FEATURED STORIES
Rape joke react: Philippines president hopeful vows to cut ties with Australia, US
Asia’s economic ties with Latin America: NAFTA and China
Danger of militancy returning to Kashmir looms
TOP NEWS
China plans floating nuclear power plants for S China Sea: Paper
(From Reuters)
China is getting closer to building maritime nuclear power platforms that could one day be used to support Chinese projects in the disputed South China Sea, a widely-read state-run newspaper said on Friday.
Satellite image of the north-west side of Mischief Reef showing a 1,900-foot seawall and newly-constructed infrastructure including housing and an artificial turf parade grounds
China has rattled ...
ASIA UNHEDGED
China discourages citizens from buying Hong Kong insurance
China’s attempt to control capital outflows could hit Hong Kong insurance buyers hard.
Hong Kong financial district at night
Products denominated in the Hong Kong dollar and US dollar, as well as other currencies pose risks for buyers, the China Insurance ...
China Silk Road ex-official says plan faces losses
China's New Silk Road initiative was conceived as a way to soak up the country's excess industrial capacity as it moves away from an export-based economy.
The project is a crucial part of President Xi Jinping’s international economic strategy. It’s aimed ...
China’s money rate gains most since June while PBOC injects cash
(From Bloomberg)
Central bank is less likely to use RRR cuts, analyst says
Tax bills, maturing medium-term loans seen tightening market
China’s benchmark money-market rate climbed the most since June, reflecting tight cash conditions, even as the central bank injected the ...
Yen sinks on potential for Bank of Japan stimulus expansion
(From Reuters)
The yen skidded by more than 1 percent to a 2-1/2-week low against the dollar on Friday after a report said that the Bank of Japan is considering expanding its negative rate policy to bank loans and could cut ...
ASIA TIMES NEWS & FEATURES
America’s B-21 long-range strike bomber: Set for a massive expansion?
(From the National Interest)
By Dave Majumdar
The House Armed Services Committee is directing the U.S. Air Force to examine the possibility of expanding the Northrop Grumman ...
Indonesia will not send four Uyghurs to China: Officials
(From Radio Free Asia)
Indonesian officials said Thursday they had turned down a request from the Chinese government to exchange a fugitive Indonesian banker captured in ...
Watch out SpaceX: China’s space start up industry takes flight
(From Popular Science)
Private Chinese companies could launch microsatellites one day, taikonauts
By Jeffrey Lin and P.W. Singer
While SpaceX is leading the charge of private space companies ...
As millions of N Koreans starve, Kim holds cooking contest
(From The Sun)
Cheese-chomping despot Kim Jong-un held a “Master Chef”-style competition to find North Korea’s top cooks as millions across the nation starve.
North Korean ...
Japan succeeds in test flight of first stealth fighter jet
(From AFP)
Japan's first stealth fighter jet successfully took to the skies on Friday as the country joins a select group of world military powers wielding ...
Data of Filipino voters hacked but May 9 elections to go ahead
(From agencies)
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Friday announced that a website built by hackers containing a massive leak of almost 55 million registered voters ...
Asia Times Top Writers
-
Pope Francis expands his global influence from Bernie Sanders to the Muslim world
on in
In a few hours last weekend, Pope Francis Bergoglio, further expanded his global influence by proving he is a protagonist in both the US presidential election and in the Muslim world. He first shook hands with US Democratic candidate Bernie… Read More ›
-
A new normal in US-Saudi ties will have to wait for next American president
on in
It should come as total surprise if an erudite scholar-statesman like US President Barack Obama never held in his palm Mao Zedong’s classic philosophical essay On Contradictions. Obama may not have a dialectical mind, but his extensive interviews with Jeffrey… Read More ›
-
To be kind is to be cruel, to be cruel is to be kind: Spengler
on in
Just after the September 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, I warned that radical Islam would horrify the West into submission. In Europe, it has taken a giant step towards success. Europe’s horror at the prospect of human suffering… Read More ›
Fashion, Lifestyle, Sports, Travel, Food, Tech
Disney characters have gone amok. Recently, a gray-scaled Mickey Mouse dressed in kimono was found walking with a Samurai warrior. Thumper, the adorable bunny, was striking a pose with Japanese school kids. The sweet and sassy Tinkerbell was hopping merrily ... Read More
The heavily populated China is strategizing methods to create a clean environment. On Friday, a group of Chinese experts, officials and environmentalists met in Beijing to discuss ways to promote ecology-oriented development.
The experts brought to the fore several case studies ... Read More
(From AP)
Two-time defending champion Kei Nishikori defeated Jeremy Chardy of France in straight sets on Thursday to advance to the Barcelona Open quarterfinals.
Nishikori, seeded second and ranked No. 6 in the world, secured a 6-3, 7-5 win over the 33rd-ranked ... Read More
Efforts are on the save the adorable giant pandas, which are on the verge of extinction.
In view of that, South Korea on Thursday hosted the Global Art Exhibition of Giant Panda. The event was supported by the United Nations Development ... Read More
(From Nerdist)
A while back, Conan O’Brien was contacted by a South Korean superfan named Sunny Lee. In response to her kind letter (which was written on an SAT prep form), he decided to go to the country in person, where he received ... Read More
The iFans are waiting for the next big revolution: Apple Cars, or, more aptly, iCars. Code-named Project Titan, grapevine has it that a team of experts from California and Germany are secretly working in tandem to create a car “that ... Read More