Asia News from WN Network

Yen’s plunge raises specter of new Asia currency crisis 2024-05-01
Asiatimes

TOKYO — The Japanese yen’s 12% plunge this year has traders wondering if the Group of Seven might have a currency crisis within their ranks. The good news: not yet. The bad news, though, is that there are still seven months left in this year of dangerous living for Japan’s currency. Especially when...

photo: Creative Commons

Workers and activists across Asia and Europe hold May Day rallies to call for greater labor rights 2024-05-01
The Day

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Workers, activists and others in Asian capitals and European cities took to the streets on Wednesday to mark May Day with protests over rising prices and government labor polices and calls for greater labor rights. May Day, which falls on May 1, is observed in many...

photo: AP / Achmad Ibrahim

Gunman kills at least six in attack on mosque in Afghanistan’s Herat 2024-04-30
Al Jazeera

A gunman stormed a mosque in western Afghanistan and killed six people, a government spokesman says. Ministry of Interior Affairs spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani said “an unknown armed person shot at civilian worshippers in a mosque” at about 9pm (16:30 GMT) on Monday in Andisheh town of Guzara district...

photo: AP / Siddiqullah Khan

Philippines and China in new confrontation at Scarborough Shoal 2024-04-30
Al Jazeera

The Philippines has accused China of “dangerous maneuvers and obstruction” and reinstalling a barrier at the disputed Scarborough Shoal, which Beijing blockaded and seized from Manila in 2012. Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said two Philippine vessels on maritime patrol...

photo: AP / Renato Etac via AP, File

‘Country is doing well’: Why jobless young Indians are still backing Modi 2024-04-30
Al Jazeera

Patna, Bihar – Sanjeev Kumar is 27 and jobless – a desperate situation compounded by his car salesman father’s imminent retirement in a few years. The business studies graduate from Patna, the capital of the eastern Indian state of Bihar, voted for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata...

photo: WN / Shilpa

Azerbaijan’s president says Baku to spare no efforts to advance peace agenda 2024-04-29
Anadolu Agency

During a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that Baku will persist in “sparing no efforts” to advance the peace agenda between his country and neighboring Armenia. “Recalling that the Republic of Azerbaijan was the...

photo: Creative Commons / Kremlin.ru

Xi tells Blinken US, China should be 'partners, not rivals' 2024-04-26
The Philadelphia Inquirer

BEIJING, China – Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday told top US diplomat Antony Blinken...

photo: AP / Mark Schiefelbein, Pool

China warns diplomatic ties with US could face 'downward spiral' as Blinken visits Beijing 2024-04-26
France24

China's foreign minister on Friday urged visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to address rising disagreements or risk a "downward spiral" between the two powers after months of efforts to ease tensions. ......

photo: AP / Mark Schiefelbein, Pool

India election: Second phase of voting today as Modi vs Gandhi campaign heats up 2024-04-26
Khaleejtimes

India began voting on Friday in the second phase of the world's biggest election, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his rivals raise the pitch of the campaign by focusing on hot-button issues such as religious discrimination, affirmative action and taxes. Almost one billion people are eligible to...

photo: AP / Channi Anand

Blinken kicks off direct engagement with China ahead of tough talks 2024-04-25
Voa News

State Department — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken underscored the necessity for "direct" and "sustained engagement" between the United States and China during his first official meeting in Shanghai, a city home to more than 1,000 U.S. companies. Thursday morning, Blinken held talks with Chen...

photo: AP / Alex Brandon