Beijing / AFP China signed an agreement to restore diplomatic relations with Sao Tome and Principe on Monday, just days after the small African nation announced it had cut ties with Taiwan. The move comes amid heightened tensions between Beijing and the independence-leaning government of the self-ruled island, which Chinese leaders view as a “renegade province.” Chinese foreign minister Wang ...

  Seoul / AFP A handful of South Korean lawmakers on Monday finally got to question the woman at the heart of the impeachment crisis surrounding President Park Geun-Hye, after she snubbed a televised hearing at her detention centre. Choi Soon-Sil, a long-time friend of the president, has repeatedly ignored several summons to appear before a parliamentary committee probing a corruption ...

  Banda Aceh / AFP Thousands of Indonesians prayed for their loved ones at mass graves and mosques on Monday to mark a tsunami which devastated Aceh province 12 years ago today, one of the worst natural disasters in human history. Some 170,000 lives were lost in the country when a 9.1-magnitude “megathrust” quake struck Aceh, a predominantly Muslim province in ...