From around Asia, here are five stories you may have missed this week.
Indian naval officers and attendees gather on deck during the commissioning of the domestically built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant at the Cochin Shipyard in Cochin, India, September 2, 2022. /CFP
India commissioned its first domestically built aircraft carrier on Friday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi commissioned the INS Vikrant – the country’s second operational aircraft carrier and the largest warship ever built in India – at a state-run shipyard in the southern city of Kochi. The ship will accommodate a crew of about 1,600 and a fleet of 30 aircraft.
The name has been recycled after the country’s first aircraft carrier, a British-origin ship, also called Vikrant which saw action in 1971, and was retired from service in 1997. The new ship was commissioned after 17 years of construction and tests.
Tourists gather at the fifth Station of the Subaru Line of Mount Fuji, about 70 kilometers west of Tokyo, Japan, August 14, 2022. /CFP
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said the country will conditionally allow foreign tourists to travel without a chaperone from Wednesday. The daily limit for arrivals – including Japanese nationals, foreign residents, and those entering on tourist and business visas – will be raised to 50,000 from 20,000.
Since June, Tokyo had mandated guided tours for all travelers. The Japan Times reported that the country, “which in 2019 received a record 31.9 million visitors, welcomed 8,155 tourists in June and July, said the Immigration Services Agency of Japan.” Tourism typically contributes to about 7.5 percent of the country’s GDP.
Rosmah Mansor, wife of former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, arrives at Kuala Lumpur High Court in Kuala Lumpur, September 1, 2022. /CFP
A Malaysian court on Thursday sentenced Rosmah Mansor, the wife of former Prime Minister Najib Razak, to a decade in prison for receiving bribes in exchange for government contracts, just days after her husband was jailed for corruption. A Reuters report said, “A flamboyant figure by Najib's side, Rosmah was widely scorned in Malaysia for her extravagant lifestyle and penchant for Hermes Birkin bags, and faced repeated questions over her influence in government matters.”
Rosmah will also have to pay a fine of 970 million ringgit ($216.45 million) – a record amount in Malaysia's history – over three bribery charges, Kuala Lumpur High Court Judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan said, adding that the prosecution proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt.
Senior Mission Chief for Sri Lanka of the IMF Peter Breuer (2nd R) speaks during a press conference next to Mission Chief for Sri Lanka (IMF) Masahiro Nozaki (2nd L) in Colombo, September 1, 2022. /CFP
Sri Lanka, facing its worst economic crisis ever, reached an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday for a $2.9 billion loan, a key step for the bankrupt country to unlock more funding and restructure its debt.
The Extended Fund Facility will support Sri Lanka’s program to restore economic stability and debt sustainability, the IMF said on Thursday. The 48-month program will be subject to approval by IMF management and the board.
A China Mobile logo seen in Shanghai. /CFP
And in China, the number of internet users hit 1.05 billion in June 2022, with 99.6 percent of them being cellphone users, according to the 50th China Statistical Report on Internet Development released by China Internet Network Information Center on Wednesday.
The report also noted that 74.4 percent of the Chinese population has access to the internet now, via mobile phone, desktop computer, laptop, TV and tablet computer.
(Cover: India's new domestically built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant at the Cochin Shipyard in Cochin, India, September 2, 2022. /CFP)