SINGAPORE: Singaporeans in Myanmar have been advised to consider leaving while it is still possible to do so. Citing the "rapidly escalating clashes between protesters and the Myanmar security forces" and the rising number of civilian casualties, Si...

Photos show North Korea may be trying to extract plutonium

NEW DELHI: Three Myanmar police constables have crossed over to India's northeastern state of Mizoram to seek refuge there, rather than carry out orders given by the military junta, an Indian police official said on Thursday (Mar 4). The three men c...

Thailand probes Facebook's removal of army-linked accounts

JAKARTA: President Joko Widodo said on Thursday (Mar 4) that Indonesian consumers should be encouraged to “love” domestic brands and “hate” foreign products, as he urged officials to stay the course in pushing for 5 per cent economic growth...

China said on Thursday it firmly opposes the practice of countries establishing official institutions in Taiwan, following Lithuania's decision to open a trade representation office there.

UNITED NATIONS: The UN special envoy for Myanmar said the generals who have seized power in the Southeast Asian nation indicated they do not fear renewed sanctions, though they are “very surprised” that their plans to restore military rule withou...

POCHEON, South Korea: “It’s a world of lawlessness,” Reverend Kim Dal-sung muttered over the phone as he drove his tiny KIA over narrow dirt paths zigzagging through greenhouses made of plastic sheets and tubes. In the bleak landscape of dull...

Overseas spectators are likely to be shut out from the Tokyo Olympics, Japanese media reported on Thursday (Mar 4), after organisers said that public safety would be the "top priority" at the COVID-19-delayed Games.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong has been removed from an annual index of the world's freest economies because the think-tank that compiles the league table said the city was now directly controlled by Beijing. The announcement is a reputational blow for Hong ...

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen inoculated against COVID-19

ISHINOMAKI: Yuto Naganuma looks silently as the cold sea breeze sweeps over the crumbling walls of the school where his little brother was lost in Japan's devastating 2011 tsunami. Ten years on, Naganuma and others like him form a generation whose y...

Myanmar police broke up demonstrations in several places with tear gas and gunfire on Thursday (Mar 4) but there was no immediate word on casualties a day after the United Nations said 38 people had been killed in the bloodiest day since last month's...

South Korea economy shrank in 2020 for first time in 22 years

Marathon bail proceedings for 47 Hong Kong democracy activists charged with conspiracy to commit subversion enter their fourth day on Thursday (Mar 4), in a landmark case after the most sweeping use yet of the city's national security law.

SHANGHAI: Mainland China reported 10 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday (Mar 3), matching the figure from a day earlier, the country's national health authority said on Thursday. The National Health Commission said in a statement that all of the new c...

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un stressed the significance of the role that city and county chief secretaries have in improving the lives of the people and carrying out his five-year economic policies, state news media KCNA said on Thursday.

NEW YORK: How about this for bargain-hunting? A small bowl bought for US$35 in a yard sale in the United States turned out to be a rare 15th century Chinese artefact possibly worth US$500,000. The porcelain bowl - with delicate floral motifs - was...

SEOUL: A transgender South Korean soldier who was forcibly discharged from the army after gender reassignment surgery has been found dead, police said, prompting anger on Thursday (Mar 4) and calls for legal reforms. Firefighters found Byun Hee-soo ...

Bangladesh is moving nearly 4,000 more Rohingya Muslim refugees to a remote Bay of Bengal island, officials said on Wednesday (Mar 3), despite complaints from rights groups concerned about the site's vulnerability to storms and flooding.

Biden plans to build a concert of democracies to contain China, but this will leave everyone worse off, say Andrew Sheng and Xiao Geng.

Vaccines are only effective if people can get vaccinated. Progress on that front is incredibly uneven, says a university dean.

Moving towards a peaceful resolution of the crisis is the only way forward for sense to prevail, says Nehginpao Kipgen.

YANGON: At least 38 people died on Wednesday (Mar 3) in the "bloodiest" day of Myanmar's crisis, the United Nations said, as the military government defied growing international condemnation of its coup with a violent crackdown that the US said lef...

WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden singled out a "growing rivalry with China" as a key challenge facing the United States, with his top diplomat describing the Asian country as "the biggest geopolitical test" of this century. The administration rolled ...

Facebook has taken down 185 accounts and groups engaged in an information influencing operation in Thailand run by the military, the company said on Wednesday (Mar 3), the first time it has taken down Thai accounts with ties to the government.

LONDON: The UK will receive 10 million AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses made by the Serum Institute of India (SII), the UK government said on Tuesday (Mar 2). SII, the world's largest vaccine manufacturer by volume, is mass producing the AstraZene...

A plan by Sri Lanka to bury Muslim coronavirus victims on a remote islet was slammed on Wednesday by locals and the minority community.

BANGKOK: Since arriving in Thailand a few years ago, Myanmar migrant worker Own Mar Shwe had been sending money home every month for her family to buy food and medicine. That came to an abrupt halt last month. Like millions of Myanmar migrants who ...

KUALA LUMPUR: Audit firm Deloitte PLT will pay Malaysia's government US$80 million to resolve all claims related to its auditing of accounts of scandal-linked state fund 1MDB and its unit SRC International from 2011 to 2014, the finance ministry said...

BEIJING: Former Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, among the most vocal supporters of Beijing's moves to tighten control over the territory, did not rule out a return to his former post in an interview on Wednesday (Mar 3). "I'd do anything ...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Takiyuddin Hassan has reiterated that there would be no parliamentary sittings during Malaysia's state of emergency which is slated to last until Aug 1.  Speaking during a pre...

YANGON: At least 10 people were killed when Myanmar security forces fired on protesters on Wednesday (Mar 3) as multiple rallies across the country descended into violence. Myanmar has been in uproar since Feb 1 when the military launched a coup...

Government ministers and officials were following Prime Minister Narendra Modi lead by opting on Tuesday for an Indian-made COVID-19 vaccine approved without late-stage efficacy data, instead of the AstraZeneca one.

An endangered turtle bred in captivity laid eggs for the first time in Cambodia, conservationists said this week, in a massive win for animal protection in the kingdom.

YANGON: Myanmar's military authorities have charged an Associated Press photographer and five other journalists over their coverage of anti-coup protests, their lawyer said on Wednesday (Mar 3). AP photographer Thein Zaw, 32, was arrested on Satur...

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa on Wednesday launched a search for eight people to join him as the first private passengers on a trip around the moon with Elon Musk's SpaceX.

SEOUL: South Korean authorities said on Wednesday (Mar 3) they are investigating the deaths of two people after a media report said the pair - both with pre-existing conditions - died within days of receiving AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine. A 63-yea...

HONG KONG: A Hong Kong teenager became the youngest person so far to plead guilty to rioting during 2019's huge protests on Wednesday (Mar 3), as he admitted throwing a petrol bomb at police when aged just 14. The judge accepted advice from the city...

Protests against a military coup in Myanmar showed no sign of abating with more planned across the country on Wednesday (Mar 3), while Myanmar's ousted President Win Myint is said to be facing two new charges. Security forces fired rubber bullets an...

JOHOR BAHRU: There are signs that Johor Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim may be interested in buying over Spanish La Liga club Valencia, currently owned by Singapore businessman Peter Lim. Tunku Ismail posted a series of Instagram stories ...

TAIPEI: Health experts in China say their country is lagging in its coronavirus vaccination roll-out because it has the disease largely under control, but plans to inoculate 40 per cent of its population by June. Zhong Nanshan, the leader of a group...

HONG KONG: Bail proceedings for 47 Hong Kong democracy activists charged with conspiracy to commit subversion entered the third day on Wednesday (Mar 3), following marathon hearings that have gone on late into the night and led to some defendants fal...

An overwhelming majority of Japanese said they were "interested in the Olympics", although 58 per cent said they did not want them to be held because of fears over COVID-19, a Yomiuri daily poll showed on Wednesday (Mar 3).

TOKYO: Last week, about 600 people were tested for the coronavirus in the city of Utsunomiya, north of Tokyo: The Japanese government's first stab at systematic random and targeted testing that it hopes will prevent a new wave of infections. About 3...

TOKYO: Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa on Wednesday (Mar 3) launched a search for eight people to join him as the first private passenger on a trip around the moon with Elon Musk's SpaceX. He had originally planned to invite artists for the wee...

"As a Southeast Asian woman, being able to have our first Disney princess be inspired by my culture and my people? I feel like that's a huge move in the right direction," said Adele Lim, who also penned Crazy Rich Asians.

The Chinese Communist party system needs entrepreneurs but curtails anyone who becomes too powerful, says the Financial Times' Jamil Anderlini.

WASHINGTON: A China-linked cyber-espionage group has been remotely plundering email inboxes using freshly discovered flaws in Microsoft mail server software, the company and outside researchers said on Tuesday (Mar 2) - an example of how commonly us...

Myanmar's military junta and the envoy sent by its toppled civilian government have launched contradictory claims over who represents the country at the United Nations, officials said Tuesday.

More than a third of Chinese-Australians surveyed reported facing discrimination last year, in a report released on Wednesday (Mar 2) that points to a souring relationship with Beijing and COVID-19 as driving forces.

Hong Kong authorities on Tuesday (Mar 2) reported the death of a chronically ill man, two days after he received a COVID-19 vaccine and said that it is too early to conclude whether the vaccine was related to his death.

Sri Lankan Roman Catholic Church officials declared a “Black Sunday” this weekend to demand justice for the victims of 2019 Easter Sunday bomb attacks that killed more than 260 people.

The government assured Indians on Tuesday that there were plenty of COVID-19 vaccines for the country even though it has sent quantities overseas.

Tokyo will ask the Japanese government to extend a state of emergency by about two weeks for the capital and three neighbouring prefectures due to a slowdown in the decline of COVID-19 cases, the Nikkei business daily reported on Tuesday.

JAKARTA: Southeast Asian foreign ministers urged a halt to violence and the start of talks on a peaceful solution in Myanmar, where the military seized power from an elected government and is escalating its use of mass arrests and deadly force agains...

NEW DELHI: Amazon.com's Prime Video streaming service on Tuesday (Mar 2) issued a rare apology to its Indian viewers for some scenes in its original political drama series Tandav, which allegedly hurt Hindu religious beliefs. Tandav, a Hindi word me...

China on Tuesday rejected an allegation by a cyber intelligence firm that a state-backed hacking group targeted the IT systems of two Indian coronavirus vaccine makers.

BANGKOK: A Thai criminal court on Tuesday (Mar 2) approved an arrest warrant for an anti-government activist accused of burning a portrait of the country's king over the weekend. Police said activist Chaiamorn Kaewwiboonpan was responsible for setti...

SINGAPORE: The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) must reiterate its guiding principles, including adherence to democracy and respect for human rights when it comes to the situation in Myanmar, failing which member states will have no ...

TAIPEI: The de facto US and Canadian embassies in Taiwan on Tuesday (Mar 2) praised the quality of pineapples grown on the island, depicting photographs of their top diplomats in Taipei with the fruit after an import ban by China. China last week s...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia on Tuesday (Mar 2) granted conditional approval for the use of vaccines made by UK firm AstraZeneca and China's Sinovac, just days after launching its nationwide COVID-19 inoculation programme. Malaysia began its vaccination d...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia announced that it will ease COVID-19 restrictions and reinstate the conditional movement control order (CMCO) for Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Johor and Penang.  Making the announcement during a press conference on Tuesday (Mar 2...

JAKARTA: Indonesia has detected two cases of the more infectious COVID-19 variant first discovered in Britain, officials said on Tuesday (Mar 2), marking a potential new complication for the country as it tries to contain one of the worst coronavirus...

SINGAPORE: The Myanmar military's use of lethal force in ongoing demonstrations is a "disastrous" move, said Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. At least 18 people died on Sunday, said the United Nations human rights office, as Myanmar author...

BANGKOK: Thailand's prime minister said on Tuesday (Mar 2) he has commissioned a study to look into issuing COVID-19 vaccination certificates for international travellers, as the country seeks to revive a tourism industry battered by coronavirus curb...

TOKYO: A US father-son pair accused of helping former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn in his audacious escape from Japan arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday (Mar 2) after losing their battle against extradition, local media said. Former US special forces member Mi...

A decision by South Korean health authorities to allow more doses to be extracted from coronavirus vaccine vials sparked controversy on Tuesday as the country ramped up its vaccinations of healthcare workers and the elderly.

SHANGHAI: Five years ago, China under President Xi Jinping pledged to become a football power by 2050. But the financial collapse of the newly crowned Chinese champions raises fresh questions over that lofty goal. Jiangsu FC on Sunday (Feb 28) said ...

SINGAPORE: Malaysia's largest electricity utility, Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), and Singapore-based solar firm Sunseap Group announced on Tuesday (Mar 2) they are forming a joint venture to trial clean electricity imports into Singapore from Malaysi...

MANILA: The Philippines has sacked its former ambassador to Brazil, after she was caught on camera attacking a domestic worker at her official residence in Brasilia. Marichu Mauro was recalled to Manila late last year after Brazil's GloboNews channe...

The leader of Taiwan's main opposition party the Kuomintang (KMT) said on Tuesday he is in no rush to travel to China to meet President Xi Jinping, and that Beijing's proposals to get Taiwan to accept Communist rule had "no market" on the island.

Indonesia's Mount Sinabung volcano sent a cloud of hot ash as high as 3km on Tuesday, in its first big eruption since August last year.

TOKYO: Japan said on Tuesday (Mar 2) an investigation would be launched after more than 1,000 coronavirus vaccine doses had to be thrown out when a freezer storing them malfunctioned. A medical institution reported that 172 vials of the Pfizer-BioNT...

Foreign ministers of Southeast Asian countries prepared for a special meeting with Myanmar's ruling military on Tuesday in an effort to quell deadly violence and open a channel to tackle its escalating political crisis.

A Myanmar reporter was attacked in his home and detained by the military, his employer said Tuesday, after days of crackdowns by the junta on anti-coup protesters.

SEOUL: South Korea is drafting an extra budget of 15 trillion won (US$13.38 billion), it said on Tuesday (Mar 2), to boost support for small businesses and safeguard jobs as the resurgent coronavirus forces the government to retain social distancing ...

MANILA: The Philippines has documented six cases of the South African coronavirus variant, its health ministry said on Tuesday (Mar 2), raising concern among its experts that the current vaccines might be less effective. The Philippines started its ...

HONG KONG: Dozens of Hong Kong activists charged with subversion are back in court on Tuesday (Mar 2) to complete a marathon bail hearing that was adjourned overnight when four defendants were rushed to hospital after hours of legal wrangling. Polic...

BEIJING: China's annual session of parliament will chart a course for economic recovery and unveil a five-year plan to fend off stagnation, as strategic rivalry with the United States spurs a shift to reliance on consumption and home-grown technology...

SHANGHAI: China reported 11 new COVID-19 cases on Mar 1, down from 19 cases a day earlier, the country's national health authority said on Tuesday (Mar 2). The National Health Commission, in a statement, said all of the new cases were imported infec...

COVID-19 vaccines offer welcome hope. But translating this into effective action will require policymakers to be resourceful in mitigating delays, inequality, and geopolitical risk, says Khor Swee Kheng.

Misinformation and the incessant jockeying for political power are complicating Malaysia’s battle against the coronavirus, says ISEAS-Yusof Ishak’s Serina Rahman.

Prince Harry, who shocked Britain last year when he and his wife Meghan stepped back from royal duties, told U.S. interviewer Oprah Winfrey that he had worried about history repeating itself, according to excerpts released on Sunday.

WASHINGTON: An American father and son were handed to Japanese officials on Monday (Mar 1), their lawyer said, after losing an extradition battle over accusations they helped former Renault-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn to flee Japan. Michael Taylor and...

A power failure that crippled India's financial capital of Mumbai in western Maharashtra state last year could have been a case of cyber sabotage, a local minister said on Monday, as China denied a report that it was behind the outage.

Police in Sri Lanka said on Monday (Mar 1) they have arrested two people in connection with the death of a nine-year-old girl who was repeatedly beaten during a ritual they believed would drive away an evil spirit.

Cambodia's exiled opposition figurehead Sam Rainsy was sentenced in absentia to 25 years in jail Monday over an alleged plot to overthrow strongman Hun Sen's government, a court official said.

More than 1,000 shots of coronavirus vaccine went to waste in Japan after storage temperatures deviated from a required range due to a freezer malfunction, the health ministry said on Monday, the country's first such case of wasted vaccines.

BEIJING: China has banned school teachers from meting out any punishment that can cause physical or mental trauma, after a string of student deaths linked to harsh discipline in recent years. New rules issued by the Ministry of Education that take e...

Hundreds of Bangladeshi activists staged a fourth day of protests Monday over the death of a writer in detention as the UN rights chief called for a review of a digital security law used against opposition figures.

The chief editor of an independent Malaysian news outlet was questioned by police Monday on suspicion of sedition after he criticised the conviction of his website for contempt.

A Chinese state-backed hacking group has in recent weeks targeted the IT systems of two Indian vaccine makers whose coronavirus shots are being used in the country's immunisation campaign, cyber intelligence firm Cyfirma told Reuters.

TOKYO: Tokyo has requested Beijing to stop taking anal swab tests for COVID-19 on Japanese citizens as the procedure causes psychological pain, a government spokesman said on Monday (Mar 1). Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said the government...

JAKARTA: Indonesian resort island Bali has launched a drive-thru vaccination campaign targeting thousands of hospitality workers, as the popular tourist destination eyes reopening to foreign visitors. Billed as the first such campaign in Southeast A...

Japanese government and ruling party officials are discussing possible additional cash payouts to low-income households to help them cope with the coronavirus pandemic, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Monday.

SINGAPORE: Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan on Monday (Mar 1) called on Myanmar's military to stop the use of lethal force on civilians and the immediate release of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and other political d...

YANGON: Ousted Myanmar civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi faced court on Monday (Mar 1) via video link, being seen by her lawyer for the first time since a military coup one month ago triggered relentless and massive protests. Aung San Suu Kyi's appe...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia plans to cull 3,000 wild and domestic pigs after an outbreak of African swine fever in wild boar and backyard pigs in the state of Sabah on Borneo island in mid-February. The disease was detected in at least 300 pigs in three ...

JOHOR BAHRU: With Malaysia's COVID-19 immunisation programme under way, Johor's chief minister hopes negotiations on travel arrangements between the country and Singapore will resume. "Opening of borders, the green travel bubble, all other arrang...