Kuan Chen
Kuan Chen is a writer for the News Lens International. A Purdue Boilermaker!
What you need to know
A weekly roundup of the region's most important news.
Thailand:
British divers involved in the 'unprecedented' rescue of 12 schoolboys from a flooded cave in Thailand said on Friday they were not heroes but were just happy their specialized skills could be of help. — Reuters
Does climate change have anything to do with floods in Thailand? — The New York Times
Photo Credit：AP／達志影像
Japan:
As rain poured and the creeks and rivers that course through the city of Kurashiki began to rise, Miyuki Komada repeatedly tried to call her 70-year-old mother, who was home sick with a cold. — The New York Times
Photo Credit：Reuters／達志影像
Staff at some of Nissan Motor Co.’s Japan plants falsified auto-emissions and fuel-economy data, the company said, in what is the latest data-faking incident among Japanese manufacturers. — The Wall Street Journal
A Japanese journalist who went missing in Syria three years ago and who is believed to be a hostage of terrorists appeared in a new video aired on Japanese television on Friday. — The New York Times
China:
Widow of Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo leaves Beijing after eight years under house arrest. — The Guardian
Photo Credit：Reuters／達志影像
How The US-China Trade War Will Transform The Global Economy. — Forbes
After President Trump unveiled a new list of Chinese goods the United States plans to slap with import duties — this time worth a staggering US$200 billion — Beijing punched back with a somberly worded warning. — The Washington Post
Photo Credit: AP/達志影像
How Trump’s Trade War Went From 18 Products to 10,000? — The New York Times
American Soybean Association CEO Ryan Findlay said Thursday that China's retaliatory tariffs of 25 percent on US beans have dealt farmers a major blow because it's led to low prices that essentially don't support paying bills. — CNBC
An independent think tank that was one of China’s few remaining bastions for liberal-democratic ideas was shut out of its Beijing offices on Wednesday, throwing its survival into doubt. — The New York Times
China has sentenced a veteran pro-democracy campaigner to 13 years in prison on vaguely defined subversion charges, one day after releasing the widow of a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. — The Wall Street Journal
Photo Credit：Corbis/達志影像
Inside China’s dystopian dreams: AI, shame and lots of cameras. — The New York Times
India:
India has adopted recommendations strongly backing net neutrality that experts say could be the 'strongest' in the world. — BBC
India’s Supreme Court on Monday rejected the pleas to review the capital sentences of three assailants in a notorious gang rape and murder of a college student that shook India in 2012, bringing the men one step closer to execution. — The Washington Post
Myanmar:
A Myanmar judge on Monday charged two Reuters journalists who were covering the Rohingya crisis with violating the country’s colonial-era secrets act. The two will go to trial in what has been a closely watched test of press freedoms in the country, drawing condemnation from foreign governments and media watchdogs. — The Washington Post
Photo Credit：Reuters／達志影像
North Korea:
North Korean officials did not turn up to a Thursday meeting with the US military about repatriating the remains of the war dead, according to a US official with knowledge of the situation. — The Washington Post
A United Nations official called for an investigation into the defection of North Korean restaurant workers to the South in 2016, saying at least some of the group appeared to have been deceived into leaving and hinting that Seoul officials were responsible. — The Wall Street Journal
Philippines:
A public feud between President Rodrigo Duterte and the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines intensified Monday as church leaders pushed back against criticism of priests and called for a national day of prayers and fasting. — The Wall Street Journal
Photo Credit：Bullit Marquez／AP／達志影像
Malaysia:
Around US$7 billion originating from Malaysian state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd. and its former unit flowed through the global financial system between 2009 and 2015, the Swiss Attorney-General said, underscoring the scale of the financial scandal that has engulfed the fund. — The Wall Street Journal