HANOI: Vietnam aims to vaccinate 50 per cent of people aged 18 or older by the end of this year and 70 per cent by the end of March next year, the health ministry said on Friday (Jul 8), as tighter coronavirus curbs were imposed in more cities includ...

China evacuates nationals from Afghanistan amid US pullout

Having escaped the worst when the COVID-19 pandemic erupted last year, Southeast Asia is now suffering record rises in deaths and cases, while vaccination shortfalls and highly contagious variants have derailed containment efforts. As countries like...

CATO, Philippines: Filipino fisherman Randy Megu has often braved the storms that spring up in the South China Sea, but these days he has a greater fear: seeing a Chinese maritime enforcement vessel on the horizon. Five years after a landmark intern...

TOKYO: Olympic fans in Japan reacted with weary resignation to a ban on Tokyo Games spectators on Friday (Jul 9), as newspaper editorials warned it may not be enough to stop COVID-19. Kyoko Ishikawa, who has attended every Summer Games over the past...

HONG KONG: With their heads in the clouds and their hands in the soil, a group of office workers are busy harvesting the fruits of their labour on the roof of a Hong Kong skyscraper. Invisible to those below, a sprawling garden of radishes, carrots ...

BEIJING: The northern Chinese port city of Qingdao has deployed thousands of boats and powered scoops to deal with a massive algae bloom that is threatening sea life, tourism and water transport. The thick layer of plants that has coated waters and ...

BANGKOK: Karmic fortune has arrived to the digital art market, with a kaleidoscopic splash of colours and the face of a revered Thai monk offering portable Buddhist good luck charms to tech-savvy buyers. Sales of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) - virtual...

ULSAN, South Korea: Using a toilet can pay for your coffee or buy you bananas at a university in South Korea, where human waste is being used to help power a building. Cho Jae-weon, an urban and environmental engineering professor at the Ulsan Natio...

The Olympic flame arrived in Tokyo on Friday (Jul 9) but with the public kept away at a low-key welcoming ceremony because of coronavirus fears.

TOKYO: Japan's currency in circulation and bank deposits hit a record high for the fourth straight month in June, data showed on Friday (Jul 9), as households and companies continued to pile up savings on uncertainty over the economic fallout from th...

SHANGHAI: China on Friday (Jul 9) reported 23 new COVID-19 cases in the mainland for Thursday, compared with 17 cases a day earlier, the national health authority said. Eight of the new infections were local cases, the National Health Commission sai...

SEOUL: South Korea will from Monday (Jul 12) tighten COVID-19 curbs to the strictest level possible in Seoul and neighbouring regions, as alarm spreads with new COVID-19 cases setting a second consecutive daily record nationwide. South Korea, which ...

Malaysians may remember this tussle between UMNO and Bersatu as one where the political establishment lost its ability to put the country above political, even personal interests, says James Chin.

Like airlines the world over, Indonesia’s flag carrier Garuda has found itself deep in debt but can it afford to wait out until demand for travel returns, asks NTU’s James Guild.

A Thai court on Thursday ordered a longtime political activist back to prison over an old offense, his lawyer said, months after he resumed street protests and demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha.

Veteran diplomat Hardeep Singh Puri became India's new oil minister on Thursday, an appointment welcomed by energy experts who expect him to strike better import deals and showcase New Delhi as an attractive destination for investment in the sector.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte might be barred from a second term in office, but don't be surprised if he's still running the country after a presidential election next year.

JAKARTA: A morbid grid of graves widens as excavators dig deep, piling up soil to make space for Indonesia's pandemic dead to be laid to rest. Ambulances, lights flashing, deliver bodies to the Jakarta burial site as trucks carry away dirt beside ro...

Thailand reported on Thursday 75 new deaths from the coronavirus, a new daily record, bringing the total number of fatalities in the Southeast Asian country to 2,462 since the pandemic started last year.

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) has rejected allegations by United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi that the government has failed to realise people’s asp...

BANGKOK: Evacuated residents warily began returning to their homes on Bangkok's outskirts on Thursday (Jul 8) after a chemical factory went up in flames earlier this week, as experts called for air and water to be thoroughly tested for any lingering ...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s government is currently in a precarious position where it might not be able to govern effectively after the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) withdrew its support for Perikatan Nas...

JAKARTA: Indonesia's biggest coal-producing province of East Kalimantan has recorded a spike in coronavirus cases, with miners among those infected, but so far there has been no disruption to coal operations, a local official said. The Southeast Asi...

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and his Cabinet ministers can continue to exercise their federal executive powers, as there is no clear evidence to show that he no longer has the support of the majority of lawmakers in parliament, sai...

SINGAPORE: This year's Southeast Asian Games due to take place in Vietnam has been postponed to 2022.  "The SEA Games Federation working committee met today and it was decided that the SEA Games will not be held this year," said the Singapore N...

JAKARTA: Indonesians have ignored health warnings to stock up on a "miracle cure" for COVID-19 backed by leading politicians and social media influencers as an outbreak of the virus sweeps the country. Authorities are reporting hundreds of deaths e...

COLOMBO: A brother of Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Thursday (Jul 8) became finance minister, tightening the family's grip on power in the South Asian nation as it confronts growing economic troubles. Basil Rajapaksa, 70, took over th...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia reported 8,868 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday (Jul 8), the country’s second highest daily infection count since the start of the pandemic. More than half of the new infections were in the Klang Valley area with 4,152 in Sel...

TAIPEI: Taiwan has asked its office in Washington to remind the United States not to cause "unnecessary speculation or misunderstanding" after the White House deleted a social media post on COVID-19 vaccine donations that included Taiwan's flag. The...

Norwegian telecoms operator Telenor has sold its Myanmar operations to Lebanese investment firm M1 Group for US$105 million, Telenor said on Thursday (Jul 8), announcing its retreat from a country that slid into chaos after a military coup in Februar...

Chinese tech giant Tencent has rolled out a facial recognition "midnight patrol" function to snag children masquerading as adults to get around a government curfew on underage gamers.

A lone elephant who broke away from a herd marching through southern China has been captured and returned to a nature reserve, officials said, in the latest twist for a journey that has caused chaos but captivated Chinese social media.

SEOUL: South Korea on Thursday (Jul 8) reported its highest ever one-day number of new COVID-19 infections, as officials consider tightening social distancing restrictions. The 1,275 cases in the 24 hours to midnight on Wednesday, reported by the K...

TOKYO: Japan's government said on Thursday (Jul 8) it plans a new virus state of emergency stretching throughout the Olympics, as reports said organisers could bar fans from almost all events at the Games. With just two weeks until the Jul 23 openin...

SHANGHAI: Chinese authorities in the southwestern province of Yunnan reported two new confirmed locally transmitted cases for Wednesday (Jul 7), of which one was previously identified as an asymptomatic case. This compared with 15 confirmed locally...

LONDON: A group of British lawmakers urged the government to take tougher action against China on Thursday (Jul 8) over its treatment of minority groups, including a partial Winter Olympics boycott and cotton trade ban. In a report following a month...

KUALA LUMPUR: The United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) has withdrawn its support for the Perikatan Nasional government led by Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and called for his resignation, said UMNO president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on We...

Dong Jingwei’s supposed disappearance coaxes China’s troubled history littered with past cases of state secrets being spilled, espionage and defection into view, says Professor Bo Zhiyue.

Taliban fighters in northern Afghanistan last month evicted families and looted and torched their homes in apparent retaliation for cooperating with the Kabul government, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday (Jul 7).

The U.S. State Department said on Wednesday it was concerned about reports that China had restricted use of social media accounts of LGBTQI Plus student groups and non-governmental organizations.

Myanmar authorities announced stay-at-home measures in parts of commercial capital Yangon on Wednesday (Jul 7), as the country reported its highest daily coronavirus caseload in months.

A United Nations human rights investigator called on countries on Wednesday (Jul 7) to impose economic sanctions on Myanmar's oil and gas sector to cripple the junta that took power five months ago.

NEW DELHI: In a massive Cabinet revamp, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi dropped 12 senior Cabinet ministers on Wednesday (Jul 7) and inducted a younger team aimed at refurbishing his government’s image after widespread criticism of its handling...

HANOI: Nine million people in Ho Chi Minh City have been ordered into lockdown, state media said Wednesday (Jul 7), as the commercial hub struggles to contain Vietnam's most serious COVID-19 outbreak so far. Beginning in the early hours of Friday, ...

Customs agents in southwest China have seized 2.2 tonnes of pangolin scales and busted an endangered wildlife smuggling gang, state media reported.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday gave the strongest hint yet that he might seek the vice presidency in next year's election, saying he was now "seriously thinking" about running.

BANGKOK: Thailand’s popular resort island Phuket reported its first COVID-19 case from overseas on Wednesday (Jul 7) after reopening to international tourism last week. The patient is a male traveller from the United Arab Emirates, who arrived in...

Rescuers in Japan were searching on Wednesday for 27 people still missing after heavy rain triggered landslides in the seaside city of Atami four days ago, killing seven people.

Huawei has struck a licensing deal that will allow use of its 4G technologies in connected vehicles manufactured by Volkswagen Group, the Chinese tech giant said on Wednesday.

Japan's government is floating proposals that would ban fans from all Olympic events, the Mainichi newspaper reported on Wednesday, as officials scramble to address public concerns about the spread of the coronavirus.

Indonesia expanded nationwide coronavirus curbs Wednesday to battle its deadliest COVID-19 wave yet, as the death toll rocketed with the government warning that the worst may be yet to come.

KUALA LUMPUR: Mr Ismail Sabri Yaakob has been appointed as Malaysia’s deputy prime minister, while Mr Hishammuddin Hussein is now a senior minister.  Their respective defence and foreign affairs portfolios remain unchanged. As senior minister, Mr...

BEIJING: China has designated 25 per cent of its onshore territory "ecological conservation" areas, limiting development and human activities in order to improve the environment and conserve resources.  The Ministry of Ecology and Environment was ...

Anticipation of stricter movement curbs triggered panic-buying in Vietnam's economic hub Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday, the epicentre of its coronavirus outbreak, while media reported unrest at a city jail where dozens of inmates were infected.

Multiple social media accounts belonging to major university lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights groups in China have been blocked from the popular WeChat app, prompting fears of targeted censorship and calls on Wednesday (Jul 7) for...

North Korea is facing a food shortage of around 860,000 tonnes this year, the United Nations' Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) forecast, warning that the country could experience a "harsh lean period" as early as next month.

The Philippines will send black boxes of a Lockheed C-130 aircraft that crashed at the weekend to the United States to seek expert help in opening and analysing them, its military chief said on Wednesday (Jul 7).

SINGAPORE: As vaccinations gather pace, a number of places around the world have lifted COVID-19 restrictions and some countries have begun reopening borders to immunised travellers. Singapore authorities have signalled that living with the corona...

SEOUL: South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics forecast on Wednesday (Jul 7) a 53.37 per cent rise in second-quarter operating profit, thanks to strong chip prices and operations resuming at a key US factory after a shutdown. The world's bigge...

SHANGHAI: Authorities in China's southwestern province of Yunnan locked down the city of Ruili on Wednesday (Jul 7), shutting most businesses and requiring residents to stay at home, as a fresh outbreak of COVID-19 expanded. The city, which borders ...

SEOUL: South Korea reported more than 1,200 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, the highest daily count since late December, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum told a COVID-19 response meeting on Wednesday (Jul 7). Kim said social distancing measu...

WASHINGTON: The United States' top envoy for North Korea spoke with his Chinese counterpart on Tuesday (Jul 6), a State Department spokesman said, after Pyongyang's repeated rejection of the Biden administration's attempts to establish dialogue. Chi...

GENEVA: The United Nations rights chief warned on Tuesday (Jul 6) that the dire situation in Myanmar since its February coup was driving the country towards possible civil war and could spark regional insecurity. Speaking before the UN Human Rights...

President Xi Jinping's centennial address devoted attention to the CCP’s plans for the future but China should beware the limits of centralised decision-making, says Nancy Qian.

Waging the tariff war may temporarily deflect attention away from structural problems in the US economy. But keeping the tariffs is a mistake, says a professor.

BANGKOK: Huge swathes of land are closer to sea level across Southeast Asia than previously realised, highlighting the flood dangers faced by millions, according to a new study using advanced satellite imagery. In low-lying countries vulnerable to ...

The withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan is more than 90 per cent completed, the Pentagon's Central Command announced on Tuesday (Jul 6).

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday (Jul 6) urged political parties worldwide to oppose any country that engages in "technology blockades", an allusion to the United States which views China as its strategic competitor.

The public will be urged not to line the route of the Olympic marathon over fears that crowds of fans could spread the coronavirus, Tokyo 2020 organisers said Tuesday.

BANGKOK: Customs officials in Thailand made their biggest seizure of heroin this year, about 315kg worth up to 944 million baht (US$29 million), bringing the total confiscated so far this year to 2 tonnes, officials said on Tuesday (Jul 6). They di...

Bangladesh could receive 1 million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine from the WHO-backed COVAX facility this month, and the Serum Institute of India could resume supplies from August, its health minister said on Tuesday.

Ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her personal staff have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 since being taken into military custody, her lawyer said Tuesday, as the country battles a spike in cases.

China hopes to promote a healthy and stable relationship with Britain, state television quoted Premier Li Keqiang as saying on Tuesday.

Malaysian state oil firm Petronas may not join an oil licensing round in South Sudan this year as the company reviews its assets due to challenging market conditions, it said on Tuesday.

China's central bank warned companies on Tuesday against assisting cryptocurrency-related businesses as it shut down a software firm over suspected involvement in digital currency transactions.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia reported a sharp uptick in new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday (Jul 6), one month after a nationwide lockdown was reimposed in a bid to curb a surging number of infections. Of the 7,643 new COVID-19 cases, more than half were from ...

Japan said on Tuesday (Jul 6) that it would ship millions more doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine to Asian neighbours this week as a continuation of bilateral donations.

MUNICH: Germany has arrested and indicted a man suspected of spying for China's secret service, the prosecutor's office said on Tuesday (Jul 6). The man, identified as Klaus L according to German reporting rules, is a political scientist and had wo...

India's COVID-19 deaths relative to infections hit a record high in June after cases peaked in early May, an analysis of government data shows, amid pressure on authorities to accurately report deaths from a second wave of the virus.

Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama celebrates 86th birthday

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s daily COVID-19 infections could go up to 40,000, said Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Pandjaitan on Tuesday (Jul 6).   Speaking at a virtual joint press conference with the health minister and...

NEW DELHI: Twitter no longer enjoys liability protection against user-generated content in India as the U.S. microblogging giant has failed to comply with new IT rules, the Indian government said in a court filing. The statement is the first time Pr...

Russia strongly supports the Southeast Asian diplomatic effort to end the crisis in Myanmar and has conveyed similar messages to the country's military leadership, its foreign minister said on Tuesday (Jul 6).

HONG KONG: Hong Kong police on Tuesday (Jul 6) said they arrested nine people on suspicion of engaging in terrorist activity, after uncovering an attempt to make explosives and plant bombs across the city. Of the nine arrested, six are secondary sch...

HONG KONG: Hong Kong's leader on Tuesday (Jul 6) brushed off a warning by major tech companies including Google, Facebook and Twitter that they may quit the financial hub if authorities push ahead with a new privacy law. City authorities have unveil...

Philippine authorities have retrieved a black box from an air force plane that crashed at the weekend, killing more than 50 people, military chief Cirilito Sobejana told Reuters on Tuesday (Jul 6).

Japan's government is arranging for the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony to be held with only a reduced number of VIP spectators, the Asahi newspaper reported on Tuesday (Jul 6), ahead of talks with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and other ...

TOKYO: Olympic organisers have capped the number of spectators allowed into venues, but will offer Japanese students special access under a programme that would let hundreds of thousands of children see the world's best athletes compete. Tickets are...

SHANGHAI: Authorities in China's southwestern province of Yunnan reported three locally transmitted coronavirus cases for Monday (Jul 5), with all cases from the city of Ruili bordering Myanmar, according to Yunnan provincial authorities on Tuesday. ...

Israel agreed on Monday (Jul 5) to provide about 700,000 expiring doses of Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine to South Korea, the Haaretz newspaper reported, citing Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.

ATAMI, Japan: Rescuers were holding out hope of finding at least 64 people buried under the mud and wreckage of a Japanese holiday city that was hit by a devastating landslide, with teams set to resume the desperate search for survivors on Tuesday (J...

With no signs of a resolution to the Myanmar crisis, China is uneasy about its interests in the country and making contingency plans to protect those interests, says an observer.

Malaysian political parties are each making secret moves behind the scene leading up to Aug 1 when the state of emergency ends, says James Chin.

A former Maldives minister and several politicians from Sri Lanka's ruling party were among dozens of people arrested after a child sex racket was busted, police said in Colombo on Monday (Jul 5).

BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday (Jul 5) told French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel he hoped China and Europe would expand cooperation to better respond to global challenges, state broadcaster CCTV report...

Ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi seemed in good health as she appeared in court Monday, her lawyer said, as her trial continued with the capital grappling with a Covid-19 spike.

An 84-year-old rights activist and Jesuit priest detained for nine months without trial under Indian anti-terrorism laws died on Monday ahead of a bail hearing, officials said.

DHAKA: Bangladesh on Monday (Jul 5) extended its strictest lockdown to Jul 14 to combat a surge in COVID-19 cases led by the highly contagious Delta variant, with areas bordering India reporting the most infections.  Bangladesh reported 153 deaths ...

TOKYO: Tennis star Naomi Osaka said Monday (Jul 5) she wants to be on top form at the Olympics and will take part in press conferences, after pulling out of several tournaments citing her struggles with depression and anxiety. The world number two t...