Reuters Asia Top

By Nailia Bagirova and Gleb Stolyarov BAKU (Reuters) -Russian air defences downed an Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 people, four sources with knowledge of the preliminary findings of Azerbaijan’s investigation into the disaster told Reuters on Thursday. Flight J2-8243 crashed on Wednesday in a ball of fire near the city of …

Russian air defences downed Azerbaijan Airlines flight, sources say Read More »

By Yimou Lee TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan’s Presidential Office held its first “tabletop” exercise involving government agencies beyond the armed forces on Thursday, simulating a military escalation with China amid renewed threats from Beijing, officials said. Dozens of central and local government agencies as well as civil groups participated in the three-hour exercise, the sources said, …

In a first, Taiwan’s Presidential Office runs tabletop simulation on a China emergency Read More »

TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan prosecutors have charged a former mayor of Taipei who heads a small opposition party with accepting T$17.1 million ($522,392) in bribes over a major property development in the capital and misuse of political donations. Prosecutors asked for a combined total of more than 28 years in prison for Ko Wen-je, saying he …

Former Taipei mayor charged for bribery, misuse of political donations Read More »

By Yuddy Cahya Budiman, Artorn Pookasook and Uditha Jayasinghe (Reuters) – Survivors and families of victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami 20 years ago visited mass graves, lit candles and comforted one another across Southeast and South Asia in ceremonies on Thursday to mark the disaster that killed some 230,000 people. The tsunami on Dec. …

Thousands mark 20 years after deadly Indian Ocean tsunami Read More »

By Mariya Gordeyeva, Gleb Stolyarov and Nailia Bagirova ASTANA/TBILISI/BAKU (Reuters) -An Embraer passenger jet crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, killing 38 people, after diverting from an area of Russia that Moscow has recently defended against Ukrainian drone attacks. Twenty-nine survivors received hospital treatment. Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243 had flown hundreds …

Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashes in Kazakhstan, killing 38 Read More »

By Ariba Shahid KARACHI (Reuters) – A Pakistani military court sentenced sixty civilians to jail time ranging from 2 to 10 years in connection with attacks on military facilities following the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan in 2023, the military’s media wing said on Thursday. Those sentenced include a relative of Khan as …

Pakistan military court sentences 60 civilians up to 10 years in prison Read More »

By Jack Kim SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea’s main opposition party introduced a bill to impeach acting President Han Duck-soo on Thursday, a day before it plans to seek a vote on the move, which could deepen a constitutional crisis triggered by a short-lived martial law. The opposition Democratic Party had threatened to impeach Han if …

South Korea opposition plans vote to impeach acting President Han Read More »

ASTANA (Reuters) – Kazakhstan’s senate chairman said on Thursday that the cause of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash was still unknown. “None of these countries – neither Azerbaijan, Russia nor Kazakhstan – is interested in hiding information. All information will be made available to the public,” Ashimbayev Maulen said. An Embraer passenger jet crashed near …

Kazakhstan’s senate chief: cause of Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash unknown for now Read More »