South Korean blockbuster 'JSA' strikes a chord 25 years on

Seoul (AFP) – Twenty-five years ago, director Park Chan-wook risked jail to make a movie about friendship between North and South Korean soldiers, striking box office gold and beginning his actors’ ascent to global stardom.

The Joint Security Area (JSA) of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) is the only place where North and South Korean soldiers stand face to face

Tech rally helps Hong Kong lead Asian markets higher

Hong Kong (AFP) – Hong Kong resumed its tech-led rally on a healthy day for Asian markets Tuesday as a meeting between President Xi Jinping and China’s top business leaders fanned hopes that a years-long crackdown on the private sector is coming to an end.

Alibaba led a rally in tech firms in Hong Kong

Man City's fresh faces offer hope of Madrid miracle

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola said his side have just a one percent chance of progress to the Champions League last 16 against Real Madrid on Wednesday but the English champions’ new recruits could offer a lifeline.

Omar Marmoush (centre) scored a hat-trick in Man City's 4-0 win over Newcastle

Deadline for Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon expires

Beirut (Lebanon) (AFP) – A deadline expired Tuesday for all Israeli troops to leave south Lebanon under a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah, hours after Israel said it planned to remain in five strategic locations.

Israeli army forces patrol in the village of Kfarshuba in southern Lebanon on February 17, 2025

Japan sets new 2035 emissions cut goal

Tokyo (AFP) – Japan Tuesday pledged to slash greenhouse gas emissions by 60 percent in the next decade from 2013 levels but climate campaigners said the revised target fell short of what was needed under the Paris Agreement to limit global warming.

Nearly 70 percent of Japan's power needs in 2023 were met by power plants burning coal, gas and oil

UN nuclear chief to view soil removed from Fukushima

Tokyo (AFP) – The UN nuclear watchdog chief arrives in Japan on Tuesday for a trip that will include his first visit to storage facilities for soil contaminated in the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) is undertaking a decades-long process to decommission the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant

Taiwan's Lai vows more investment in US as chip tariffs loom

Taipei (AFP) – Taiwan will boost investment in the United States and on its own defences, President Lai Ching-te said Friday, as Taipei seeks to head off US President Donald Trump’s threats of tariffs on its semiconductor chips.

TSMC has plans to open three fabrication plants in the United States

Hamas expected to name Israeli hostages it will free this weekend

Jerusalem (AFP) – Hamas was expected Friday to name three hostages it will release this weekend as part of a planned exchange for Palestinian prisoners, local media said, after days of uncertainty in which Israel threatened to scrap a nearly month-old Gaza ceasefire deal.

A billboard in Jerusalem shows people taken as hostages in Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel