4.30am Kaipara, New ZealandJames Brady, farmer We’ve got a small dairy farm, north of Auckland. We milk 200 cows and have a small amount of beef cattle and young stock. We start about 4.30am in the morning – checking cows, feeding, milking and then we do it again in the afternoon. Most of the day is spent tending to stock, moving animals, and we’re busy renewing pastures at the moment. Diesel is our main fuel – we run two tractors and machinery. We have quad bikes that run on petrol.…
Tag: Thailand
Malaysian vessels permitted to travel through strait of Hormuz, country’s PM says after Iran talks
Malaysia’s prime minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Thursday he had spoken to the leaders of Iran, Egypt, Turkey and other regional countries and that Malaysian vessels were now being allowed to pass through the strait of Hormuz. In a televised address, Anwar thanked Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, for allowing the passage of Malaysian ships. “We are now in the process of releasing the Malaysian oil tankers and the workers involved so that they may continue their journey home,” he said. Malaysia, despite being an oil-producing nation, is highly dependent on…
Lunar new year 2026: year of the fire horse around the world – in pictures
From the heart of Beijing to far-flung Manila, Panama, Moscow and New York, communities around the globe ring in the lunar new year Continue reading… The Guardian
Sir Nick White obituary
The idea that a traditional Chinese herbal treatment could be the answer to drug-resistant malaria was tough to swallow for many policymakers in global health. With a combination of dogged persistence, commitment to communities in affected countries and impeccable research design, Nick White changed their minds. He led a campaign to make antimalarial drug combinations containing artemisinin, extracted in China from a common plant, the globally recommended treatment for the most common form of malaria. Millions of lives have been saved as a result. White, who has died aged 74,…
A Times Reporter Goes Inside a Cyberscam Center in a War Zone
Holy moly. Look at these phones. The floor is just littered with SIM cards. We’re in Myanmar. Only weeks after rebel fighters took control of a cyberscam center near the border with Thailand. For years, Chinese criminals have used ordinary office spaces like this in the middle of the jungle to target Americans in elaborate online fraud. OK, here we are, the nerve center of this multibillion-dollar industry that is scamming people all across the world. More than 3,000 people from dozens of countries were once employed here, joining an…
Cuddling capybaras and ogling otters: the problem with animal cafes in Asia
The second floor of an unassuming office building in central Bangkok is a strange place to encounter the world’s largest rodent. Yet here, inside a small enclosure with a shallow pool, three capybaras are at the disposal of dozens of paying customers – all clamouring for a selfie. As people eagerly thrust leafy snacks toward the nonchalant-looking animals, few seem to consider the underlying peculiarity: how, exactly, did this South American rodent end up more than 10,000 miles from home, in a bustling Asian metropolis? Capybara cafes have been cropping…
Alleged gambling kingpin linked to scam centres extradited from Thailand to China
She Zhijiang, an alleged transnational crime kingpin accused by Beijing of having run more than 200 illegal online gambling operations, is being extradited to China from Bangkok on Wednesday, Thai police have said. The Chinese national is perhaps the most prominent figure among Asia’s alleged cybercrime operators to be arrested, and has been linked to regional scam networks by the US. She, 43, a Chinese national who also holds a Cambodian passport, was arrested by Thai police in August 2022 on an international warrant and an Interpol red notice requested…
Trump in Asia: five key questions as US president prepares for diplomatic tour
Donald Trump is about to embark on a tour of Asia that many hope will ease trade tensions with countries in the region and repair damaged ties with China. Trump will begin his trip on Sunday at a meeting of south-east Asian nations in Malaysia, before flying to Japan to meet its new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, early next week. But the most important stop on his itinerary will come at the end of the month, when he is expected to discuss trade, and possibly Taiwan, with Chinese leader Xi…
Thailand reports 14 people killed in clashes at border with Cambodia
Thailand and Cambodia fought in their most deadly border clashes in more than a decade on Thursday, with Thai officials reporting 13 civilians and a Thai soldier were killed in rocket and artillery attacks. Clashes broke out on Thursday morning after weeks of simmering tensions over a long-running border dispute between the south-east-Asian neighbours. Both countries accused each other of opening fire first. At least 13 Thai civilians and one soldier were killed in artillery shelling by Cambodian forces, according to Thai authorities, while 14 soldiers and 32 other civilians…
The Chinese émigrés leaving the pressures of home for laid back Chiang Mai
Approaching her mid-30s, Xiong Yidan reckons that most of her friends are on to their second or even third babies. But Xiong has more than a dozen. There is Lucky, the street dog from Bangkok who jumped into a taxi with her and never left. There is Sophie and Ben, sibling geese, who honk from morning to night. Boop and Pan, both goats, are romantically involved. Dumpling the hedgehog enjoys a belly rub from time to time. The list goes on. Xiong nurtures her brood from her 8,000 square metre…