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Taiwan carries out first execution in five years, upsetting EU, rights groups

Taipei, Taiwan Reuters Taiwan carried out its first execution in five years late on Thursday, upsetting both rights groups and the European Union which called on the government to maintain its de facto moratorium on the death penalty. Despite Taiwan’s reputation as Asia’s most liberal democracy, the death penalty remains broadly popular according to opinion […]

Taiwan details record surge in planes in China’s war games, flags risk to region

Taipei, Taiwan Reuters Taiwan’s defence ministry said on Tuesday it had detected a record number of 153 Chinese military aircraft participating in China’s war games around the island the previous day, detailing a surge in warplane activity. China said the one-day drill, designated “Joint Sword-2024B”, was a warning against “separatist acts” after a national day […]

Taiwan re-opens, mopping up after Typhoon Krathon

Kaohsiung, Taiwan Reuters Southern Taiwan worked on Friday to clear up damage from flooding and high winds after Typhoon Krathon slammed into a major port city, while most of the rest of the island resumed work and financial markets re-opened. Krathon, now downgraded to a tropical depression, hit land in the south-western city of Kaohsiung, […]

Taiwan warns of storm surge from powerful Typhoon Krathon, mobilises troops

Kaohsiung, Taiwan Reuters Taiwan mobilised nearly 40,000 troops on Tuesday to bolster rescue efforts as the powerful Typhoon Krathon approaching its populous south-west coast is expected to bring a storm surge and the coast guard raced to locate 19 sailors who abandoned ship. Taiwan regularly gets hit by typhoons but they generally land along the […]

Hack of Hezbollah devices exposes dark corners of Asia supply chains

Tokyo, Japan/Shanghai, China/Taipei, Taiwan Reuters The lethal hack of Hezbollah’s Asian-branded pagers and walkie-talkies has sparked an intense search for the devices’ path, revealing a murky market for older technologies where buyers may have few assurances about what they are getting. While supply chains and distribution channels for higher-margin and newer products are tightly managed, […]

Worldwide protests held over Indian trainee medic’s rape and death

Stockholm, Sweden Reuters Thousands of diaspora Indians were protesting in more than 130 cities across 25 countries on Sunday, organisers said, to demand justice after last month’s rape and murder of a trainee doctor at a hospital in the city of Kolkata. The protests started in large and small groups across Japan, Australia, Taiwan and […]

Typhoon Gaemi hits Chinese seaboard, widespread flooding feared

Beijing, China/Paipei, Taiwan Reuters Typhoon Gaemi roared into south-eastern China on Thursday after churning across the Taiwan Strait, prompting warnings of swelling rivers, flash floods and waterlogging in cities and provinces that were hit by extreme rains just several weeks ago. Gaemi, the third and most powerful typhoon to hit China’s eastern seaboard this year, […]

Updated: Typhoon Gaemi sinks freighter off Taiwan, heads to China coast

Updated: 3:30pm (AEST)  Taipei, Taiwan/Beijing, China Reuters Typhoon Gaemi swept through northern Taiwan on Thursday, killing two people, triggering flooding and sinking a freighter offshore before heading across the sea and into China where it is expected to dump more torrential rain. Gaemi made landfall around midnight on the north-eastern coast of Taiwan in Yilan […]