9 d. ago Venezuela releasing ‘significant number’ of prisoners in bid to ‘seek peace’

Venezuela released citizens and foreigners from its prisons on Thursday in what a top government official described as a gesture to “seek peace” less than a week after former President Nicolas Maduro was captured by US forces to face federal drug-trafficking charges in New York. Jorge Rodriguez, brother of Acting President Delcy Rodriguez and head of the National Assembly, did not specify who they would be releasing or how many people would be released. But he said the release of prisoners “is...

Events

9 d. ago Venezuela frees opposition figures and activists, which Trump says US requested

Venezuela released a number of imprisoned high-profile opposition figures, activists and journalists - both citizens and foreigners - on Thursday in what the government described as a gesture to “seek peace” less than a week after former president Nicolas Maduro was captured by US forces to face drug-trafficking charges. US President Donald Trump, who has been pressuring Maduro allies now leading the country to fold to his vision for the future of the oil-rich nation, said the releases came at...

Politics

9 d. ago Why US move against Maduro unlikely to drive China from Latin America

The US decision to raid Venezuela, detain its President Nicolas Maduro and bring him to the United States, ostensibly on drug trafficking charges, will have serious downstream effects, but of what variety? US President Donald Trump has already sent ominous warnings to other Latin American countries whose leaders oppose all or parts of his agenda – from Colombia to Cuba to Mexico – and threatened Maduro’s successor with similar, or worse, treatment if she does not cooperate. Does this suggest...

Politics

1 week ago Trump calls for US$1.5 trillion in military spending, citing ‘dangerous times’

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday proposed setting military spending at US$1.5 trillion in 2027, citing “troubled and dangerous times”. Trump called for the massive surge in spending days after he ordered a US military operation to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and spirit him out of the country to face drug trafficking charges in the United States. US forces continue to mass in the Caribbean Sea. The 2026 military budget is set at US$901 billion. Trump in recent days has also...

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1 week ago Hong Kong police charge man with manslaughter after reclassifying drug death

Hong Kong police have charged a 36-year-old man with manslaughter after reclassifying a suspected drug-related death from last week as a more serious offence. A police spokesman said on Wednesday that officers had upgraded the case of a 24-year-old man found unconscious in a hotel room in Tsim Sha Tsui, charging the 36-year-old discovered in the corridor of the same hotel with manslaughter. “After police in-depth investigation, it was believed that the 36-year-old foreign man attempted suicide...

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1 week ago Hong Kong equestrian coach denied bail over hotel room drug death case

An equestrian coach with the Hong Kong Jockey Club has been denied bail after being charged with manslaughter and drugs possession, with prosecutors alleging that he killed a man last week in a suicide pact. British national Kyle McCullock, 36, appeared at Kowloon City Court for the first time on Wednesday after missing an earlier hearing this week for medical reasons. McCullock initially faced three drug-related charges for allegedly keeping an unspecified amount of methamphetamine, sildenafil...

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1 week ago The Maduro effect: regime change fears grip Asia’s autocrats after US raid on Venezuela

The United States’ dramatic capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro at the weekend has sent shock waves across Asia, where analysts say authoritarian rulers, now deeply wary of Washington’s motives, are likely to draw closer to Moscow and Beijing. US special forces stormed Maduro’s residence in Caracas early on Saturday morning, seizing the Venezuelan leader and his wife before flying them to the US, where both face federal charges of narcoterrorism and drug trafficking. Washington has long...

Politics

1 week ago The Maduro effect: US raid accelerates Asia’s drift away from Washington

The United States’ dramatic abduction of Venezuela’s former leader Nicolas Maduro at the weekend has sent shock waves across Asia, where analysts say authoritarian rulers, now deeply wary of Washington’s erratic behaviour, are likely to draw closer to Moscow and Beijing. US special forces stormed Maduro’s residence in Caracas early on Saturday morning, seizing him and his wife before flying them to the US, where both face federal charges of narcoterrorism and drug trafficking. Washington has...

Politics

1 week ago Venezuela’s Maduro arrives at New York federal courthouse on drug trafficking charges

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was due to be arraigned in a New York court on Monday on charges of narcoterrorism and possession of illegal weapons, after being forcibly taken into US custody following a strike on his Caracas compound 60 hours earlier. The indictment, which was filed in secret on December 25, and unveiled on Saturday, accuses Maduro of heading a “corrupt, illegitimate government” powered by an extensive drug-trafficking network that flooded the US with thousands of tons of...

Events

3 w. ago Malaysian rapper Namewee acquitted of drug use charge after negative test

A Malaysian court on Monday granted rapper Namewee a full acquittal from his drug use charge after the prosecution presented a negative urine test in court. Namewee’s lawyer, Joshua Tay, confirmed the acquittal with This Week in Asia. Tay told the Kuala Lumpur magistrates’ court that since the pathology report was negative, there was no prospect of recharging his client, whose real name is Wee Meng Chee. “The appropriate order should be a discharge and acquittal,” Tay said. Magistrate S...

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3 w. ago China praises joint effort with US after pair sentenced for drug

China is highlighting its success in joint law enforcement with the sentencing of two men in a drug-related money laundering case following a tip-off from the United States. Amid recent momentum in US-China cooperation to combat narcotics crimes, Chinese state media has outlined the prosecution of the pair who were charged with money laundering for drug dealers. The People’s Daily stated on Saturday that officers in Shenyang, in northeast China’s Liaoning province, had received information in...

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