WORLD >> Asia in Focus

Life of a 'decader'

Accused murderer Manuel Cerna has been languishing in a Philippine jail for 15 years without a verdict, one of the countless inmates enduring interminable trials that are expected to get longer as an unrelenting drug war overwhelms the courts.
Source: AFP | 2017/9/5 19:23:39

Left leaderless

Thailand's generals could hardly have planned it better. Ousted Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has reportedly fled to Dubai before being due to appear in court to hear a verdict for negligence, leaving the populist movement that has dominated Thai politics for a generation leaderless and in despair.
Source: Reuters | 2017/8/27 19:38:40

'Iron friend'

China and Pakistan have enjoyed a strong relationship for more than 65 of those years. Global Times (GT) reporter Wang Bozun spoke to the Pakistani Ambassador to China, Masood Khalid, ahead of the celebration to discuss the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and bilateral relations.
Source: Global Times | 2017/8/13 22:08:39

Memoirs from 1947

Sitting in her Karachi home, Jamshed Jahan Ara looks straight into the camera as she explains in a trembling voice how her family fled India during Partition in 1947.
Source: AFP | 2017/7/27 21:08:39

'Girls as dessert'

When senior bureaucrats visited the remote Thai province where local official Boonyarit worked, the routine was often the same: welcome them with the finest food and drink and then bring out the teen girls, often referred to as “dessert.”
Source: AFP | 2017/6/25 23:03:40

Cold comfort for needy kids

Every year, more than 20,000 abused, delinquent, developmentally challenged or otherwise troubled Japanese children needing emergency housing pass through a system of shelters.
Source: Reuters | 2017/6/22 21:43:40

Womb for rent

Peeling a mango inside her rickety wooden shack, Chhum Long explains how her daughter's decision to nurture a Western couple's baby in her womb helped her family buy two desperately needed items: a metal roof and a motorbike.
Source: AFP | 2017/6/19 19:18:39

Dress to fight extremism

Clothing factories in Tajikistan are churning out brightly colored national dresses amid a surge in sales, and it's not just because of the arrival of spring. An increasing number of female officials, teachers and students have been wearing the Atlas and other traditional dresses following a recommendation by the Central Asian country's government.
Source: AFP | 2017/4/4 22:13:39

Underage laborers

Fourteen-year-old San Min Hteik had worked at the steel factory for less than a week when his hand got caught in a machine, a casualty of the economic boom driving more children into Myanmar's factories.
Source: AFP | 2017/3/22 23:33:40

Dreams on hold

Indian student Sunny Nair has always dreamt of working for a technology giant in the United States, but fears that President Donald Trump will crush his ambition in life.
Source: AFP | 2017/2/5 19:43:39

Kerry-Duterte meeting seeks to retain Manila's South China Sea stance: expert

The meeting between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte in Manila on Tuesday is meant to "persuade the Philippines to remain tough on the South China Sea issue," Chinese expert said. Kerry will meet Duterte and Secretary of Foreign Affairs Perfecto Yasay to "discuss the full range of cooperation with the new administration," according to a press release on the US Department of State's official website.
Source: Global Times | 2016/7/27 1:08:00

Taliban says it won't impede aid

The Taliban urged aid agencies on Tuesday to move forward with the delivery of emergency relief supplies after a major earthquake hit remote mountainous regions of northern Afghanistan and Pakistan, killing at least 300 people.
Source: Reuters-Xinhua | 2015/10/28 1:13:01

A bold statement

On August 15, 1995, the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II, then Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama outlined his administration's views on WWII in what later became known as "The Murayama Statement." In this speech Murayama candidly reflected upon Japan's responsibilities to history and apologized for the "tremendous damage and suffering" Japan was responsible for during the war. To date, the Japanese cabinets that have followed Murayama's have upheld the statement during WWII anniversaries. Now, with the upcoming 70th anniversary of the end of WWII on August 15, the world has turned its attention to how incumbent Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will address the issue.
Source: Global Times | 2015/8/6 20:53:01

Neighborly relations

"Just as everyone is curious to know everything that is going on with their neighbors, the Japanese are actually very interested in China," Tokuichiro Utsunomiya, vice president of the Japan-China Friendship Association (JCFA), told the Global Times. "Even though sometimes their attention is focused on more negative aspects," he added.
Source: Global Times | 2015/8/6 20:43:01

Hand in hand

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott (left) poses with Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu during a ceremony at Cankaya Palace in Ankara, Turkey on Wednesday. Abbott is visiting Turkey to commemorate the 100th anniversary of WWI's Gallipoli campaign.
Source: AFP | 2015/4/23 0:38:01

Terrorists will not hijack our faith: King of Jordan

King Abdullah II of Jordan called on Muslims Tuesday to join the fight against the so-called Islamic State during a speech at the European Parliament (EP).
Source: Xinhua | 2015/3/11 14:06:32

TransAsia to retest all pilots after crash

TransAsia Airways has been ordered by Taiwan's aviation authority to retest all its pilots due to a "relatively high" failure rate.
Source: Xinhua | 2015/3/11 15:00:36

74 militants killed, 49 injured in Afghanistan

About 74 Taliban militants have been killed as security forces carried out cleanup operations in different provinces within the last 24 hours, said the Afghan Interior Ministry on Tuesday.
Source: Xinhua | 2015/3/10 14:26:13