Coffee with a view: Tourists flock to Starbucks overlooking North Korea

Very few tourists can enter North Korea, and then under tightly controlled conditions.

China says pilot crashed small plane into skyscraper for 'personal reasons'

The 66-year-old, who died in the crash, had anxiety and referenced "ending his life" in his diary.

Amazon vows action against India delivery partner after fire probe concludes

NEW DELHI, July 2 - Amazon said on Thursday it will take \"appropriate action\" against a third-party delivery partner in India once a police investigation into a fire that killed two workers concludes.

Japan’s first petrol-powered mini taxis hit the road after deregulation

Pilot who hit Beijing tower wrote about ending life, says district govt

The pilot had suffered from insomnia and anxiety, Beijing’s Chaoyang district government said.

Malaysia’s Anwar says Norway missile deal cancellation reflects wider Western hypocrisy

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim also cited the situation in Gaza, Israel’s “incessant bombardment” of Lebanon, the Russia-Ukraine war, and the civil war in Sudan as signs that pointed toward a greater devaluation of respect for international norms and laws.

India, Japan sign pacts on AI, metals, and energy after Modi-Takaichi talks

The two countries signed an agreement on their first co-development project in the defence sector.

Taiwan police bust $388 million World Cup betting ring

Some of those arrested travelled to Taiwan on tourist visas for the World Cup betting operation.

Chinese electric scooter maker Luyuan apologises for risque advertisements that sparked controversy

The ads, which were subsequently removed, featured female models in various sexually suggestive poses.

Eight Thai monks killed after boy drives truck into procession

The 11-year-old drove his parents' truck into a group of 35 monks and five lay followers who were walking along a road.

Japanese women MPs get just two more toilets

The government says it wants to have women in at least 30 per cent of the legislative seats.

A decade since Duterte's deadly drug war, victims' families continue fight for justice as ICC trial nears

Human rights groups believe the true death toll could be in the tens of thousands, arguing that many killings went undocumented.

Senior Chinese lawmaker to attend Khamenei's funeral

BEIJING, July 2 - Senior Chinese lawmaker He Wei will attend the funeral of late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran, the Chinese foreign ministry announced on Thursday.

Kyrgyzstan asks neighbours for help with fuel supplies as Russian shortages bite

BISHKEK, July 2 - Kyrgyzstan asked Kazakhstan, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan to help ensure stable fuel supplies late on Wednesday, amid concerns over potential shortages linked to Ukraine's drone strikes against Russian oil refineries.

Eight Thai monks killed after child drives truck into procession

The suspect was an 11-year-old boy, said to have taken his parents’ pickup truck without permission.

Digital parking systems in Selangor and Sabah fully restored after cyberattacks

Parking payments and enforcement operations returning to normal

Foreign tech workers to get easier visa screening in South Korea

Applicants will be assessed based on both quantitative and qualitative criteria.

India’s capital announces permanent anti-pollution curbs for toxic winter months

Measures include doubling parking fees and staggered government office timings.

India's capital announces permanent anti-pollution curbs for toxic winter months

NEW DELHI, July 2 - The government of India's national capital territory of Delhi has announced a spate of measures to curb air pollution during winter, months ahead of the annual season when the city often becomes the world's most polluted.

Elephant that served as Indonesian park guardian to prevent human-animal conflict found dead

During his life, Indro played an important role in mitigating conflicts between wild elephants and humans.

No political negotiations between Malaysia’s PAS and Barisan, says Perikatan chairman

The party had said the move was aimed at preventing Perikatan votes from going to Pakatan Harapan.

US House committee says South Korea discriminated against Coupang

SEOUL, July 2 - South Korean authorities have consistently discriminated against U.S.-based Coupang, a campaign that escalated with numerous investigations after a data breach at the e-commerce firm last year, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee said in an interim report.

Japan’s gray-zone resilience runs through civilian industry

This article first appeared on Pacific Forum and is republished with permission. Read the original here. KDDI’s cable-laying and repair capacity, Japan’s intervention in the Makino Milling Machine acquisition, and the Daikin–Shin-Etsu–Hitachi–Tokyo Eco Recycle rare-earth magnet

Papal envoy presides over first Vietnam beatification rite

The presence of an envoy of Pope Leo highlights the warming ties between Vietnam and the Vatican.

South Korean shops turn to robots, self-service to escape labour woes

Owners of such stores cite difficulties in finding suitable staff and rising wage costs as reasons for adopting the model.

The universe isn’t as uniform as we thought

Modern cosmology rests on a simple assumption: if we look on large enough scales, matter should be distributed evenly, with no preferred direction within the cosmos. This is known as the cosmological principle. Now, as new telescopes both on Earth and in space, such as the Dark

Europe’s Gulf drift has run out of road

On June 29, France thought it had found its way back into the Strait of Hormuz. Hours after French President Emmanuel Macron and Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said agreed in Paris to clear the strait’s mines and guarantee “free and unconditional” passage, Tehran killed the

Super Micro says two Taiwan staff detained in probe involving its AI servers

TAIPEI, July 2 - Super Micro said on Wednesday that two workers at its Taiwan unit had been detained pending a court hearing and two others released on bail after being questioned by Taiwanese prosecutors investigating the alleged illegal export of advanced AI servers

India tells WhatsApp to halt username roll-out, justify feature or face action

India’s IT ministry said the feature could materially increase online fraud and phishing, among other crimes.

Japan rallies tech-giant alliance to build sovereign AI

Japan is throwing its industrial weight behind a homegrown challenger to US and Chinese dominance in artificial intelligence. The government announced this week it will fund Noetra, a new consortium of SoftBank Corp., Sony, NEC and Honda, to build a national AI foundation model

Russian frustration rises as fuel crisis bites

July 2 - In Russia's grain belt, farmers fret they will not be able to harvest their crops as a fuel crisis sparked by Ukraine's drone attacks on oil refineries and depots disrupts daily life.

Vietnam, Philippines raised to World Bank’s upper-middle-income status

All five major South-east Asian economies, including Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, are in the same tier and above.

Australia seeks to rein in defence spending blowouts, delays

Canberra in April announced it would raise defence spending to 3% of GDP by 2033 from about 2%.

Bear spray goes off in Japan post office, five hospitalised

A plane breached Beijing’s tightly controlled airspace and crashed. Why couldn’t it be stopped?

In an update on July 2, Chinese authorities said the pilot, 66, suffered from long-term insomnia and anxiety.

China’s EV fleet is world’s most underestimated AI asset

History has a habit of concealing its most consequential turning points inside the mundane. The invention of the shipping container did not announce itself as a revolution in global trade. The rise of the mobile phone was initially dismissed as an expensive novelty for

South Korean school baseball team suspended over ‘Tank Day’ chants

The chants evoked the deadly 1980 crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Gwangju.

Searching for Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar’s capital of confusion

Experts describe the capital Naypyitaw as purpose-built to guard its closed-ranks rulers’ secrets.

Asian shares fall as chipmakers drag; US jobs data looms

The plunge in Asia follows a Wall Street selloff in semiconductor shares overnight.

Taiwan needs a ‘hornet’s nest’ of drones to deter conflict, US diplomat says

He says drones represent a “game-changing opportunity” to enhance the island's security.

Taiwan needs a 'hornet's nest' of drones to deter conflict, US diplomat says

TAICHUNG, Taiwan, July 2 - Taiwan needs a \"hornet's nest\" of drones to help deter conflict and provide security, the top U.S. diplomat to the democratically governed island said on Thursday.

Estimated 350,000 people in Japan have used cocaine: Study

Thai PM Anutin orders urgent drug crackdown meeting after Australia-linked smuggling cases

The authorities fear the cases could damage Thailand’s image as it seeks be a regional aviation hub.

South Korean fashion retailer Musinsa ramps up Asia store push ahead of IPO

The push comes as South Korean consumer culture continues to surge globally.

Did this AI anti-drug video make drugs look appealing?

Hong Kong’s Correctional Services Department removed an AI-generated K-pop video, after facing backlash that it made substances look too appealing.

The South Korean mine at the centre of America’s tungsten push

It could potentially supply roughly 40 per cent of global tungsten demand outside China.

Lawsuit shows it’s past time for Samsung and SK Hynix to speak up

For a quarter of a century, consumer technology was the most dependable disinflationary force in the world economy. Each year, the device in the hand did more and cost less, and that quiet subtraction flattered every inflation print on earth. That era is over. This is slowly