Thursday, 23 Oct 2025

Asia

Asia News – Get latest breaking news & top stories today in Asia, South-East Asia, South Asia, East Asia, Australia/New Zealand at…

South Korean anti-bullying campaigner wins Asia's 'Nobel prize'

MANILA (AFP) – A campaigner who tackles youth suicide in South Korea, two journalists, and a human rights activist were named on Friday (Aug 2) among the winners of Asia’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize, the Ramon Magsaysay Award. Mr Kim Jong-ki, whose 16-year-old son took his life after being bullied in school, received the […]

Golden brew: Rare Assam tea bags world record price at auction

GUWAHATI, INDIA (AFP) – A rare Assam tea has sold for a world record price at auction in India, highlighting a boom for speciality teas while the industry as a whole is in crisis. A 2kg lot of Maijan Orthodox Golden tea sold for 141,002 rupees (S$2,794) on Wednesday (July 31). An unidentified Belgian trader […]

China intervention a new dimension to Hong Kong protests: The Statesman

NEW DELHI (THE STATESMAN/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – After several weeks of the upheaval in Hong Kong, China’s intervention on Monday (July 29) in the face of violent developments in its protectorate has been remarkably robust. This was not wholly unexpected as the movement has targeted a piece of legislation that provided for extradition of the […]

Heavy rain shuts courts, schools in Philippines capital

MANILA (BLOOMBERG) – The authorities shut schools and courts in the Philippine capital region, while flights were briefly suspended due to heavy rain on Friday (Aug 2). The Supreme Court suspended work in all courts in Metro Manila, while the majority of city mayors ordered students to go home as monsoon rains flooded low-lying areas. […]

Morgan Stanley buys 2% needed for control of China banking JV

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Morgan Stanley moved a step closer to taking a controlling stake in its Chinese investment banking joint venture after snapping up the 2% stake it needed for control, exchange filings show. Huaxin Securities signed an equity transfer contract on Aug. 1 to move the 2% stake in Morgan Stanley Huaxin Securities […]

Yen jumps, yuan slumps after Trump breaks truce in China trade war

TOKYO (Reuters) – The Japanese yen surged to a five-week high versus the dollar and a 2-1/2-year peak against the pound on Friday, after U.S. President Donald Trump broke a truce in the Sino-U.S. trade war, bolstering demand for safe-havens. Trump said he would impose an additional 10% tariff on $300 billion worth of Chinese […]

Japan, U.S. agreed to speed up trade talks aimed at bilateral deal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Japan and the United States agreed to accelerate trade talks, Japan’s Economy Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said on Thursday after meeting with his U.S. counterpart. Speaking to reporters following the first day of meetings in Washington, D.C., Motegi said trade talks were progressing but he refrained from commenting on individual items. “We agreed […]

‘I’m being mistaken for a Bollywood sex symbol’

A man who has been besieged by calls after a Bollywood film mistakenly publicised his phone number says he is exhausted and frustrated by the constant attention. In the film, Arjun Patiala, actress Sunny Leone reads out the phone number of the character she plays – which happens to belong to 26-year-old Puneet Agarwal. Mr […]

N Korea launches third ‘projectile’ in eight days

North Korea has fired an unidentified short-range projectile twice, South Korean officials say, in the country’s third weapons test in just over a week. The launches happened in an area on the country’s eastern coast early on Friday. They are seen as a reaction to planned military exercises between South Korea and the US due […]