World

TOKYO (AP) — New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida, agreed on Thursday to strengthen the partnership in defense, trade and climate between their nations, including the beginning of formal talks toward a military information sharing agreement. Ardern is in Japan on a three-day visit as part of her first trip abroad in more than two years, as her government seeks to promote the country’s reopening for business and tourism following a pandemic-related border closure. Ardern said she and Kishida discussed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “at great length because we are at a critical juncture.“ Kishida said the two leaders strongly denounced the invasion. “Use of force to change the status quo is impermissible. Japan and New Zealand oppose any such

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s military government on Sunday began releasing more than 1,600 prisoners to mark the traditional new year holiday, but they didn’t include any political detainees despite the country’s ruling general vowing to bring peace this year. Myanmar has been under military rule since February last year, when the army ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. The takeover was met with massive resistance, which has since turned into what some U.N. experts have characterized as civil war. This year’s holiday celebrations, carried out over several days, were muted as opponents of military rule called for a boycott of government-supported activities. State-run MRTV television reported that the head of Myanmar’s military council, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, had pardon

TOKYO - Japan and the Philippines vowed closer military cooperation via more complex, high-level joint exercises and intelligence sharing on Saturday (April 9), voicing “serious concern” over tensions in the East and South China Seas. Their first meeting under the “two-plus-two” arrangement, involving their foreign and defence ministers, came amid heightened concerns over the war in Ukraine and the potential spillover effect in regional waters. Japan and the Philippines are strategic partners, while both countries are also security allies of the United States. In a joint statement after the meeting, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi as well as their Philippine counterparts Teodoro Locsin and Delfin Lorenzana criticised the invasion of Ukraine,

In his battle with the army, ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan knows he has an upper hand and he intends to raise it to an unparalleled level by taking on the army full head on. No Prime Minister in Pakistan has really taken on the powerful Army and those dared, even a whiff, either got the gallows or exile. Imran Khan has a critical advantage, a large middle class support, which he intends to exploit in the days to come and push the Generals to give him his way. He has a second advantage--he has considerable support among the top leadership and lower rung officials in the military. This could be a tricky wicket to play. If he pushes too hard against the army, the army could clam up and so he would, in all likelihood, make his attacks specific. Imran Khan and his party’s social me

Passengers commute on a Klong Saen Saep boat on Tuesday. The operator of the boat service plans to raise fares by one baht if the diesel price goes up to 31 baht a litre. (Photo: Bloomberg) Retail inflation is poised to accelerate from a 13-year high with the government lifting a freeze on some retail fuel prices, boosting the odds for the Bank of Thailand (BoT) to pivot away from its pandemic-era monetary policy accommodation. Retail diesel prices will increase from May 1 after efforts to subsidise the fuel ended up with the Oil Fuel Fund accumulating 56 billion baht in debt. Two years of unprecedented economic stimulus to blunt the impact of the pandemic has left the administration with little fiscal room to maneuver. Authorities warned citizens about the effect of the price increase ...

A variety of Thai fruits at the '2022 Taste of Thailand' fair being held during April 8-28 in Seoul, South Korea. The Commerce Ministry vows to continue supporting and promoting soft power development, especially through food, fruit, digital content, health and beauty as well products with a Thai identity or Thainess. Phusit Ratanakul Sereroengrit, director-general of the International Trade Promotion Department (DITP), reported on Tuesday the department under the Commerce Ministry has successfully promoted 1,878 entrepreneurs during the first six months of fiscal 2022 (October 2021 to March 2022) and generated exports valued 3.9 billion baht. Of the total, 2.64 billion baht stemmed from fruits and the remaining 1.25 billion baht was mainly from food, digital content, health and beauty ...

Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, centre, poses with Indian Ambassador to Thailand Suchitra Durai, second right, and other officials after receiving 200,000 Covovax doses donated by the Indian embassy. (Photo: Chanat Katanyu) The Ministry of Public Health will distribute 200,000 coronavirus protein-based vaccine doses donated by India and its partners to state-owned hospitals across Thailand with the target of inoculating those unvaccinated people. Officials at the ministry headquarters on Thursday received 200,000 Covovax doses donated by the Indian embassy under an initiative by the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, a group of countries that comprise India, Japan, the United States and Australia. The doses, manufactured in India by Covovax, use the same formula as the Novavax...

As they prepare for a summit next month, both sides should reflect on where they can make the most meaningful improvements in their relationship. The commitment of the United States to Southeast Asia since the end of the Vietnam War has been subject to a series of ebbs, flows and imbalances. History shows that it tends to wane whenever Washington is distracted by other global developments. American policymakers have struggled to sustain their commitment to the region amid their growing focus on security in the post-9/11 era. The much-touted "pivot" to Asia, meanwhile, was hampered by a lack of resources in the aftermath of the 2007-08 global financial crisis. As the Biden administration advances its Indo-Pacific strategy, it faces a familiar challenge that US policymakers have grappled ...

WASHINGTON (NYTIMES) - A Colorado man who set himself on fire in front of the Supreme Court on Friday (April 22) in an apparent Earth Day protest against climate change has died, police said. The Metropolitan Police Department of Washington, D.C., said that Wynn Bruce, 50, of Boulder, Colorado, had died on Saturday from his injuries after being airlifted to a hospital following the incident. Members of his family could not be reached immediately for comment. Kritee Kanko, a climate scientist at the Environmental Defence Fund and a Zen Buddhist priest in Boulder, said that she is a friend of Bruce and that the self-immolation was a planned act of protest. "This act is not suicide," Kritee wrote on Twitter early on Sunday morning. "This is a deeply fearless act of compassion to bring atte...

KYIV (NYTIMES) - Ukrainian officials acknowledged on Friday (April 22) that Russian forces had taken more than three dozen small towns in their initial drive this week to seize eastern Ukraine, offering the first glimpse of what promises to be a grinding brawl by the Kremlin to achieve broader territorial gains in a new phase of the two-month-old war. The fighting in the east - along increasingly fortified lines that stretch across more than 482km - intensified as a Russian commander signalled even wider ambitions, warning that the Kremlin's forces aimed to take "full control" of southern Ukraine all the way to Moldova, Ukraine's south-west neighbour. While it seemed unlikely that the commander, General Rustam Minnekayev, would have misspoken, his warning still drew scepticism, based on ...