Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 25

Royal pardon frees Thai woman serving a 43-year sentence

A Thai woman who received one of the kingdom’s longest royal insult sentences was freed from prison yesterday under a mass pardon marking the king’s birthday. Anchan Preelert, 69, was jailed for 43 years in 2021 after sharing online audio clips on YouTube of an underground podcast host known as “DJ Banpodj,” a fierce critic of the monarchy. She was initially sentenced to 87 years —

Judges retire to consider verdict in trial of Hong Kong pro-democracy firebrand Jimmy Lai

The judges in the trial of Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai on Thursday retired to consider their verdict on three national security charges that could see the 77-year-old pro-democracy firebrand jailed for life. Lai, the outspoken founder of the Apple Daily – a tabloid newspaper known for blistering broadsides against the Chinese Communist party – has become a symbol of Beijing’s sweeping

In under three hours, China’s bullet trains whisk travelers back 1,200 years in time

Visiting Shanghai is an exhilarating experience. This financial hub of 25 million was seemingly made for skyscraper-ogling, fashion-finding and dumpling-sampling. Its metro system is clean and efficient, making zipping around town — or to the next city — incredibly easy. But at some point, urban fatigue kicks in, a sign it’s time to disappear into the misty mountains so often captured

Trump's USA: This is the stuff of Mao Redoing

If imitation really is the highest form of flattery, Xi Jinping’s economic team is surely blushing at Donald Trump’s China-style policy pivots.US President Trump’s esteem for the Chinese leader has long been evident to geopolitical experts. But the last 10 days have seen a whirlwind of Trump policy moves that might shock even the Politburo in Beijing. Strong-arming Intel into a 10% stake and

Donald Trump Defends Chinese Student Numbers Amid MAGA Uproar

President Donald Trump has defended his proposal to allow 600,000 Chinese students into the United States, after several MAGA figures spoke out against it."Look, we're getting along very well with China and I'm getting along very well with President Xi," Trump told reporters. "I think it's very insulting to say students can't come here."Trump's announcement marks a departure from his

'How will I pay workers?': Indian factories hit hard by Trump's 50% tariffs

An eerie silence hangs over N Krishnamurthy's garment manufacturing unit in Tiruppur, one of India's largest textile export hubs. Only a fraction of some 200 industrial sewing machines on the floor are in operation, as workers make the last of the season's children's garment orders for some of the biggest US retailers.At one end of the room, piles of fabric samples for new designs are gathering

South Korea's charm offensive and other takeaways from Trump meeting

Hours before South Korean president Lee Jae Myung was due to meet US president Donald Trump, a Truth Social post dropped. "WHAT IS GOING ON IN SOUTH KOREA?" Trump wrote, pointing to a "Purge or Revolution". It appears this was a reference to Mr Lee's attempts to move South Korea on from its martial law crisis last December, when its now ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol tried to orchestrate a

How Taiwan is preparing for Chinese attack with acting, fake blood and mock missile strikes

It was just another Friday morning on the Taiwanese island of Kinmen, a few kilometres from the coast of China, when an air raid siren pierced the calm. At a local government office, people switched off their lights and dove under tables. Others fled to an underground car park. At a nearby hospital, staff rushed to treat people staggering in with bloody injuries.But the blood was fake, and the

Asia’s energy future: green revolution or carbon catastrophe?

Electricity is the backbone of the modern economy – the operating system of the digital age. As the world’s hunger for power intensifies – from data centers and AI to electric vehicles and smart cities – one reality has become undeniable: the planet’s electrical and climatic destiny is being forged in Asia.The continent is not only the largest power consumer and producer; it has also become the

Trump tells South Korean president he wants to meet North Korea’s Kim Jong Un

President Donald Trump is willing to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, he told his South Korean counterpart during a meeting on Monday where they discussed peace in the Korean Peninsula and Pyongyang’s nuclear weapon capabilities.South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, who was elected in June, asked Trump to help establish peace between the two Koreas during his visit to the White House –