ASEAN News

An outbreak of COVID-19 in North Korea is “finally defusing,” according to a state news agency statement on Monday, July 18, while Asian neighbors are dealing with a new wave of illnesses caused by Omicron subvariants. As of late April, the North claimed 99.98 percent of its 4.77 million fever sufferers had recovered, but it hasn’t disclosed any data on …

During a visit to Indonesia on Tuesday, the President of Timor-Leste, Jose Ramos-Horta, made the announcement that his country’s long-standing bid for membership in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will be finalized the following year. He expressed his hope that this would lead to an increase in the amount of trade that occurs between his country and Indonesia. …

Three people are still unaccounted for after a gas explosion following a partial building collapse in the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin on Tuesday morning. A full investigation into the incident is still ongoing. Nevertheless, it appears to speak to the deterioration of infrastructure following over three decades of fast economic expansion. As a result, people’s standard of life …

The suspect in the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe earlier this month has had his imprisonment extended by a Japanese court for an additional ten days, pending the filing of official charges. The assassination of Japan’s most influential leader, Abe, in the western city of Nara on July 8 shocked a nation famed for rigorous gun control and …

After being forced to postpone the event in Hangzhou due to COVID-19, the organizers of the 2022 Asian Games announced on Tuesday (July 19) that China will now host the games in 2023. The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) made the announcement on Tuesday that the Asian Games 2022 will now take place from September 23 to October 8, 2023. …

CHINA — According to government data released on Monday (Jul 18), China’s aluminum imports decreased 36.3% in June from the same month a year earlier, as domestic output increased and demand remained weak. According to data from the General Administration of Customs, the country imported 187,362 metric tons of unwrought aluminum and its products, including raw metal and unwrought, alloyed …

JAPAN — On Thursday, at least 30 endangered green sea turtles were found with wounds around their necks in the vicinity of the remote island of Kumejima, which is located in the Okinawa prefecture of Japan. These turtles were found in the southernmost part of the prefecture. According to a police officer from the Naha Police Station in Okinawa, the …

CHINA: Saturday (16th of July) saw a US Navy destroyer sail near the disputed Spratly Islands, the second such “freedom of navigation” exercise in the South China Sea in a week, according to the US Navy. Chinese officials claimed to have “forced away” the USS Benfold, which was sailing near the disputed Paracel Islands, on Wednesday. In the South China …

CHINA: After months of brutal Covid lockdowns, China’s economy had its worst quarterly performance in more than two years. The world’s second-largest economy’s gross domestic product grew by just 0.4% in the three months ending June 30 this year compared to the same period last year, according to NBS data released on Friday. Reuters polled economists had predicted a 1% …

CHINA: There has been a strong reaction among the Chinese public to the discovery in Wuhan, China, of a cholera-causing bacteria that was also detected in food market samples taken from softshell turtles. Officials in the area stated late on Thursday that the food market where samples from softshell turtles tested positive for the bacteria that can cause cholera had …