New Zealand’s international spy agency has been rebuked for hosting a foreign agency’s spy operation for several years without telling its minister, and without knowing whether doing so was contributing to military strikes overseas....
New Zealand’s central bank chief defended its use of the Maori language in official communications on Wednesday, as the country’s new centre-right government looks to roll back the use of the Indigenous language in the public sector....
The governments of Vietnam and the Philippines will soon sign a pact on rice trade to ensure food security, Vietnamese authorities said on Thursday....
A joint military and police force killed the five fighters from the West Papua Liberation Army, the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement, in a battle on Saturday with dozens of rebels armed with military-grade weapons and arrows in the hilly Serambakon village in Papua Highland province, said Faizal Ramadhani, a national police...
FOR OVER three decades the Pacific island country of Tuvalu has implored industrialised countries to cut their greenhouse-gas emissions. For over three decades global temperatures have ticked up. Tuvalu’s government warns that its territory could slip underwater by the end of the century. “It’s a matter of disappearing...
Indonesian defence minister and presidential hopeful Prabowo Subianto has extended a commanding lead in the polls ahead of February's election, with a series of recent surveys showing the former general now has a more than 20-point lead....
Sentencing for the tour booking agents and managers of an island in New Zealand where a volcanic eruption killed 22 people, mostly tourists, in 2019 began on Monday, with the prosecutor warning those sentenced may not be able to pay a fine....
Lawmakers in Thailand’s lower house of Parliament have overwhelmingly approved a marriage equality bill hat would make the country the first in Southeast Asia to legalize equal rights for marriage partners of any gender. The bill passed its final reading with the approval of 400 of the 415 members of the House of...
The Legislative Yuan on Friday passed amendments to a bill that will allow the importation of 46 different items from Eswatini, including nuts and dried fruits, into Taiwan tariff-free....
The BBC's Quentin Sommerville spent a month with revolutionary forces at jungle bases and on front lines in Myanmar....Two loudspeakers, as big as the men carrying them, are brought to the rocky hilltop. Some 800m below, in the town of Hpasang, lies a sprawling Myanmar army base....
'Improper': NZ spy agency slammed for secretly hosting foreign spying (www.newstalkzb.co.nz)
New Zealand’s international spy agency has been rebuked for hosting a foreign agency’s spy operation for several years without telling its minister, and without knowing whether doing so was contributing to military strikes overseas....
New Zealand's central bank defends Maori language use (www.reuters.com)
New Zealand’s central bank chief defended its use of the Maori language in official communications on Wednesday, as the country’s new centre-right government looks to roll back the use of the Indigenous language in the public sector....
Vietnam, Philippines to sign rice pact as global prices soar (www.reuters.com)
The governments of Vietnam and the Philippines will soon sign a pact on rice trade to ensure food security, Vietnamese authorities said on Thursday....
West Papua Liberation Army fighters (linked with kidnapped New Zealand pilot Phillip Mark Mehrtens) killed in clash with Indonesian security forces (www.abc.net.au)
A joint military and police force killed the five fighters from the West Papua Liberation Army, the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement, in a battle on Saturday with dozens of rebels armed with military-grade weapons and arrows in the hilly Serambakon village in Papua Highland province, said Faizal Ramadhani, a national police...
Hoodies sell out in Tonga as El Niño brings wintry chill (www.theguardian.com)
Residents on island rush to buy warm clothing and heaters amid unusually cold winter weather for the Pacific nation....
Island nation of Tuvalu plans for its own disappearance under water (www.economist.com)
FOR OVER three decades the Pacific island country of Tuvalu has implored industrialised countries to cut their greenhouse-gas emissions. For over three decades global temperatures have ticked up. Tuvalu’s government warns that its territory could slip underwater by the end of the century. “It’s a matter of disappearing...
Defence minister Prabowo surges ahead in Indonesia's presidential race (www.reuters.com)
Indonesian defence minister and presidential hopeful Prabowo Subianto has extended a commanding lead in the polls ahead of February's election, with a series of recent surveys showing the former general now has a more than 20-point lead....
New Zealand begins sentencing of those involved in White Island volcanic eruption (www.reuters.com)
Sentencing for the tour booking agents and managers of an island in New Zealand where a volcanic eruption killed 22 people, mostly tourists, in 2019 began on Monday, with the prosecutor warning those sentenced may not be able to pay a fine....
Lawmakers in Thailand overwhelmingly approve a bill to legalize same-sex marriage (apnews.com)
Lawmakers in Thailand’s lower house of Parliament have overwhelmingly approved a marriage equality bill hat would make the country the first in Southeast Asia to legalize equal rights for marriage partners of any gender. The bill passed its final reading with the approval of 400 of the 415 members of the House of...
Taiwan to waive import tariffs on 46 items from Eswatini (focustaiwan.tw)
The Legislative Yuan on Friday passed amendments to a bill that will allow the importation of 46 different items from Eswatini, including nuts and dried fruits, into Taiwan tariff-free....
Feature: Myanmar: Young insurgents changing the course of a forgotten war (www.bbc.com)
The BBC's Quentin Sommerville spent a month with revolutionary forces at jungle bases and on front lines in Myanmar....Two loudspeakers, as big as the men carrying them, are brought to the rocky hilltop. Some 800m below, in the town of Hpasang, lies a sprawling Myanmar army base....