The Philippines is negotiating with seven vaccine manufacturers to procure at least 148 million COVID-19 shots as it seeks to inoculate close to two-thirds of its population this year, a senior official said on Wednesday.

China said on Wednesday it would make a "necessary response" to a planned military dialogue between the United States and Chinese-claimed Taiwan, saying it firmly opposed the event.

SINGAPORE: The plan was to connect Singapore and Kuala Lumpur - two metropolitan cities in Southeast Asia - by a high-speed rail, revving both economies and propelling each to become a formidable force in the region.   However, this was not to be...

Criticism of India's approval of a local COVID-19 vaccine without proof of its efficacy grew on Wednesday after news that a regulatory panel approved the shot just one day after asking the vaccine maker for more evidence it would work.

JAKARTA: A counter-terrorism unit raiding a militant hideout in central Indonesia on Wednesday (Jan 6) killed two men suspected by police of involvement in twin bombings at a Philippine church in 2019 that killed more than 20 people. Police said in ...

A South Korean delegation is heading to Iran on Wednesday to seek the release of a chemicals tanker and its 20-member crew seized in Gulf waters by Iranian forces, Yonhap news agency reported.

TOKYO: Police in Japan have detained a 43-year-old Pokemon fan whose drive to "catch 'em all" saw him allegedly forge ice cream sticks in a competition to win cards featuring the game's characters. Local media said Takashi Ono is suspected of engrav...

Indonesia will impose two weeks of increased COVID-19 restrictions in parts of its most populous island of Java and the resort island of Bali from Jan 11 to support hospitals and reduce fatality rates, a minister said on Wednesday (Jan 6).

China's delayed carbon trading system will start operating in February, the environment ministry has said, as the world's biggest polluter takes steps towards decarbonising its economy by 2060.

Beauden Barrett set his sights on reclaiming the All Blacks' number 10 jersey Wednesday as he prepares to begin a stint in Japan, which is battling a coronavirus surge.

BANGKOK: Thailand's economic outlook would be substantially affected by a surge in coronavirus cases, minutes of the central bank's last policy meeting showed on Wednesday (Jan 6), as the Bank of Thailand (BOT) saw a need to preserve limited policy r...

BANGKOK: The world’s top canned tuna maker Thai Union said on Wednesday (Jan 6) its factories were continuing to operate normally after 69 out of more than 23,000 workers at its plants southwest of Bangkok tested positive for COVID-19. In a sta...

TOKYO: Tokyo reported a record 1,591 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday (Jan 6), as Japan's government prepares to declare a new state of emergency for the greater metropolitan area. Rising infections have driven the Tokyo and surrounding areas to the ...

Malaysian villagers were evacuated in an excavator while others swam through deep waters Wednesday as the number forced from their homes by floods rose to more than 28,000 with at least four dead.

Huawei Technologies this year will likely see slower 5G business and push further into software, while hoping its smartphones get a reprieve from U.S. sanctions which last year struck the chip-reliant heart of its group, analysts said.

WASHINGTON: US President-elect Joe Biden's pick for secretary of state blasted Hong Kong authorities for arresting around 50 opposition figures on Wednesday (Jan 6) under a new national security law. "The sweeping arrests of pro-democracy demonstr...

South Korea rolled out mass testing for 52 prisons in the country after a massive prison outbreak and may extend flight suspensions from Britain in a bid to prevent the spread of coronavirus cases, the health minister said on Wednesday.

China's Alibaba Group Holding Ltd plans to raise at least US$5 billion through the sale of a U.S. dollar-denominated bond this month, four people with knowledge of the matter said, amid regulatory scrutiny of co-founder Jack Ma's empire.

U.S. startup Eat Just Inc said on Wednesday that Dicos, one of China's largest fast food chains, has added plant-based egg product supplied by the San Francisco firm to menus at more than 500 outlets across China.

Hong Kong police arrested 53 people in raids on democracy activists on Wednesday (Jan 6), with authorities saying an unofficial vote to choose opposition candidates in city elections was part of a plan to "overthrow" the government. Dawn raids on 72...

China reported 32 new COVID-19 cases on Jan. 5, down from 33 cases a day earlier, the country's national health authority said on Wednesday.

SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un opened its first ruling party congress in five years with an admission of policy failures and a vow to lay out new developmental goals, state media reported on Wednesday (Jan 6). The rare Workers' Party congres...

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday (Jan 6) signed an executive order banning transactions with eight Chinese software applications, including Ant Group's Alipay, a senior administration official said, escalating tensions with Beijing ...

The head of the World Health Organization said on Tuesday he was "very disappointed" that China has still not authorised the entry of a team of international experts to examine the origins of the coronavirus.

Should Covid-19 boosters be delayed? Could the dose levels be reduced by half, and would mixing and matching shots made by different makers work just as well?

Japan should issue a COVID-19 state of emergency in the Tokyo area as soon as possible, a panel of experts advising the government on coronavirus responses said on Tuesday.

The fight to contain the coronavirus in northern China's Hebei has entered "wartime mode", official media reported on Tuesday, after the province surrounding capital Beijing saw its first locally transmitted COVID-19 cases in more than six months.

The former chairman of one of China's largest state-controlled asset management firms was sentenced to death Tuesday for soliciting $260 million in bribes, corruption and bigamy.

Asia Today: Thailand counts more virus cases, limits travel

Police officers showed "cowardice and negligence" in failing to confront a mob that attacked and set fire to a Hindu temple in northwest Pakistan, the provincial police chief said Tuesday.

HONG KONG/BEIJING: China has said it would revoke the licences of two human-rights lawyers involved in the case of 12 Hong Kong activists whom mainland authorities arrested at sea and accused of trying to flee to Taiwan, according to the two lawyer...

South Korea will send a government delegation to Iran "at the earliest possible date" to negotiate the release of a seized oil tanker and its crew, Seoul's foreign ministry said Tuesday.

Thailand's prime minister said on Tuesday his country had ordered an additional 35 million doses of the AstraZeneca Plc COVID-19 vaccine, bringing its total vaccine pipeline to 63 million doses.

A bluefin tuna sold for 20.8 million yen (US$202,197) in the first auction of the new year at Tokyo's Toyosu fish market on Tuesday when it reopened after the holiday break.

Hong Kong's outgoing top judge made a plea on Tuesday to maintain judicial independence as China state media and a growing host of pro-Beijing figures call for an overhaul of how the financial hub's courts are run.

KUALA LUMPUR: Mr Annuar Musa has been sacked as Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition’s secretary-general, reported Malaysian media on Tuesday (Jan 5). Mr Ahmad Maslan, the secretary-general of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), has confirm...

BEIJING: A year after the outbreak started, experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) are due in China for a highly politicised visit to explore the origins of the coronavirus, in a trip trailed by accusations of cover-ups, conspiracy and fear...

Chinese jets made a record 380 incursions into Taiwan's defence zone last year, a defence official said Tuesday, as a military-linked think-tank warned tensions were now at their highest since the mid-1990s.

TOKYO: Tokyo's annual New Year tuna auction ended on Tuesday (Jan 5) without the usual jaw-dropping bidding war, with the country's "Tuna King" holding back on gunning for the top fish, citing the pandemic woes affecting the restaurant industry. The...

The number of deaths linked to the coronavirus in South Korea passed 1,000 on Tuesday, while an increasing number of gym owners said they would reopen in protest against strict social distancing rules.

Indonesia must ensure a radical cleric and suspected mastermind of the 2002 Bali bombings does not incite more violence when he is released from jail this week, Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne said on Tuesday.

Indonesia will begin its nationwide COVID-19 mass vaccination programme on Jan. 13, the country's health minister said on Tuesday.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia holds the view that the amount of compensation needed to be paid to Singapore for the termination of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) project is much lower than S$270 million, said Minister in the Prime Minister...

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON/HONG KONG/ :The New York Stock Exchange is reconsidering its plan to allow three Chinese telecom giants to remain listed, the latest twist to a saga amid confusion over rules set by the Trump administration and tension within Was...

NEW DELHI: Representatives of the Indian government and protesting farmers failed again on Monday (Jan 4) to reach agreement on the farmers' demand that new agricultural reform laws be repealed. With the government refusing to revoke the legislation...

SHANGHAI: China reported 33 new COVID-19 cases on Jan 4, matching the count from the day before, the country's national health authority said on Tuesday (Jan 5). The National Health Commission said in a statement that 16 of the new cases were infec...

BINTAN: Fisherman Budi, not his real name, furiously scanned the sea in front of his house in eastern Bintan, Indonesia.   The water was brown and it has been hard to get a catch for the past few years. He is among hundreds of fishermen in the Ka...

India's Bharat Biotech is aiming to have a production capacity of about 700 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine this year, according to a top executive of the biotechnology company.

Indian government ministers and farmers' leaders on Monday failed to break the deadlock over the farmers' demands to repeal three agricultural reform laws, and will meet again on Jan. 8 for the next round of talks, one of the leaders said.

DUBAI: Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps seized a South Korean-flagged tanker in Gulf waters and detained its crew, Iranian media said on Monday (Jan 4), amid tensions between Tehran and Seoul over Iranian funds frozen in South Korean banks due to U...

Dubai Airports and the operator of Hyderabad airport, GMR Hyderabad, have agreed a logistics deal for COVID-19 vaccine distribution to handle up to 300 tonnes of vaccines per day, the companies said on Monday.

A radical Indonesian cleric linked to the deadly Bali bombings will be released from prison this week, authorities said Monday, after an earlier bid to free him early was axed following a public uproar.

KLUANG: The body of a Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) student, who was reported missing on Sunday (Jan 3), was found at Kampong Bentong in Kluang at noon on Monday. Kluang district police chief Low Hang Seng said the body of 20-year-old Ikma...

MANILA: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has commended his security detail for their "loyalty and courage" in inoculating themselves with unauthorised COVID-19 vaccines, his spokesman said on Monday (Jan 4), as some lawmakers called their actions...

Thousands of mourners from a minority Shiite community in Pakistan on Monday protested alongside the bodies of miners killed in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong on Monday (Jan 4) extended its suspension of face-to-face school classes until mid-February, with the spread of the coronavirus in the Asian financial hub remaining "critical". Schools in the city have been mostly shut for a ye...

SEOUL: South Korea's population fell for the first time in 2020, with more people dying than were born, the government said on Monday (Jan 4), warning that towns in poor regions faced a "crisis of extinction". The world's 12th-largest economy has on...

PHNOM PENH: Cambodia has started reopening schools and museums as it relaxes a six-week lockdown following a coronavirus outbreak late last year, marking a contrast with some neighbouring countries that are facing new restrictions due to rising COVID...

The US military on Monday blamed the Taliban for a spate of assassinations of prominent Afghans, the first time Washington has directly accused the insurgent group of the killings.

JAKARTA: As Indonesia prepares to begin mass inoculations against COVID-19, its plan to prioritise working age adults over the elderly, aiming to reach herd immunity fast and revive the economy, will be closely watched by other countries. Several co...

BANGKOK: Thailand will receive its first COVID-19 vaccines in February from China's Sinovac Biotech and will have the capacity to produce 200 million doses a year locally of the AstraZeneca vaccine, senior officials said. Thailand, which is aiming t...

JOHOR BAHRU: Four individuals from two frozen meat import companies were remanded for four days by the Magistrate’s Court in Johor on suspicion of being involved in corrupt activities, as investigations continue over the smuggling of frozen me...

SINGAPORE: The compensation to be paid by Malaysia to Singapore after the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail (HSR) project was terminated cannot be disclosed publicly because there is a confidentiality clause in the agreement between the two cou...

Afghan government representatives and Taliban officials are due to resume their power-sharing talks, officials said on Monday, although battlefield clashes and targeted killings risk undermining efforts to end the war.

HANOI: Vietnam has agreed to buy 30 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine produced by AstraZeneca, the government said on Monday (Jan 4), adding that authorities are also seeking to purchase vaccines from other sources, including Pfizer. The Southea...

BANGKOK: Thailand's prime minister on Monday (Jan 4) urged the public to stay home to help contain the country's biggest COVID-19 outbreak yet and avoid a strict lockdown, as authorities confirmed a daily record of 745 new infections. The government...

BEIJING: Thousands of people were lining up in Beijing to receive a COVID-19 vaccine as China races to innoculate millions before the Chinese New Year mass travel season in February. More than 73,000 people in the Chinese capital have received the f...

KUALA LUMPUR: A French-Irish teenager with learning difficulties died by "misadventure" after disappearing in the Malaysian jungle on a family holiday and no one else was involved, a coroner ruled on Monday (Jan 4). The mother of Nora Quoirin, watc...

SARAIL, Bangladesh: In a rickety hut on the border with Bangladesh and India, two brothers are among the last local breeders of the Sarail hound, a dog on the brink of extinction. Tall and lean with a powerful chest, pointed ears and bi-coloured fur...

SEOUL: South Korea expanded a ban on private gatherings larger than four people to the whole country, and extended unprecedented social distancing rules in greater Seoul as the number of daily COVID-19 cases bounced back to more than 1,000 in four da...

SINGHU, India: In a stand-off between farmers from India's northern breadbasket and the government that has convulsed the country, the farmers have a 21st-century ally: A handful of supporters scattered around the world running a Twitter handle. Th...

BEIJING: Activity in China's factory sector rose in December as the world's second-largest economy sustained its recovery to pre-pandemic levels, a business survey showed on Monday (Jan 4), however, increasing cost pressures slowed the pace of expans...

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Monday (Jan 4) the government would consider declaring a state of emergency for the Greater Tokyo metropolitan area as coronavirus cases climb and strain the country's medical system. The possi...

SHANGHAI: Mainland China reported 33 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday (Jan 3), up from 24 cases a day earlier, the country's national health authority said on Monday. The National Health Commission said in a statement that 20 of the new cases were impo...

SEOUL: When Ryu Han-na, a 20-year-old university student, got cosmetic surgery on her nose in mid-December, she had a simple reason: It might be the last chance to do so covertly before people start taking off masks this year as vaccines are distribu...

An ageing population, overreliance on investment and the shifting geopolitical landscape are key challenges as the Asian giant shifts gears, says David Dollar.

A Malaysian coroner will on Monday (Jan 4) deliver an inquest verdict into the death of a French-Irish teen whose body was found in the jungle after she went missing on a family holiday.

NEW DELHI: India will not allow the export of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for several months, the head of Serum Institute of India, which has been contracted to make 1 billion doses of the vaccine for developing nations, said o...

India on Sunday granted emergency approval to Bharat Biotech's COVAXIN but faced questions after taking the step without publishing efficacy data for the homegrown coronavirus vaccine.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia reported 1,704 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday (Jan 3), with Selangor accounting for the majority of the latest infections. Malaysia is currently battling its third wave of COVID-19 during its recovery movement control order (RM...

KUALA LUMPUR: The United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) and Barisan Nasional (BN) have decided to contest all parliamentary and state seats that they won in the 14th general election (GE14). UMNO president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is also BN c...

DHARMSALA: Hundreds of Tibetans in exile braved the rain and cold on Sunday (Jan 3) in India’s northern city of Dharmsala, where the exiled government is based, and voted for their new political leader as the current officeholder’s five-year term...

TOKYO: Tokyo reported 816 new daily COVID-19 cases on Sunday (Jan 3), a day after governors from the capital and neighboring prefectures called on the Japanese government to announce a state of emergency to combat a recent surge in cases. Prime Min...

SEOUL: Dressed in South Korea's traditional costume, the hanbok, two divers at a Seoul aquarium make New Year bows to visitors from underwater. Under mysterious yellow and blue lights in the country's largest 2,200-ton water tank called The Ocean, t...

JOHOR BAHRU: Floods across the state of Johor have displaced more than 6,500 people as of Sunday (Jan 3) afternoon.  A total of 6,557 people from 1,694 families evacuated their homes, up from 1,780 victims from 500 families on Saturday night. Me...

Gunmen kill 11 minority Shiite coal miners in SW Pakistan

A 29-year-old man has been arrested after allegedly breaking into the Tokyo residence of Emperor Naruhito, where he reportedly spent two hours before being discovered, local media said on Sunday (Jan 3).

Thailand's government held off from ordering new nationwide business shutdowns on Sunday amid a new wave of coronavirus cases but empowered some provincial governors to set their own restrictions and pleaded with the public not to travel.

India's drugs regulator said on Sunday it had given final emergency-use approval for two coronavirus vaccines, one developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and the other by local company Bharat Biotech.

PARIS: Countries across the world tightened restrictions on their populations on Saturday (Jan 2) to fight a resurgence of COVID-19, as the European Union offered to help drug companies expand vaccine production to deal with distribution "bottlenecks...

SEOUL: A South Korean health official said on Sunday (Jan 3) that a third wave of COVID-19 is being contained, as it reported the lowest number of new infections in nearly four weeks with the help of tougher restrictions during the New Year holiday ...

China reported 24 new COVID-19 cases on Jan. 2, up from 22 cases a day earlier, the national health authority said on Sunday.

BANGKOK: A group of people were hard at work on the dusty roadside by a railway.  Wearing yellow aprons and black gloves, they swept dry leaves into piles and scooped up garbage with their hands. Their faces are wrinkled and beaded with sweat whil...

JOHOR BAHRU: About 1,000 people in Malaysia's southern state of Johor have been placed in temporary evacuation centres after flooding caused by two days of heavy rain which started on Friday (Jan 1). Four districts - Kulai, Johor Bahru, Kluang an...

NEW DELHI: India has approved the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, paving the way for a huge immunisation campaign in the world's second most populous country. Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar t...

China will take "necessary measures" to safeguard the interests of its companies after the New York Stock Exchange began delisting three Chinese telecom firms accused of having military ties, the country's commerce ministry said on Saturday.

China has rebuffed the latest offer of talks from Taiwan, saying the government was engaging in a "cheap trick" and provocation by seeking confrontation with China at every turn.

The finishing touches were being put on a glitzy show at the Sydney Opera House Saturday, as the venue prepared to host an opera crowd for the first time since March.

India on Saturday staged nationwide drills to start one of the world's biggest coronavirus vaccination programmes as the drug regulator prepared to approve the first vaccine.

Bangkok's nightlife will go quiet as a ban on bars, nightclubs and restaurant alcohol sales goes into effect Saturday, among a raft of restrictions aimed at curbing the kingdom's rising coronavirus toll.