Asia in 3 minutes: China’s exploding iPhones, the Hong Kong taxi driver taking breastfeeding photos and a serial hair-snipper in Japan

Apple shrugs off reports of exploding iPhones in China

Apple has blamed “external physical damage” for causing a handful of iPhones to explode or catch fire in China and insisted that its handsets posed no safety problem. Fresh on the heels of Samsung’s worldwide Galaxy Note 7 safety fiasco, a Shanghai consumer watchdog said last Friday it had received eight recent reports of iPhones that spontaneously combusted while being used or charged. The watchdog’s report quoted one woman as saying her iPhone 6s Plus exploded in August, shattering the screen and leaving the battery and back of the phone blackened. The council said it had received a sixfold surge in complaints against Apple in the past two months.

WHAT NEXT? The US tech giant said it had retrieved units for analysis and conducted thorough tests on phones which had experienced “thermal events”, but brushed off safety concerns. “We treat safety as a top priority and have found no cause for concern with these products,” Apple said.

U.N. urges Suu Kyi to act over claims of military violence against Rohingya

The UN has urged Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi to visit the country’s divided northwest to reassure civilians they will be protected amid accusations that soldiers have raped Rohingya Muslim women, burnt houses and killed civilians. Soldiers have poured into the area along Myanmar’s frontier with Bangladesh, responding to coordinated attacks on three border posts on October 9 that killed nine police officers. “The refusal by the Myanmar authorities to take a strong stance against hardliners, and the adoption of a generally defensive rather than proactive approach to providing security to the local population, have caused frustration locally and disappointment internationally,” Vijay Nambiar, special adviser to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, said.

WHAT NEXT? Suu Kyi last Friday accused “the international community” of stoking resentment between Buddhists and Muslims in Myanmar’s northwest. The army crackdown in Rakhine State has killed at least 86 people and sent 10,000 fleeing over the border to Bangladesh.

Taxi driver arrested in Hong Kong over photos of breastfeeding mother

Police officers arrested a taxi driver who had posted a picture online of a breastfeeding passenger, following a public outcry. They intercepted the 48-year-old man at the junction of Tai Po Road and Pei Ho Street, near his home in Sham Shui Po, on Thursday.

WHAT NEXT? The posting of the photo, apparently taken by a device on the dashboard, drew criticism from breastfeeding advocates, political parties and government officials. Health minster Ko Wing-man on Sunday urged people to show respect for breastfeeding mothers, and slammed the act for its intrusion on privacy.