Russian and Chinese jets patrol East Asia skies, capping Biden trip
By Reuters, published by Financial Digest Tokyo / Seoul/ Washington – Russian and Chinese military planes conducted joint exercises to patrol the Asia-Pacific region on Tuesday in a pointed farewell to US President Joe Biden as he concluded an Asia trip that rankled Beijing. Japan scrambled jets after Russian and Chinese warplanes neared its […]
Read More9 Myanmar protesters shot dead amid exodus from Yangon
By AFP and Reuters, published by Channel NewsAsia Yangon – Roads out of Myanmar’s biggest city were choked today (March 19) with people fleeing the junta’s deadly crackdown on anti-coup dissent, as authorities in neighbouring Thailand said they were preparing for an influx of refugees. Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military ousted civilian […]
Read MoreExplainer: Topsy-turvy weather comes from polar vortex
By Seth Borenstein, AP, published by Microsoft News IT’S as if the world has been turned upside-down, or at least its weather. You can blame the increasingly familiar polar vortex, which has brought a taste of the Arctic to places where winter often requires no more than a jacket. Around the North Pole, winter’s ultra-cold […]
Read MoreChina’s war on ‘feminisation’ aims to build ‘soldiers’
China has laid out a plan to stop the “feminisation” of Chinese boys following complaints the nation’s teens were too delicate, timid and effeminate. A letter from China’s state education ministry has announced the plan to prevent the “feminisation” of young Chinese males, arguing adolescents can be prevented from becoming too girly by exercising and being […]
Read MoreMoon-Landing hoax lives on, 50 years after Apollo 11, but why?
As humanity gears up to return to the Moon, more and more people may deny that we ever went there in the first place. Just a small sliver of the American populace currently believes the Apollo moon landings were faked; polls consistently put the number at around 5%, said Roger Launius, who served as NASA’s chief […]
Read MoreMyanmar’s army chief challenges Biden, and bets big on China
(Bloomberg News) – By seizing power on Monday, Myanmar’s generals are providing US President Joe Biden with an early test of his efforts to counter the appeal of China’s authoritarian model in Asia. Army chief Min Aung Hlaing, who was bumping up against a mandatory retirement age this year, already faces sanctions from the US […]
Read MoreNASA’s astro-chimp was a space pioneer
Sixty years ago, an intrepid chimpanzee called Ham was launched on a rocket from Cape Canaveral in the United States, and returned to Earth alive. In this process, Ham became the first hominin in space on January 31, 1961. “Ham” was an acronym for Holloman Aero Medical, but “Ham’s name inevitably recalls Noah’s youngest and […]
Read MoreWHO: Global pandemic ‘will not end’ if vaccine nationalism takes hold
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that the pandemic may not end if countries engage in a growing trend of vaccine nationalism. One year since the WHO declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said “we will not end the pandemic anywhere until we end it everywhere”. Dr Tedros’ […]
Read MoreThailand warns US of ‘conflicts’
By Kavi Chongkittavorn Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha minced no words last week in stating that as the US’ first and oldest treaty partner in Asia, Thailand is very proud of its strategic ties with the United States, which have contributed to security, stability and prosperity in the region. Prime Minister Prayut, in his 229-word congratulatory […]
Read MoreChina’s ‘wolf-warrior’ diplomacy backfires
Even neutral nations are hitting back at Beijing’s “wolf warrior” tactics but China’s doubling down and has threatened Australia’s “peace and stability”. .Jamie Seidel reports. Duelling diplomats on Twitter. Fisticuffs in Fiji. “Xi thought” dominated policy. It’s all backfiring for Beijing, with previously neutral nations being driven into an alliance against it. India has been […]
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