation consoles to China through two joint ventures, the Japanese gaming giant and its Chinese partner both said Monday, as they seek to tap a newly opened market. China in January formally authorised the domestic sale of game…

Murder detectives were Monday investigating the case of a young nurse whose corpse was sent by parcel post across Japan in a box that claimed to contain a doll. The body of Rika Okada was found in a storage lock-up in Tokyo. Investigators also found…

Honda Motor said Friday it has cut production in its Thai plant by 40 percent, blaming a drop in demand, the day after the country’s army chief seized power in a military coup. “We have cut the volume of production to 60 percent of the plant’s annual…

North Korea said Friday it will send athletes to this year’s Asian Games in South Korea, the first time it has participated in a major sporting event there for more than a decade and despite simmering tensions between the neighbours. “The Olympic Committee…

Thailand’s new ruling junta on Friday warned it would block social media platforms in the country if they carry any content provoking violence or opposing their military coup. “If we find any to be in violation, we will suspend the service immediately…

The leader of Thailand’s pro-government “Red Shirt” movement called Thursday for a national referendum to resolve a political deadlock that prompted the army chief to declare martial law. Jatuporn Prompan said he made the proposal a day earlier during…

Chinese online retailer JD.com rallied Thursday in its Wall Street debut, suggesting an appetite for its larger rival Alibaba. The company, trading under the symbol JD on the Nasdaq exchange, jumped 10.5 percent to $21 from its initial public offering…

China kept world champion Lin Dan on the sidelines as they cruised into the quarter-finals of the men’s Thomas Cup in New Delhi on Monday, soon after the women had made the grade in the Uber Cup. The Chinese men, aiming for a record sixth successive…

The Philippine economy will more than double in the next decade as earnings from overseas workers and business outsourcing surge, a respected US-based think-tank said Monday. Once the region’s perennial economic laggard, the Southeast Asian country…

A Lao military plane carrying top officials including the defence minister crashed on Saturday in the north of the communist country, a Thai official said, without giving details of any casualties. About 20 people were on board including Defence Minister…

US Secretary of State John Kerry congratulated India’s future prime minister Narendra Modi Friday after he led his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party to a landslide election victory. “Congrats to and BJP,” Kerry tweeted. “Look forward to working…

North Korea vowed “merciless” reprisals on Tuesday after a South Korean military official suggested the isolated Stalinist nation should simply disappear. Speaking to reporters in Seoul on Monday, Defence Ministry spokesman Kim Min-Seok had argued that…

Emperador, the Philippines’ largest liquor producer, said Monday it had agreed to buy Scottish whisky-maker Whyte and Mackay as part of an expansion beyond its traditional base of brandy. The company said in a disclosure to the Manila stock exchange…

One of Japan’s most popular cartoon creations, Doraemon, a robot cat from the future with a magic pocket and a portal to anywhere, is to make his debut on US TV this year, officials said Friday. TV Asahi, which partially owns the rights to the character…

Alibaba — often described as a Chinese version of Amazon or eBay — filed documents Tuesday for its US stock listing, widely expected to be one of the largest offerings in history. The initial filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission indicates…

A strong and shallow earthquake rattled northern Thailand on Monday afternoon, shaking tall buildings in Bangkok hundreds of miles to the south, but there were no immediate reports of casualties. The 6.0-magnitude quake, at a depth of just 7.4 kilometres…

South Korean dive teams struggled Sunday to gain access to blocked cabins of a submerged ferry that sank nearly three weeks ago, as the confirmed death toll from the disaster rose to 242. Six more bodies were recovered early Sunday, 18 days after the…