HONG KONG: A Hong Kong court convicted two former editors of a shuttered news outlet on Thursday, in a sedition case that is widely seen as a barometer for the future of media freedom in the city once hailed as a bastion of free press in Asia.

Stand News former editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen and former acting editor-in-chief Patrick Lam were arrested in December 2021. They pleaded not guilty to the charge of conspiracy to publish and reproduce seditious publications. Their sedition trial was Hong Kong’s first involving media since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

Stand News was one of the city’s last media outlets that openly criticized the government amid a crackdown on dissent that followed massive pro-democracy protests in 2019.

The offense is punishable by up to two years in prison and a fine of 5,000 Hong Kong dollars (about $640) under a colonial-era sedition law. Judge Kwok Wai-kin is not expected to hand down a sentence on the same day.

Best Pencil (Hong Kong) Ltd., the outlet’s holding company, was convicted on the same charge. It had no representatives during the trial, which began in October 2022.

Yen Bai province: six-year-old boy who was missing for five days has been found deep in a forest in Vietnam.

Dang Tien Lam, a resident of Van Yen district in Yen Bai province, disappeared on August 17 while playing in a stream with his nine siblings.

Lam was discovered on Wednesday by a local farmer, Ly Van Nang, who found the boy in a weakened state and unable to stand. Lam was located sitting among cassava bushes approximately 6 km from where he had gone missing.

“I’m so tired, I can’t stand up. Please carry me,” Lam reportedly said, according to 52-year-old farmer Ly Van Nang.

During his ordeal, Lam survived by eating leaves, wild fruits, and drinking stream water.

Local authorities had mobilised around 200 people, including police, soldiers, and volunteers, to search for the child.

MANILA: A 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of the southern Philippines on Saturday, but no tsunami warning was issued and there were no immediate reports of damage, said the United States Geological Survey.

The shallow quake hit just before 6:30 am (2230 GMT) about 20 kilometres (12 miles) away from the village of Barcelona on the east of Mindanao island, USGS said.

A series of aftershocks were felt in some areas in Mindanao, with the strongest at 5.9 magnitude about 36 kilometres east of Barcelona, according to USGS.

The local seismological agency said no damage was expected from the earthquake.

In Lingig municipality, where Barcelona is located, local disaster officer Ian Onsing said he was woken by the tremor.

“The shaking was quite strong. The things around here were moving. I guess, the shaking took around 10-15 seconds. So far, there are no reported casualties or damages. We are now monitoring the shores for any rough movement,” Onsing told.

SINGAPORE: A former Indian-origin Singaporean lawyer, M Ravi was sentenced on Friday to 14 weeks’ jail and fined SGD 5,500 (USD 4,120) for his latest string of crimes that involved pushing or injuring strangers and acquaintances – including a Hindu temple priest in the city-state.

The 55-year-old disbarred human rights lawyer was also ordered to pay SGD 30 as compensation to one of the victims he had injured, Channel News Asia reported.

Ravi committed the offences between November 2021 to September 2023.

He made a scene at Sri Mariamman Temple on July 9, 2023, pushing his way to the front of queueing devotees, tipping over a plate of offerings and smearing holy ash on himself.

He pushed a priest who was trying to intervene and asked loudly why there were so many foreigners and a need to queue.

The century-old temple is one of the favourite spots among tourists.

While Ravi has been known for his brushes with the law, this is the first time he is being sentenced to jail for criminal offences, according to the channel report.

TAIPEI: Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te said Tuesday “a threat from China to any country is a threat to the world”, emphasizing to lawmakers of more than 20 countries that global democracies must unite against “authoritarian expansion”.

China has in recent years stepped up military and political pressures on democratic Taiwan, which Beijing claims as part of its territory.

While Taipei officially only has a dozen diplomatic allies, it has strengthened partnerships with democracies around the world — especially the United States, its largest weapons provider — as Beijing ups the rhetoric of unification being “inevitable”.

On Tuesday, Lai attended a summit of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) — a group of parliamentarians hailing from Uruguay and Canada to Japan and Britain concerned about how democracies interact with Beijing.

Praising the 49 lawmakers from 23 countries and the European Parliament for making the journey to Taipei, Lai said the delegation demonstrates “the importance and support” that various countries have for Taiwan.

VIENTIANE: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday called on Laos Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone and raised the issue of trafficking of Indian nationals through cyber scam centres in the Southeast Asian country and discussed development partnership and cooperation in areas like defence and energy.

Jaishankar is in the capital of the Laos People’s Democratic Republic to participate in the meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

He called on Siphandone, along with fellow foreign ministers attending the meeting.

“Pleased to call on Lao PDR (People’s Democratic Republic) Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone. Conveyed the warm greetings of Prime Minister @narendramodi. Discussed our development partnership and cooperation in defence, heritage conservation, energy, digital and capacity building,” Jaishankar said in a post on X.

Jaishankar said he values Siphandone’s guidance on further strengthening close bilateral ties that are deeply rooted in shared civilisational connect.

“During my call on the Prime Minister of Lao PDR, took up the issue of the trafficking of Indian nationals through cyber scam centres. Appreciate the ongoing cooperation of Lao PDR government in the rescue and relief of our citizens,” he said.

MANILA: A Philippine-flagged tanker carrying 1.4 million litres of industrial fuel oil capsized and sank off Manila on Thursday, authorities said, as they raced to contain a spill.

The MT Terra Nova was heading for the central city of Iloilo when it capsized in Manila Bay, nearly seven kilometres (4.3 miles) off Limay municipality in Bataan province, near the capital, in the early hours.

The vessel went down as heavy rains fuelled by Typhoon Gaemi and the seasonal monsoon have lashed Manila and surrounding regions in recent days.

An oil spill stretching several kilometres has been detected in the busy waterway.

“We are racing against time and we will try to do our best to contain it immediately and stop the fuel from leaking,” Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Rear Admiral Armando Balilo said at a briefing.

He warned that if all the oil in the tanker were to leak, it would be the biggest spill in Philippine history.

MANILA: After escalating South China Sea clashes with Beijing, President Ferdinand Marcos stated Monday that the Philippines “cannot yield” in territorial disputes.

Manila and Beijing have long disputed portions of the key waterway that transports trillions of dollars of trade.

Marcos stated the Philippines would “find ways to de-escalate tensions in contested areas… without compromising our position and our principles” without citing China.

“The Philippines won’t yield. Marcos told Congress in his annual State of the Nation address that the Philippines cannot waver.

He made these remarks after the Philippines and China reached a “provisional arrangement” for resupply missions to Filipino forces at Second Thomas Shoal, which has seen deadly skirmishes in recent months.

HANOI: Nguyen Phu Trong, Vietnam’s most powerful contemporary leader and architect of the country’s largest anti-corruption campaign, died Friday at the age of 80, state media said.

During Trong’s 13 years as general secretary of the Communist Party, thousands of people were arrested on corruption charges and a crackdown on dissidents and activists intensified in the one-party state.

Trong was president from 2018-21 and served three consecutive terms as general secretary, the first to do so since the “doi moi” era of economic reform began in 1986.

The unprecedented feat made him the most powerful leader in decades.

Trong’s high-profile anti-corruption drive, which analysts say was also linked to political in-fighting, swept through the party, police, armed forces and business.

More than 3,500 people have been indicted since 2021, official figures show, while those sent to prison include a former health minister and two previous mayors of Hanoi.

Following a scandal related to the Covid-19 pandemic last year, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc resigned and two deputy prime ministers were removed from their positions.

Many other prominent officials working across a wide range of sectors, from environment and energy to healthcare and banking, are under investigation.

Manila; Seven suspected rebels have been killed in a clash in Nueva Ecija province, north of Manila, the Philippine military said on Thursday.

In a report, the military said that the fighting broke out between a band of the New People’s Army rebels and government forces on Wednesday afternoon in Pantabangan town, Xinhua news agency reported.

No soldier was killed or wounded in the clash.