Showing 1 - 10 of 356
Takaichi tipped for big win as Japan votes
AFP, Published on 08/02/2026
» TOKYO - Japan votes in snap elections Sunday with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi hoping to turn a honeymoon start into a resounding ballot box victory that could rile China and rattle financial markets.
Latest Epstein file dump rocks UK royals, politics
AFP, Published on 03/02/2026
» LONDON — Britain's former prince Andrew, his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson and a former UK ambassador to Washington were on Monday thrust back into the eye of the Jeffrey Epstein storm, as shocking emails with the late sex offender rocked political and royal circles.
China issues 73 life bans, punishes top football clubs for match-fixing
AFP, Published on 29/01/2026
» BEIJING - China's football association issued lifetime bans to 73 people, including former national team head coach Li Tie, and punished 13 top professional clubs for match-fixing and corruption, it said Thursday.
Fraudsters flee Cambodia's 'scam city' after accused boss taken down
AFP, Published on 16/01/2026
» SIHANOUKVILLE (CAMBODIA) - Hundreds of people dragged away suitcases, computer monitors, pets and furniture as they fled a suspected Cambodian cyberfraud centre, after the country's most wanted alleged scam kingpin was arrested and deported.
Twenty-six charged in latest basketball gambling scandal
AFP, Published on 16/01/2026
» LOS ANGELES - Twenty-six people have been charged with fixing US college and Chinese professional basketball games in an alleged transnational criminal conspiracy, federal prosecutors said on Thursday.
Vietnamese caught in Japan's illegal worker crackdown
AFP, Published on 07/01/2026
» TOKYO — For a decade, Vietnamese worker Minh did tough jobs like sandblasting ships and welding steel, helping address rapidly ageing Japan's dire labour needs.
Upstart gangsters shake Japan's yakuza
AFP, Published on 19/12/2025
» TOKYO - When Takanori Kuzuoka began climbing the criminal career ladder, he didn't fancy joining Japan's old-school yakuza, with their tattoos, rigid hierarchy and codes of honour.
In the black: the business of mourning Thailand's queen mother
AFP, Published on 31/10/2025
» In a bustling Bangkok market, hundreds of wholesale vendors have been selling black clothing since dawn -- several with hefty discounts -- in honour of Thailand's late former queen.
Myanmar junta says seized 30 Starlink receivers in scam centre raid
AFP, Published on 20/10/2025
» YANGON - Myanmar's junta raided one of the country's most notorious cyberscam centres and seized Starlink satellite internet devices, it said Monday, after an AFP investigation revealed an explosion in their use in the multibillion-dollar illicit industry.
Rare woman yakuza on path to redemption in Japan
AFP, Published on 16/10/2025
» GIFU — A missing fingertip offers a clue to Mako Nishimura's criminal past as one of Japan's few women yakuza. But after clawing her way out of the underworld, she now spends her days helping other retired gangsters reintegrate into society.