Reuters Asia Top

By David Stanway, Melanie Burton and Ernest Scheyder (Reuters) – The Pacific island nation of Nauru and its roughly 11,000 residents are at the center of the increasingly contentious debate over whether the world’s seabeds should be mined for nickel and other green energy transition minerals. The complex fight pits competing visions of how best …

Analysis-Race to the bottom for deep-sea minerals centers on tiny Nauru Read More »

TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, a day after escaping an apparent attack, vowed to ensure the safety of Group of Seven dignitaries visiting his country, beginning with tighter security for climate ministers gathering in Sapporo. “My security has become even heavier this morning. It’s so tight I think it is going to be …

Japan’s Kishida vows safety of G7 meetings after ‘smoke bomb’ attack Read More »

BEIJING (Reuters) – Beijing’s subway has dropped mandatory mask requirements for travellers, local media reported on Sunday, days after a Chinese health expert said the threat of COVID-19 to humans is no longer at a serious level. The mask move is in line with broader measures by China, which said last week it was now …

‘Era has passed’ as Beijing subway drops mandatory COVID mask rule Read More »

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese rescuers found the wreckage of a crashed military helicopter and recovered the bodies of five of the 10 people who had been on board, Kyodo newswire reported on Sunday. The aircraft disappeared from radar on April 6 while flying over the sea near Miyako island, part of Japan’s Okinawa prefecture. A …

Japan finds crashed military helicopter, recovers five bodies -Kyodo Read More »

BEIJING/TAIPEI (Reuters) -China launched a weather satellite on Sunday as civilian flights altered their routes to avoid a Chinese-imposed no-fly zone to the north of Taiwan which Beijing put in place because of the possibility of falling rocket debris. Taiwan’s transport ministry said Beijing had initially notified Taipei it would impose a no-fly zone from …

China launches weather satellite, flights avoid no-fly zone to north of Taiwan Read More »

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A Chinese spy balloon that was shot down by the U.S. in February carried solar panels that could generate enough electricity to power a type of radar that can generate images at night and through clouds, the Washington Post reported on Saturday, citing leaked U.S. intelligence documents. The balloon’s surveillance capabilities were …

Chinese spy balloon’s solar panels could power sophisticated radar -Washington Post Read More »

BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha is still lagging behind the main opposition party, latest opinion polls showed, ahead of the Southeast Asian country’s general election next month. The May 14 election will be a battle between parties aligned with the conservative pro-military establishment and the billionaire Shinawatra family-backed Pheu Thai party, led …

Thai PM Prayuth lags rivals in opinion polls ahead of May election Read More »

LONDON (Reuters) – Top-level snooker tournaments will return to China for the first time in four years with three events to be staged this year, the World Snooker Tour (WST) said on Saturday. The last ranking tournament held in China was in 2019, after which the COVID-19 pandemic took the nation off the WST calendar. …

Snooker-World Tour returns to China after four-year gap Read More »

BAKU (Reuters) – Azerbaijan lodged a strong protest on Saturday after its national flag was grabbed and set on fire during the opening ceremony of a weightlifting championship in neighbouring Armenia. Azerbaijan said it had become impossible for its athletes to take part in the championships and they had already left Armenia to travel home …

Azerbaijan protests ‘barbaric’ flag-burning at weightlifting championship in Armenia Read More »