8 h. ago China lead poisoning: probe finds disease control agency, hospital faked results

Ten officials in China’s northwestern Gansu province are under investigation for oversight failures, after the provincial disease control agency and a hospital were discovered to have falsified test results during a major kindergarten lead poisoning scandal. This comes nearly two weeks after police in Gansu’s Tianshui city detained eight people over their involvement in the poisoning that left more than 200 kindergarteners with high lead levels in their blood, in a case that shocked the...

Politics

19 h. ago Keeping the faith: Thai monks ‘ordain’ trees in deforestation fight

On the morning of July 11, three saffron-robed monks and a dozen devotees gathered in a dense forest of Thailand’s Chaiyaphum province. After chanting prayers, they encircled a towering tree, draping it in a vivid orange cloth – the same used to robe ordained monks. This was no ordinary Buddhist ritual, but part of a growing practice called tree ordination – a symbolic act that “ordains” endangered trees as monks to protect them from logging and development. Part spiritual blessing and part...

Politics

54 h. ago Malaysian Fugitive at Center of 1MDB Scandal Located in China

Malaysian Fugitive at Center of 1MDB Scandal Located in China  Variety

Politics

2 d. ago Taiwan ‘vampire’ coach ‘forced’ students to give blood for academic credits

A scandal in Taiwan involving a university women’s football coach accused of forcing students to donate blood in exchange for their required academic credits has sparked widespread outrage online. The revelation came to light when a student, surnamed Jian, from the National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU), went public with the accusation. Jian said that students had been coerced by their coach, Zhou Tai-ying, 61, a prominent figure in the island’s football, to participate in excessive...

Events

3 d. ago China editor slams school for ousting woman for casual sex, wants man treated same

A former editor in China has called for gender-neutral punishment and criticised a university for expelling a woman who had casual sex with a man. The backlash follows the expulsion of a 21-year-old Chinese student, surnamed Li, after her alleged sexual involvement with a Ukrainian gamer. Li reportedly had a one-night stand with a 37-year-old Ukrainian ex-Counter-Strike player, Danylo Teslenko, known as “Zeus”, while he was in Shanghai for an event last December. Teslenko shared their intimate...

Culture

4 d. ago Hong Kong lawmakers urged to be impartial when reviewing same

A senior Hong Kong official has called on lawmakers to be “pragmatic, rational and impartial” when scrutinising a bill aimed at granting certain legal rights to same-sex couples after most major political parties voiced opposition to the legislation. Introducing the bill for its first and second readings in the legislature on Wednesday, Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang Kwok-wai stressed that the proposed framework was a “reasonable balance” between fulfilling the...

Politics

4 d. ago Naked US man rescued from Bangkok sewer after chaotic struggle

A naked American man who accidentally got stuck in a drain in Thailand tried to crawl deeper into the sewer and fight off his rescuers, biting and spitting at them when they finally broke through the concrete to get to him. The chaotic rescue on Monday morning started with a phone call from the residents of a block of flats along Kalpapruek Road in Bangkok. They told the police that a man had fallen through a gap in the concrete slabs covering a drain separating the building from a canal, the...

Events

4 d. ago China school expels girl for sex with Ukraine man that ‘hurts national dignity’

A Chinese student is facing expulsion from university for having casual sex with a Ukrainian gamer. The student, surnamed Li, has been accused of “hurting national dignity”, sparking online accusations of excessive punishment and rights infringement. An official from Dalian Polytechnic University, in northeastern China’s Liaoning province, on July 8, said the institution planned to expel Li for an act of “misconduct” on December 16, 2024. The 21-year-old was reported to have had a one-night...

Politics

4 d. ago China school expels woman for sex with Ukraine man that ‘hurts national dignity’

A Chinese student is facing expulsion from university for having casual sex with a Ukrainian gamer. The student, surnamed Li, has been accused of “hurting national dignity”, sparking online accusations of excessive punishment and rights infringement. An official from Dalian Polytechnic University, in northeastern China’s Liaoning province, on July 8, said the institution planned to expel Li for an act of “misconduct” on December 16, 2024. The 21-year-old was reported to have had a one-night...

Politics

6 d. ago China’s EV Scandal Shows Just How Easy It Was To Cheat The System

China’s EV Scandal Shows Just How Easy It Was To Cheat The System  Carscoops

Politics

6 d. ago Thailand defrocks 6 monks as sex and blackmail scandal engulfs Buddhist clergy

Six senior monks in Thailand have been defrocked and two others are missing after authorities uncovered tens of thousands of pornographic images and videos allegedly featuring a woman in sexual acts with high-ranking clergy – a scandal that has rocked the kingdom’s conservative Buddhist establishment. The investigation began after the sudden disappearance of the abbot of Wat Tritossathep, a prominent temple in Bangkok, raised suspicions of misconduct. Eleven monks have so far been implicated,...

Politics

6 d. ago Malaysia’s judicial crisis deepens with leaked memo from classified meeting

Malaysia’s judicial crisis deepened over the weekend after a leaked memo revealed serious allegations against Federal Court Judge Terrirudin Salleh, ahead of a lawyers’ march to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s office on Monday to protest against alleged executive interference in the judiciary. Anwar has come under mounting pressure over the scandal, with lawmakers from his own party breaking ranks to demand that he “clear the air”, warning that judicial integrity is now “the biggest issue” facing...

Events

6 d. ago The Subsidy Scandal Shaking China's EV Giants: BYD and Chery's Risky Road Ahead

The Subsidy Scandal Shaking China's EV Giants: BYD and Chery's Risky Road Ahead  AInvest

Events

6 d. ago Lawmakers against LGBTQ rights bill shouldn’t stoop to fearmongering

On Wednesday, the Hong Kong government will introduce a bill to recognise same-sex partnerships, despite opposition from some powerful political groups. The move is the government’s answer to a landmark court ruling by the Court of Final Appeal in 2023. The court gave authorities two years to draw up laws to sort out the rights of same-sex couples by October 27, finding the government in violation of Hong Kong’s Bill of Rights. The government has wisely decided that now is the right time to push...

Economics

7 d. ago Public outrage as China monk berates elderly couple for ‘too small’ rice donation

A monk at a sacred temple who rejected an offering of rice from an elderly couple because it was too small has sparked widespread public outrage. On June 26, an elderly couple respectfully placed a bag of rice on the offering table inside a temple on Mount Wutai, one of the most sacred Buddhist sites in China. The religious venue is located at the headwaters of the Qingshui River in Shanxi province, northern China. However, the couple were harshly condemned by a monk in a yellow robe, who...

Politics

7 d. ago China widens kindergarten lead poisoning probe as central government weighs in

China has expanded the probe into a kindergarten lead poisoning scandal that has shocked the nation, with the central government getting involved in a rare intervention in a provincial investigation. On Saturday night the authorities in Gansu said the investigation would be led by provincial leaders working alongside a task force from the State Council, the country’s cabinet. Last week, Chinese media reported that 233 of 251 children at the kindergarten in Tianshui, a second-tier city in the...

Politics

8 d. ago Chinese lead poisoning scandal sparks backlash, echoing earlier controversies

A lead poisoning scandal at a kindergarten in northwest China – and the local government’s attempt to cover up wrongdoing – has sparked public backlash, and observers say the case highlights a familiar pattern often seen in the wake of high-profile safety incidents. Liu Qifang, the father of a girl who attended the kindergarten at the centre of the scandal, received a phone call from an unknown caller last week, according to South Reviews magazine on Tuesday. The caller confirmed Liu’s identity,...

Politics

9 d. ago US and China Top Diplomats Meet for First Time in Kuala Lumpur Today

US and China Top Diplomats Meet for First Time in Kuala Lumpur Today  Nation Thailand

Politics

1 week ago Thailand to require cannabis shops to convert into clinics staffed by doctors

Thailand is poised to close most of its cannabis shops by the end of the year under sweeping new rules requiring retailers to operate as licensed medical clinics with on-site doctors – a move that could roll back much of the country’s brief experiment with decriminalised marijuana. The new regulations – set to be enforced by the end of the year – will leave around 2,000 of Thailand’s estimated 18,000 cannabis shops in operation, a Ministry of Public Health official said on Tuesday. That is...

Science

1 week ago Pungent protest: Thai man douses portrait of Cambodia’s Hun Sen with fish sauce

A man who embarked on a 30km (19-mile) protest walk barefoot and splashed fish sauce on a portrait of Cambodia’s Senate leader and former prime minister Hun Sen outside the country’s embassy in Bangkok was briefly detained but later released by Thai police. Angered by Cambodia’s actions during a recent border clash with Thailand, 69-year-old retired tennis coach Thewa Sritawan walked for almost five hours from his home in Pak Kret, in neighbouring Nonthaburi province, at dawn on Monday to carry...

Events