HONG KONG: Hong Kong's embattled pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily has been hit by a wave of resignations as authorities push to silence the outspoken tabloid and staff mull whether to leave or stay until the bitter end. On late Monday (Jun 21) ...

HONG KONG: Media outlets in Hong Kong must not "subvert" the government, the city's leader said on Tuesday (Jun 22), rejecting US criticism of recent action against a pro-democracy newspaper under a powerful new security law. Hong Kong has long host...

An aviation firm has carried out the first tests in India of longer-range drone deliveries, as hopes grow that they could deliver medicines as well as Covid-19 vaccines to remote areas.

SEOUL: An anonymous messaging app called Blind used by South Korean employees to air their grievances is helping change management attitudes towards workers in some of the nation's biggest companies. The bosses have taken note as the app's popularit...

SEOUL: The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said on Tuesday (Jun 22) that Washington had "wrong" expectations for dialogue with Pyongyang and was facing "greater disappointment", state media reported. Kim Yo Jong's comments came...

TOKYO: From a state-of-the-art aquatics centre to a historic martial arts arena whose roof resembles Mount Fuji, Tokyo's Olympic sites are ready for action after a year's COVID-19 delay. The 43 venues are located in two main areas: The "Tokyo Bay Zo...

BANGKOK: An elephant broke into a house in the Thai resort town of Hua Hin in the early hours of Sunday (Jun 20), using its trunk to search for food through a hole in the kitchen wall. Resident Ratchadawan Puengprasopporn said her family was asleep ...

SHANGHAI: His bald head glistening with sweat, Zhi Xiang peers into the eyes of a stray dog whose coat has become matted in heavy rain and says soothingly: "Let me cut your hair, cutie." The bedraggled pooch is among scores of dogs hauled off the st...

China reported 25 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the mainland for June 21, up from 17 infections a day earlier, the health authority said on Tuesday.

The United States and South Korea have agreed to consider scrapping a working group established to coordinate North Korea policy, Seoul's foreign ministry said on Tuesday, after it became seen as a way for Washington to block inter-Korean projects.

Reported deaths from COVID-19 in Colombia passed 100,000 on Monday (Jun 21), the country's health ministry said, amid warnings of potential scarcity of treatment drugs and oxygen in hospitals during a long and brutal third peak of infections and deat...

PHNOM PENH: A Cambodian court has charged four environmental activists with insulting the king and plotting against the government, an official said on Monday (Jun 21), after three of them were arrested for documenting waste run-off into a river. Un...

Thousands of Japanese companies began distributing COVID-19 vaccines to workers and their families on Monday (Jun 21) in an employer-led drive reaching more than 13 million people that aims to rev up the nation's slow vaccine rollout.

President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to jail people who refuse to be vaccinated against the coronavirus as the Philippines battles one of Asia's worst outbreaks, with over 1.3 million cases and more than 23,000 deaths.

Lawyers for Myanmar's ousted leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, said on Monday (Jun 21) she told them some of the testimony against her was wrong in her trial on criminal charges that could send her to prison and end her political career.

Nikolai Patrushev, the secretary of Russia's Security Council, and Myanmar's military leader committed to further strengthening security and other ties between the two countries at a Moscow meeting on Monday (Jun 21).

The EU on Monday (Jun 21) added eight officials from Myanmar's military and three firms linked to the military to its sanctions blacklist over the country's February coup and bloody repression of protests.

Myanmar's junta-controlled health ministry reported 595 cases of COVID-19 on Monday (Jun 21) as daily infections hit the highest since the army seized power in a coup that prompted many medical workers to abandon the health service and anti-coronavir...

TAIPEI: Taiwan needs a thorough review of how it handled the COVID-19 pandemic once it is over, President Tsai Ing-wen said on Monday (Jun 21) as case numbers dropped below 100 for the first time in more than a month, admitting they had been caught o...

YANGON: Deposed Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday (Jun 21) thanked her supporters for defying the junta to celebrate her 76th birthday with flower protests, as her trial on a raft of criminal charges resumed. A mass uprising in Myanmar again...

GENEVA: The UN rights chief on Monday (Jun 21) called for concerted action to recover from the worst global deterioration of rights she had seen, highlighting the situation in China, Russia and Ethiopia among others. "To recover from the most wide...

Debate over Myanmar upends start to UN rights body session

TAIPEI: Taiwan criticised Hong Kong on Monday (Jun 21) in an escalating row over China's sovereignty claims over Taiwan, prompting the island to pull out officials from its representative office in the Chinese-run city. Taiwanese staff working at th...

Cryptocurrency prices have fluctuated wildly in recent weeks as China intensifies a crackdown on trading and mining operations.

BEIJING: The major manufacturing hub of Dongguan in China's most populous province of Guangdong launched mass testing on Monday (Jun 21) for the coronavirus and cordoned off communities after detecting its first infections in the current outbreak. T...

BANGKOK: Thailand's health minister said on Monday (Jun 21) that Japan's government would donate some AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines, as the Southeast Asian country seeks to shore up supplies after some early delays in its vaccinations. An agreement ...

LONDON: Bitcoin tumbled on Monday to a two-week low on China's expanding crackdown on bitcoin mining, as investors grew more uncertain about the future of the leading cryptocurrency. Bitcoin fell as low as US$31,333, a two-week trough, dragging down...

JAKARTA: Indonesia reported on Monday (Jun 21) a record-breaking 14,536 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections nationally past the 2 million mark. Cumulative total of cases now stands at 2,004,445.  The country also saw 294 d...

JAKARTA: After not securing a COVID-19 vaccination at home, Indonesian Muhammad Risqy Putra booked a trip to the United States to get inoculated there on his first overseas trip since the pandemic. With rich nations like the United States rolling ou...

TOKYO: Up to 10,000 fans will be allowed at Tokyo Olympics events, organisers said on Monday (Jun 21), warning that competition could move behind closed doors if COVID-19 infections surge. The decision, which comes just weeks before the opening cere...

HONG KONG: Hong Kong's government said on Monday (Jun 21) that it would shorten the quarantine period for vaccinated people arriving in the city to seven days from 14 days provided travellers show sufficient antibodies against the coronavirus. Lead...

NEW DELHI: India's Olympic body has slammed as "unfair" strict rules imposed by the Japanese government on athletes from several nations hit by COVID-19 for the Tokyo Games starting next month. Tokyo 2020 organisers said on Monday (Jun 21) that addi...

KUALA LUMPUR: The United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) has given the Malaysian government a two-week deadline to reconvene parliament.  Party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said in a statement on Monday (Jun 21) that it was important to reconv...

NEW DELHI: India opened up free vaccinations to all adults in an attempt to bolster its inoculation drive on Monday (Jun 21), as Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicked off a muted International Yoga Day hailing the practice's "protective" properties aga...

HONG KONG: The world's biggest casino hub of Macau will shake up its casino regulator by more than doubling the number of gaming inspectors and restructuring several departments in its latest move to ramp up supervision.  The executive council that...

HONG KONG: Hong Kong pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily said on Monday (Jun 21) its board will decide whether to close the publication at their next meeting on Friday after an asset freeze by authorities using a new national security law left the ou...

SEOUL: The United States' new top envoy for North Korea said on Monday (Jun 21) he looks forward to a "positive response soon" on dialogue from North Korea, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported, during his Seoul trip to meet counterparts from S...

A rise in religious conservatism in Indonesia is drawing talent away from what some view as un-Islamic jobs in banking, industry professionals say, creating hiring woes for conventional banks but a boon for the country's fledgling sharia finance sect...

PM Muhyiddin Yassin’s government could always have Parliament reconvene but push out bills without them needing to go through legislative scrutiny, says Oh Ei Sun.

Myanmar's junta chief left the country Sunday for Moscow, where he will attend a security conference, state media said, marking only his second known trip abroad since he seized power in a coup.

Afghan leader Ashraf Ghani and the head of the country's peace process will meet President Joe Biden at the White House on Friday, as the planned American military withdrawal accelerates.

DUBAI: Aviation giant Emirates said on Sunday (Jun 20) that it will resume flights from India from next week, after Dubai lifted a ban imposed when COVID-19 cases spiked. The United Arab Emirates, which includes Dubai, suspended all flights from In...

Sri Lanka's military launched an investigation on Sunday (Jun 20) after social media posts showed soldiers forcing civilians to kneel on the streets as a punishment for flouting COVID-19 lockdown rules.

Pope Francis on Sunday (Jun 20) appealed to Myanmar's military leaders to allow aid to reach displaced, hungry people who have fled fighting since the Feb 1 coup and to respect religious sites as places of sanctuary.

SHANGHAI: Hong Kong's strategy to strengthen the city's global financial hub status is through greater integration with mainland China, now that Beijing has helped restore "stability" in the city, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on Sunday (Jun 20). ...

On Sunday, Ho Chi Minh City banned public gatherings of more than three people and imposed lockdown orders on some virus-prone areas.

South Korea will relax social distancing rules and allow private gatherings of up to six people in the greater Seoul area from the current four starting on Jul 1, the government said on Sunday (Jun 20).

China has now administered more than 1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines, the country's health authority said on Sunday (Jun 20), more than a third of the number given worldwide.

The Philippine government has signed a supply agreement for 40 million doses of the vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE, CNN Philippines said on Sunday, citing the head of the government's COVID-19 vaccine procurement.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong's pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily said on Sunday (Jun 20) the freezing of its assets in a national security probe had left the newspaper with cash for "only a few weeks" of normal operations and it may struggle to pay staff wa...

COLOMBO: The United Nations representative in Sri Lanka said the sinking of a container ship that caught fire while transporting chemicals off the capital Colombo has caused “significant damage to the planet” by releasing hazardous substances in...

While the United States and Europe waged a 17-year trade battle over subsidies to Boeing and Airbus, China poured money into its own commercial aircraft to take on the Western aviation duopoly.

SINGAPORE: Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan will be on an official visit to Hanoi from Sunday (Jun 20) to Wednesday, at the invitation of his Vietnamese counterpart Bui Thanh Son. During the visit, Dr Balakrishnan will meet Mr Son, as we...

A few weeks ago, New Delhi's crematoriums were operating around the clock dealing with Covid-19 victims. Now the Indian capital's shopping malls and markets are buzzing again.

TAIPEI: Taiwanese staff working at the island's representative office in Hong Kong will begin leaving the Chinese-run city from Sunday (Jun 20), a senior official said, after the government there demanded its officials sign a document supporting Bei...

The Financial News, backed by the Peoples Bank of China (PBOC), on Sunday advised against speculating about liquidity tightening and policy direction, saying such action can mislead and roil markets.

TOKYO :Organisers of the Tokyo Olympics opened the athletes' village to the media on Sunday, showing off apartments and a timber-laced shopping plaza where 11,000 athletes would stay and mingle during the sporting extravaganza.

SINGAPORE: An Indonesian fugitive on Interpol's red notice list was repatriated from Singapore to his home country on Saturday (Jun 19). Adelin Lis has been wanted in Indonesia since 2008 over corruption and illegal logging, reported the Antara ne...

China's census showing its population has stopped growing might be a positive development when it could lead to lower costs and a stronger push for automation, says Adair Turner.

Much of the money that pays for the competition is spent to build global brands, say two sports commentators.

JAKARTA: Sebelum ada COVID-19, pekerja migran Indonesia Muhammad Kurdi memiliki kehidupan yang baik di Makkah, Arab Saudi. Ayah tiga anak tersebut sudah tinggal 15 tahun di Makkah dan sebelum pandemi bekerja sebagai mutawif untuk Jemaah Indonesia, ...

JAKARTA: Life was good for Indonesian Muhammad Kurdi who has lived in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, for about 15 years. The father of three used to work as a guide for pilgrims from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, earning up to 200 million rupiah ...

BANGKOK: Myanmar’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday (Jun 19) rejected a UN General Assembly resolution calling for an arms embargo against the Southeast Asian nation and condemning the military's February seizure of power. Myanmar described the resol...

The United States announced Saturday that 2.5 million Covid vaccine doses were on their way to Taiwan in a move likely to draw disapproval from Beijing, which claims the self-ruled island.

JAKARTA: Indonesia will receive 50 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine jointly made by Pfizer and BioNTech, with the first batch expected in August, a senior health ministry official said on Saturday (Jun 19). "Pfizer vaccines will start arriving...

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike on Saturday cancelled all public viewing sites for the summer Olympics, diverting some venues to be COVID-19 vaccinations centres instead.

NEW DELHI: India's central government on Saturday (Jun 19) urged states to be careful in reopening from COVID-19 lockdowns to prevent a resurgence of infections in the hard-hit country. Indian states are easing restrictions as a second wave of coron...

TOKYO: Tokyo will cancel all public Olympics viewing events in an effort to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infections, the city governor said on Saturday (Jun 19). Having postponed the Games for a year because of the pandemic, Japan has already banned ...

SRINAGAR: Sajad Hassan sat at his professor's hospital bedside for three nights, doing most of the talking as his friend and mentor breathed through an oxygen mask and struggled with a suspected COVID-19 infection. Both were confident the 48-year-ol...

AirAsia Group Bhd's chief executive officer said the aviation industry could return to normal next year as international borders gradually reopened, state news agency Bernama reported on Saturday.

PHNOM PENH: Cambodia reported 20 deaths from COVID-19 on Saturday (Jun 19), a record for a single day, as the country detected its first Delta variant cases and authorities urged people to be vigilant. The Southeast Asian nation has recorded one of ...

SHANGHAI: China's crackdown on cryptocurrency "mining" has extended to the southwest province of Sichuan, where authorities ordered cryptocurrency mining projects closed in the major mining centre. Cryptomining is big business in China, accounting f...

HONG KONG: Two executives from Hong Kong's Apple Daily newspaper appeared in court on Saturday (Jun 19) on charges of collusion and were denied bail after authorities deployed a sweeping security law to target the newspaper, a scathing critic of Beij...

YANGON: Anti-coup protesters in Myanmar donned flowers in their hair on Saturday (Jun 19) to mark the birthday of ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who remains under house arrest and is due to face court again next week. Aung San Suu Kyi's el...

NEW DELHI: India, the world’s largest manufacturer of vaccines, wants to resume exports of coronavirus jabs but cannot do so until its domestic needs are met, the head of the country’s COVID-19 task force said on Friday (Jun 18). “Once our imm...

BEIJING: The airport in China's southern city of Shenzhen said on Saturday (Jun 19) that anyone entering the premises must show a negative virus test taken within 48 hours before entry. The instruction posted on the airport's official WeChat page fo...

A young wild boar in Hong Kong has sparked delight by hopping onto a Hong Kong train and leading staff on a merry cross-harbour chase that included boarding two separate trains.

SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has reinforced the ruling Workers' Party discipline and appointed new members of its powerful politburo, state media KCNA reported on Saturday (Jun 19). The party's central committee held a plenary meeting for ...

HONG KONG: Crowds gathered outside a Hong Kong court early on Saturday (Jun 19) ahead of a hearing for two executives of newspaper Apple Daily charged under the city's sweeping national security law, in a case that has drawn international condemnatio...

Australia is lodging a formal complaint with the World Trade Organization over China's imposition of anti-dumping duties on Australian wine exports, the government announced Saturday.

KUALA LUMPUR: Kawasan Petaling Street yang biasanya sibuk kini lengang dan sunyi sepi di bawah sekatan pergerakan penuh yang sedang berkuatkuasa. Peter Chin yang telah menguruskan Restoran Kiew Yee Baru di sini sejak 1960an berkata beliau mula menu...

KUALA LUMPUR: Petaling Street, a usually bustling area, was deserted and quiet under the current total lockdown.  Peter Chin, who has been running Restoran Kiew Yee Baru in the same spot since the 1960s, said they would start closing the restaur...

While reopening borders is not currently feasible given the epidemiological situation, now is the time to start preparing for a gradual reopening and facilitating a resumption of international air travel, writes Brendan Sobie.

Japan will only achieve widespread vaccination until about mid-October – long after the Olympic and Paralympic athletes have gone home, says Takatoshi Ito.

Milkha Singh, one of India's most successful track athletes who overcame childhood tragedy to seek Olympic glory, has died aged 91 after a long battle with Covid-19, Indian media said Friday.

COLOMBO: More dead turtles washed up on Sri Lankan beaches on Friday (Jun 18), underscoring the environmental blight caused by a container ship fire off the country's coast. The Singapore-registered MV X-Press Pearl was carrying hundreds of tonnes o...

TOKYO: Japanese medical experts said on Friday (Jun 18) that banning spectators at the Olympics was the least risky option for holding the Games, even as they appeared resigned to the possibility of fans in venues during the COVID-19 pandemic. The g...

SEOUL: South Korea has pledged to donate a total of US$200 million to the COVAX programme that is supplying coronavirus vaccines for lower-income countries, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) said on Friday (Jun 18). COVAX, bac...

TAIPEI: Taiwan will allow Terry Gou, the billionaire founder of Taiwan's Foxconn, and TSMC to negotiate on the government's behalf for COVID-19 vaccines, a spokesman said on Friday (Jun 18), but warned he couldn't guarantee success. Taiwan is trying...

Move over Paul the Octopus, Thailand has a new claimant to the football forecasting crown: Boy the "psychic" lion, who has so far correctly called four Euro 2020 matches.

Health officials in India's richest state have urged authorities to step up preparations against a possible third wave of coronavirus infections, they said on Friday, as lockdowns eased less than a month after a surge that killed thousands.

MANILA: The Philippines has increased the number of nurses and healthcare workers allowed to go overseas to 6,500 annually, a senior official said on Friday (Jun 18), amid high demand for its health professionals. The Philippines, one of the world's...

BANGKOK: Thailand's planned reopening of the resort island Phuket next month to vaccinated visitors, bypassing quarantine requirements, has met a lukewarm response, with hotel bookings indicating expected occupancy of less than 20 per cent so far. T...

HONG KONG: Five men who took part in a mob attack on Hong Kong protesters two years ago were found guilty of rioting and wounding on Friday (Jun 18) in the first convictions over an assault which sparked widespread outrage. The brazen attack took p...

HONG KONG: Hong Kong police charged the chief editor and chief executive of newspaper Apple Daily on Friday (Jun 18) with collusion with a foreign country, a national security case that has sent chills through the city's media. On Thursday, 500 po...

Tens of thousands on dhabas line India's national highways, but many are now struggling to survive as customers stay at home despite several state governments relaxing COVID-19 curbs on movement.

BANGKOK: A group of volunteers have spent days rescuing at least 120 cats locked up in three townhouses outside Bangkok, where the animals were kept in dark rooms and small, filthy cages with hardly any food or water. The buildings are located near...

BEIJING: A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said on Friday that China rejects a U.S. Federal Communications Commission vote to advance a plan to ban approvals for equipment in U.S. telecoms networks from Chinese firms including Huawei and ZTE. ...

SEOUL: A North Korean hacking group known as Kimsuky broke into the network of South Korea's state-run nuclear think tank last month, the latest in a series of cyberattacks by the North, a South Korean lawmaker said on Friday (Jun 18). The breach of...

Satara, INDIA: Having watched his father's funeral pyre burn by a river bank close to their farm last month, Indian sugarcane grower Dattatray Bagal and his brothers had to set aside grief to count the financial cost of the coronavirus's impact on th...