Myanmar's junta said on Tuesday (Apr 27) that it will heed regional pleas to stop violence only when the coup-hit country "returns to stability", as fresh fighting erupted with a major ethnic rebel group along its eastern border.

The actress-turned-entrepreneur and her husband were fined RM30,000 while 20 members of their family were fined RM1,500 each.  

The guns have gone silent, schools have reopened and the bunkers are empty along Pakistan's restive ceasefire line with India, but even as residents in Kashmir relax thanks to an uneasy truce, they fear fighting may erupt again soon.

A towering wall of sand rushed over factories and apartment blocks in northwestern China's Gansu province as seasonal sandstorms barrelled across the country, causing air pollution and traffic accidents.

Olympic gold and silver medallists Park In-bee and Lydia Ko said Tuesday they were not worried about playing at the coronavirus-delayed Tokyo Games despite a surge in infections in Japan.

Chanting in Burmese their readiness to fight "for the people", around 120 youths jogged around a muddy forest clearing in the morning light in a video released by a group that has proclaimed itself a new fighting force against Myanmar's junta. A fou...

The first emergency medical supplies trickled into Covid-stricken India on Tuesday as part of a global campaign to staunch a catastrophic wave in the latest pandemic hotspot, with the United States also pledging to export millions of AstraZeneca vacc...

YANGON: Myanmar's junta will give "careful consideration to constructive suggestions" from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on ways to resolve violent turmoil triggered by a Feb 1 coup, the junta said. "The suggestions would be p...

MUMBAI: India's new COVID-19 cases stayed above 300,000 for a sixth consecutive day on Tuesday (Apr 27), while its armed forces pledged urgent medical aid to help battle the staggering spike in infections. Over the past 24 hours, India recorded 323...

HONG KONG: Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Tuesday (Apr 27) the government could intervene if necessary in the Bar Association, whose chief has been labelled an "anti-China politician" by Beijing's top representative office in the city. Paul Ha...

Children play cricket in a patch of scorched grass and scattered rubble in Abbottabad -- all that remains of the final lair of the man who was once the most wanted person on the planet.

TOKYO: Japan will open a mass vaccination centre in central Tokyo next month, officials said on Tuesday (Apr 27), part of the country's bid to speed up its COVID-19 inoculation campaign as the Olympic Games looms. Japan imposed a third state of emer...

BANGKOK: Thailand on Tuesday (Apr 27) reported 15 new COVID-19 deaths, another daily record in a fast-rising third wave that has prompted new shutdowns in Bangkok and other areas. The Health Ministry also reported 2,179 new daily infections.  Thail...

SYDNEY: Australia on Tuesday (Apr 27) suspended direct flights from India to prevent more virulent coronavirus variants entering the country following a surge in positive COVID-19 cases in the world's second-most populous nation. India's coronaviru...

Heavy fighting erupted at a Myanmar army outpost near the eastern border with Thailand early on Tuesday (Apr 27) in an area largely controlled by forces of a Karen ethnic army. The Karen National Union (KNU) said it had captured the army position, ...

Germany and China agreed on Monday (Apr 26) to step up their cooperation in combating climate change in an effort to help keep global temperatures from rising by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) by the year 2100.

SINGAPORE: Singapore-headquartered Grab announced earlier this month that it would go public in the United States by merging with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). With a near US$40 billion (about S$53 billion) valuation, this marks the b...

The tragic loss of KRI Nanggala lays bare the limits to international cooperation on submarine rescue, says RSIS’ Collin Koh.

An agreement between the United States and three of its closest Indo-Pacific partners to produce up to a billion coronavirus vaccine doses in India by the end of 2022 to supply other Asian countries is "still on track", senior US officials said on ...

With oxygen supplies of hospitals near empty, doctors across India are begging and borrowing cylinders of oxygen to keep their patients alive.

For Reuters photographer Danish Siddiqui, covering India's second wave of the coronavirus pandemic is a daily circuit of crematoriums, cemeteries and hospitals, capturing the struggles of a nation of 1.4 billion people.

SINGAPORE: Singapore's President Halimah Yacob and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong have written to Indonesian President Joko Widodo to express their condolences over the death of 53 crew members on board a sunken submarine. In a letter released by Si...

BANGKOK: Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha was fined on Monday (Apr 26) for not wearing a face mask in public while attending a meeting at Government House to discuss the COVID-19 situation in Thailand. In a Facebook post, Mr Prayut explained h...

SINGAPORE: Faculty at Nanyang Technological University's S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) have extended their condolences after the death of an alumnus who was the commander of Indonesia's sunken KRI Nanggala 402 submarine. Li...

BALI: A poignant video has emerged showing the crew of a sunken Indonesian submarine singing happily together on board their vessel. The video, filmed a few weeks before the KRI Nanggala 402 went down with all hands lost, shows some of the 53-stron...

Authorities in Nepal were grappling to contain the rapid rise of COVID-19 cases, with experts fearing that thousands of people in the Himalayan state have caught the more infectious mutant virus strains emerging out of India.

JAKARTA: The sinking of the Indonesian submarine KRI Nanggala 402 has drawn attention to the potential challenges of operating ageing military equipment in the Southeast Asian country.  This issue is complicated by the need to strike a balance be...

BEIJING: The reality TV ordeal of a Russian who joined a Chinese boy band show by accident - and made it to the finals despite urging fans to vote him off - has finally ended after nearly three months. Vladislav Ivanov, a 27-year-old from Vladivost...

Myanmar's junta again postponed court proceedings against deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday (Apr 26) her lawyers said, as they fight for permission to visit her 12 weeks after she was detained.

MANILA: The number of COVID-19 cases logged in the Philippines since the start of the pandemic topped 1 million on Monday (Apr 26), as a health official warned against easing restrictions, to give hospitals some "breathing room". Nearly 9,000 new in...

SINGAPORE: Singapore and Hong Kong on Monday (Apr 26) announced that a long-delayed air travel bubble between the two cities is set to launch on May 26, after it was deferred last year following a spike in COVID-19 cases in Hong Kong. Under the trav...

New COVID-19 restrictions came into force in Thailand on Monday (Apr 26) to try to halt a spiralling outbreak that saw deaths hit a record single-day high over the weekend.

Thailand has suspended issuing travel documents from India over concerns of imported COVID-19 cases, as more venues were closed in Bangkok on Monday (Apr 26) as part of efforts to contain a third wave of infections in the country.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian health authorities on Monday (Apr 26) said the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca is safe for use, three days after the Southeast Asian nation received its first batch of the shots bought through the global COVAX facility. Some...

BEIJING: Beijing-born Chloe Zhao was scrubbed from Chinese social media on Monday (Apr 26) as a nationalist backlash airbrushed out her remarkable achievement of becoming the first woman of colour to win the best director Oscar. Zhao on Sunday night...

JAKARTA: Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Monday (Apr 26) expressed his condolences to the families of 53 crew members aboard the sunken KRI Nanggala 402 submarine.  The submarine was found on Sunday broken into three parts at the bottom of the...

Anti-coup activists on Monday (Apr 26) called for people to stop paying their electricity bills and agricultural loans, and keep their children away from school, scorning the top general's pledge at a regional summit to end the post-coup crisis. Sca...

BENGALURU: India's new coronavirus infections hit a record peak for a fifth day on Monday (Apr 26), as countries including Britain, Germany and the United States pledged to send urgent medical aid to help battle the crisis overwhelming its hospitals...

TOKYO: Japan's ruling party suffered a triple blow at by-elections over the weekend, as voter frustration with scandals and government management of the coronavirus risked weakening the influence of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's government. Suga's...

SINGAPORE: Singapore and Hong Kong have agreed to set May 26 as the launch date of their travel bubble, both cities announced on Monday (Apr 26). Stricter conditions will be introduced for the travel bubble's resumption. This includes travellers ha...

BENGALURU: The Indian government asked social media platform Twitter to take down dozens of tweets, including some by local lawmakers, that were critical of India's handling of the coronavirus outbreak, as cases of COVID-19 again hit a world record. ...

HONG KONG: Chinese property developers have turned their sights to Hong Kong's border districts as mainlanders from neighbouring boomtown Shenzhen consider parts of the former British colony as a more affordable long-term housing prospect. The devel...

The China-born filmmaker behind Nomadland is the first Asian woman and second woman ever to win best director at the Academy Awards.

STOCKHOLM: Military expenditure worldwide rose to nearly US$2 trillion in 2020, defying the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers said on Monday (Apr 26). Global military spending increased by 2.6 per cent to US$1,981 billion in 2020...

A leading contender to succeed Angela Merkel as German chancellor this fall has called for “dialogue and toughness” toward China when it comes to defending democratic values and human rights.

SINGAPORE: Singapore state investment firm Temasek said on Sunday (Apr 25) that medical equipment, including much-needed oxygen-related supplies, are being sent from Singapore as India faces a surge in COVID-19 cases. Four cryogenic oxygen cylind...

BALI: All 53 crew members on board a sunken Indonesian submarine have been confirmed dead, with debris of the vessel found, said Indonesia's military chief on Sunday (Apr 25).  Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto said search teams had received "vis...

GUANYUN, China: Americans like their lingerie to be risque, Europeans prefer it more classy, and Chinese remain a bit shy but are opening up. But the biggest order of all came from North Korea. So goes the street-corner discussion in Guanyun, a sle...

ISKANDAR PUTERI, Johor: A move to allow Malaysian workers in Singapore who have received their COVID-19 vaccine to return home is being studied, said a Johor official on Sunday (Apr 25). Mohd Izhar Ahmad, chairman of the Johor Investment, Enterpren...

MELBOURNE: Conflict with China over Taiwan "should not be discounted", but Australia will work with its allies in the region to try and maintain peace, Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton said on Sunday (Apr 25). "I don't think it (conflict) sh...

BANGKOK: Thai authorities are stepping up travel restrictions and other measures to combat a rapidly spreading third wave of COVID-19 infections as the country logged 11 deaths on Sunday (Apr 25), a daily record. Although Thailand had success in lim...

MANILA: The Philippine coast guard is conducting drills in the South China Sea which an official said on Sunday (Apr 25) were part of efforts to secure "our maritime jurisdiction" over the disputed waters. The exercises near the Philippine-occupied...

India on Sunday reported a record daily rise of 349,691 new coronavirus infections, taking its overall tally to 16.96 million infections.

BALI: The hunt for a missing Indonesian submarine with 53 crew turned into a salvage effort Sunday (Apr 25) after recovered debris suggested it broke apart as it sank off the coast of Bali. Warships, planes and hundreds of military personnel had le...

TOKYO: The Japanese government is planning to open large vaccination centers in Tokyo and Osaka in the coming weeks to administer shots in a bid to speed up its inoculation drive, local media reported on Sunday (Apr 25). Japan only started vaccinati...

Myanmar's shadow government of ousted lawmakers has welcomed a call by Southeast Asian leaders for an end to "military violence" after their crisis talks in Jakarta with junta leader Min Aung Hlaing.

The market for health and beauty products in the country is soaring. But there have also been concerns about bogus and misleading claims, so how safe and effective are these supplements? The programme Undercover Asia investigates.

Despite official warnings to users, the new audio-based social media app has gained much popularity in Thailand. Can the Government use the app to reach out to opponents, asks a Thai professor.

SINGAPURA: Pusat penjaja Lorong 4 Toa Payoh yang terletak di Singapura terkenal dengan makanan jalanan yang murah dan enak seperti mi Hokkien, mi kuay chap dan mi wantan.  Namun dalam tempoh beberapa bulan kebelakangan ini, pengunjung mempunyai sat...

Sasqia Dahuri’s dishes have garnered praise from her customers, particularly Malaysians based in Singapore craving for the taste of traditional Kelantanese cuisine.

India's Bharat Biotech said on Saturday that it will supply Covaxin directly to state governments at 600 rupees per dose, while it will supply the vaccine directly to private hospitals at 1,200 rupees per dose.

SINGAPORE: Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have agreed on the need for an immediate stop to the violence in Myanmar after an emergency meeting in Jakarta on Saturday (Apr 24). The meeting, chaired by Brunei Sultan Hass...

GENEVA: A first case of the coronavirus variant contributing to the exploding COVID-19 outbreak in India has been detected in Switzerland, the public health authority said on Saturday (Apr 24). "The first case of the Indian variant of COVID-19 has ...

At least eight workers were killed and hundreds were rescued after an avalanche struck a remote Himalayan region near the China border in northern India, officials said Saturday.

KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian artist was detained by police late on Friday (Apr 23) for allegedly insulting the country's queen by making a Spotify playlist that mocked comments on the queen's Instagram account, an arrest condemned by rights groups as a ...

Nepal on Saturday inaugurated a replica of a historic tower that collapsed in a devastating 2015 earthquake, a day before the disaster's sixth anniversary.

India's coronavirus infections rose by 346,786 overnight, the health ministry said on Saturday, setting a new world record for the third consecutive day, as overwhelmed hospitals in the densely-populated country begged for oxygen supplies.

SINGAPORE: Myanmar junta leader Min Aung Hlaing has said he is not opposed to a visit by a delegation from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to help resolve the crisis in the country.  This came out of a meeting among leaders of A...

Malaysia received 268,800 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines on Friday night, its first batch from the pharmaceutical company, state news agency reported on Saturday.

Legs stiff from long days in the rice terraces of northern Vietnam, scores of female farmers dressed in colourful cloth headbands and skirts gather on a gravel pitch for a game of football.

BALI: There is evidence that the missing Indonesian KRI Nanggala 402 submarine has sunk, while objects have been recovered, said military chief Hadi Tjahjanto on Saturday (Apr 24).  Speaking at a press conference, he said: “The navy has found ...

Cambodia closed all markets in the capital Phnom Penh on Saturday to contain a spike in coronavirus infections as thousands of families plead for food during a two-week lockdown.

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's police on Saturday (Apr 24) arrested a member of parliament in connection with the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks that killed 279 people as pressure to speed up the investigation mounted. Detectives took Rishad Bathiudeen, leader ...

NEW DELHI: India's daily COVID-19 death toll passed a new record on Saturday (Apr 24) as the government battled to get oxygen supplies to hospitals overwhelmed by the hundreds of thousands of new daily cases. Queues of COVID-19 patients and their ...

A spokesperson for the Xinjiang region called accusations of genocide “counter to the facts” as China came under more pressure this week over its treatment of the Uighur ethnic group in the remote border area.

BANGKOK: Thailand curbed shop operating hours on Saturday (Apr 24) after the country recorded another record daily rise in COVID-19 cases and deaths amid a third wave of the pandemic. Shopping malls in 18 risky provinces, including in the capital Ba...

JAKARTA: Southeast Asian leaders held Myanmar crisis talks on Saturday (Apr 24) with junta leader Min Aung Hlaing who has become the focus of international outrage over a military coup and crackdown that has left more than 700 dead. The meeting of t...

BALI: Hopes of rescuing dozens aboard a missing Indonesian submarine faded Saturday (Apr 24) as its oxygen reserves were believed to have run out, turning the focus to retrieving the stricken vessel from waters off Bali. As hundreds of military per...

Former president Donald Trump on Friday accused his South Korean counterpart of ripping off the United States, while continuing to highlight his supposed friendship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Nationalist Chinese bloggers resemble militias arguing with one another which is what makes this a more complex battlefield than it appears, says the Financial Times’ Yuan Yang.

ASEAN must balance competing challenges in order to arrive at a meaningful outcome at the Special Summit, says Moe Thuzar.

US President Joe Biden’s early foreign policy offers promise, showing discipline, a focus on Asia and pressing issues on trade, taxation and more. The key question is whether this will last, says Dr Prashanth Parameswaran.

A new industrial boom is bringing high-tech investments to eastern Thailand. But in this drought-prone landscape, is there enough water to go around?

HONG KONG: A former member of a now defunct Hong Kong independence group was jailed on Friday (Apr 23) for possessing explosives during protests that swept the financial hub nearly two years ago. Louis Lo, 29, pleaded guilty to storing TATP, a high-...

LONDON: The West must urgently act to ensure that China does not dominate the key technologies of the 21st century or the communist state could effectively grab control of the world's global "operating system", Britain's top cyber spy said. Britain'...

HONG KONG: Hong Kong is to grant a site on the western Kowloon peninsula, close to the high-speed railway to the mainland, to Beijing's national security office for its permanent base in the city, the government said on Friday (Apr 23). The office, ...

Beijing on Friday (Apr 23) criticised British MPs after they approved a symbolic parliamentary motion declaring that Uighur Muslims in China were "suffering crimes against humanity and genocide", calling the accusations a "big lie".

YANGON: Protesters marched through downtown Yangon on Friday (Apr 23) to demand that regional leaders "stand with Myanmar people", ahead of a weekend ASEAN summit attended by junta leader Min Aung Hlaing. The country has been in turmoil since Feb 1...

SYDNEY: Australia's diving team said it was "not safe" to travel to Japan as they withdrew from a Tokyo Olympics test event on Friday (Apr 23) just three months before the pandemic-postponed Games begin. The Diving World Cup was set to take place fr...

TOKYO: Japan announced a new COVID-19 state of emergency in Tokyo and three other regions on Friday (Apr 23), as the country battles surging infections just three months before the Olympic opening ceremony. The nation's virus outbreak remains much s...

Japanese car giant Honda said on Friday (Apr 23) that it would aim to have electric and fuel cell vehicles account for 100 per cent of all sales by 2040 to promote climate goals.

TOKYO: Japan is singling out alcohol consumption in bars and restaurants in a new state of emergency for Tokyo, Osaka and two other prefectures, a response that highlights experts' belief that alcohol can help accelerate transmission of COVID-19. Th...

SINGAPORE: Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will travel to Jakarta on Saturday (Apr 24) to attend a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), where the crisis in army-ruled Myanmar is set to be discussed. Leaders at the ...

NEW DELHI: India is reeling from a new COVID-19 surge, stretching hospitals to the limit with dire shortages of beds, oxygen and drugs as more than 2,000 people die daily. Here's a look at the reasons for the vicious new wave and why the healthca...

BANYUWANGI, Indonesia: The past few days have been trying times for Mdm Yayak Dwi Ernawati, 46.  Her son-in-law, Mr Pandu Yudha Kusuma, 23 is among those serving on board the missing KRI Nanggala 402 submarine.  In an interview with CNA on Friday...

JAKARTA: Indonesia will stop issuing visas for foreigners who have been in India in the past 14 days to prevent the spread of different coronavirus strains, a government minister said on Friday (Apr 23). India is facing a health crisis, including t...

TOKYO: Japan will hold a joint military drill with United States and French troops in the country's southwest next month, the defence minister said on Friday (Apr 23), as China's actions in regional waters raise concern. The exercise, running from M...

MANILA: The Philippines has sent two new diplomatic protests to China over its failure to withdraw what it called on Friday (Apr 23) "threatening" vessels that were massing in contested areas of the South China Sea. The Philippines has ramped up its...

NEW DELHI: Sirens wailing, a police convoy escorting a tanker carrying oxygen reached a hospital in India's capital just in time, to the huge relief of doctors and relatives of COVID-19 patients counting on the supply to stave off death. India on Fr...

BENGALURU: India recorded the world's highest daily tally of coronavirus cases for a second day in a row on Friday (Apr 23), while daily deaths from COVID-19 also jumped by a record. With 332,730 new cases, India's total caseload has now passed 16 m...