JAKARTA: Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo reshuffled his Cabinet on Wednesday (Apr 28), after the parliament approved his plan to reorganise several ministries while creating a new investment ministry.   This was his second Cabinet reshuffle i...

The young widow of an ageing Japanese real estate mogul was arrested on Wednesday (Apr 28) on suspicion of murdering the self-described "Don Juan" just months into their marriage, local media said, citing police sources.

TAIPEI: Chinese vaccine makers are looking at mixing their jabs and whether a booster shot could help better protect against COVID-19. Sinovac and Sinopharm, the two Chinese manufacturers that combined have exported hundreds of millions of doses all...

KUALA LUMPUR: The AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine will not be used in Malaysia’s mainstream national COVID-19 vaccination programme, said Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation Khairy Jamaluddin. Speaking at a joint press conference with Mi...

Pakistan recorded more than two hundred COVID-19 deaths in a day for the first time since the start of the pandemic on Tuesday (Apr 27), as the government said it was considering stricter lockdowns.

India's giant IT firms in Bengaluru and other cities have set up COVID-19 "war-rooms" as they scramble to source oxygen, medicine and hospital beds for infected workers and maintain backroom operations for the world's biggest financial firms.

TAIPEI: Taiwan's government on Wednesday (Apr 28) accused China of waging economic warfare against the island's tech sector by stealing technology and enticing away engineers, as parliament considers strengthening legislation to prevent this. Taiwan...

Myanmar's pro-democracy unity government, which includes members of parliament ousted by the military coup, has told Southeast Asia's regional bloc that it will not engage in talks until the junta releases all political prisoners. The 10-member Asso...

SEOUL: South Korea said on Wednesday (Apr 28) it will offer some exemptions to mandatory quarantine measures for people who have been fully inoculated against COVID-19, in an effort to encourage more vaccinations. South Korea has so far vaccinated 4...

NEW DELHI: India's toll from the coronavirus surged past 200,000 on Wednesday (Apr 28), the country's deadliest day yet, as shortages of oxygen, medical supplies and hospital staff members compounded a record number of new infections. The second wa...

Himanshu Verma sighed in relief as a mask was fitted over his mother's face, allowing the Covid-19 sufferer to breathe in oxygen as she sat alongside a busy road on the outskirts of New Delhi.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's exports jumped 31 per cent in March from a year earlier, rising at their fastest pace in nearly four years, as the Southeast Asian country continued to shake off the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, government data showed on...

The heirs to South Korea's Samsung group announced their plans to pay more than $10 billion in death duties Wednesday -- one of the world's biggest ever inheritance tax settlements -- including donating Picasso and Monet artworks.

SINGAPORE: The Singapore Government has sent a consignment of oxygen cylinders to support India’s COVID-19 pandemic response, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday (Apr 28). This comes as India continues to battle a new wave of COVID-1...

BEIJING: Tiny unicorns and cartoon girls in clown costumes line the shelves of Wang Zhaoxue's study in Beijing - tokens of China's mania for "blind boxes" that has made fortunes for toymakers and even caught the attention of those in power. The 18-...

GUWAHATI, India: An earthquake of magnitude 6 struck India's rugged northeastern state of Assam on Wednesday (Apr 28), causing cracks in the walls and floors of some structures, but no immediate casualties were reported. The quake hit at a depth of...

WASHINGTON: A bipartisan group of US senators on Tuesday (Apr 27) urged the Biden administration to slap more sanctions on the junta in Myanmar, including choking revenues to a state energy company, in response to its coup and violent crackdown on pr...

The World Health Organization said on Tuesday (Apr 27) that a variant of COVID-19 feared to be contributing to a surge in coronavirus cases in India has been found in more than a dozen countries.

Dealing with 12 hours a day on watch and the need for high operational readiness, submariners have a hazardous career, says James Goldrick.

The UN's cultural agency on Tuesday (Apr 27) awarded its annual press freedom prize to Philippine journalist Maria Ressa whose reporting has made her a target of her country's judiciary and online hate campaigns.

Senior US officials on Tuesday (Apr 27) pledged sustained support for India in helping it deal with the world's worst current surge of COVID-19 infections, warning the country is still at the "front end" of the crisis and overcoming it will take som...

The United States said on Tuesday (Apr 27) it was easing remaining COVID-19 restrictions on international students, giving the green light to Chinese nationals to start the school year at US universities.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday cautioned Africa to beware of China's growing role as he vowed a greater US commitment in talks with Nigeria and Kenya.

COX'S BAZAR: The Bangladesh coastguard on Tuesday (Apr 27) rescued 30 Rohingya refugees adrift in the Bay of Bengal for two days after they were attacked by pirates, an official said. About 1 million Rohingya refugees live in sprawling camps in sout...

NEW DELHI: Vital medical supplies began to reach India on Tuesday (Apr 27) as hospitals starved of life-saving oxygen and beds turned away coronavirus patients, and a surge in infections pushed the death toll close to 200,000. A shipment from Brit...

China said on Tuesday (Apr 27) that it had offered help to South Asian countries in accessing COVID-19 vaccines, but India did not attend a regional video conference on the matter, although it is currently suffering the world's worst wave of the pand...

Japanese financial group Nomura Holdings on Tuesday confirmed losses of $2.3 billion for fiscal 2020-2021 linked to the sudden liquidation of holdings by US hedge fund Archegos.

India expects to secure the biggest chunk of the 60 million AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses that the United States will share globally, two Indian government sources told Reuters, as New Delhi battles a devastating surge in infections.

BEIJING: A tanker carrying around 1 million barrels of bitumen mix was involved in a collision near the Chinese port city of Qingdao, spilling oil into the Yellow Sea, Chinese maritime officials and tanker representatives said on Tuesday (Apr 27). T...

MANILA: The Philippines will ban travellers coming from India to prevent the spread of a new coronavirus variant blamed for a huge surge in COVID-19 cases in the South Asian nation, a senior official said on Tuesday (Apr 27). Travellers coming from...

Sri Lankan Cabinet approves proposed ban on burqas in public

A new coronavirus wave hitting Sri Lanka has halted a cricket match between two of the country's top schools that has been played for 141 years, continuing even through world wars.

BEIJING: A Chinese space mining start-up launched into low Earth orbit on Tuesday (Apr 27) a robot prototype that can scoop up debris left behind by other spacecraft with a big net. The NEO-01, which will also peer into deep space to observe small c...

NEW DELHI: Since the beginning of the week, Dr Siddharth Tara, a postgraduate medical student at New Delhi’s government-run Hindu Rao Hospital, has had a fever and persistent headache. He took a COVID-19 test, but the results have been delayed as ...

Narendra Modi is not the first world leader to suffer the consequences for acting too slowly – or declaring victory too early, says The Financial Times’ Gideon Rachman.

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 ...