H&M and other fashion brands have been under fire in China for statements voicing concern about allegations of labour violations in cotton fields in the far west region.

TOKYO: A Japanese karate champion who will compete at the Tokyo Olympics testified before an ethics commission on Wednesday (Mar 31), alleging that a federation official hit her in the face with a bamboo sword. Ayumi Uekusa, who will compete in the ...

Japan has halted new aid to Myanmar in response to the coup, according to the country's foreign minister, but is stopping short of sanctions imposed by some nations on military and police commanders.

BANGKOK: Five Thai activists were indicted on Wednesday (Mar 31) on charges of attempted violence against the queen during a demonstration last year, when a royal motorcade encountered dozens of protesters. Their lawyer Poonsuk Poonsukcharoen said p...

JAKARTA: The second black box of the ill-fated Sriwijaya Air plane that crashed into the Java Sea in early January and killed all 62 people on board has been recovered, authorities said on Wednesday (Mar 31).  The location of the cockpit voice reco...

TAIPEI: The China-US trade war is pushing Beijing to step up its efforts to steal technology and poach talent from Taiwan to boost China's semiconductor industry's self-sufficiency, the government of the tech-powerhouse island said on Wednesday (Mar...

HONG KONG: A Filipina who was sacked as a domestic worker in Hong Kong after being diagnosed with cancer - a case that exposed the vulnerability of low-paid foreign workers - has passed away, a friend confirmed on Wednesday (Mar 31). Baby Jane Allas...

YANGON: Myanmar activists held candle-lit vigils overnight after scores of deaths in recent days from a military crackdown on anti-coup protesters and clashes in ethnic border areas, as the United States ordered non-essential embassy staff to leave. ...

The southwestern Chinese city of Ruili that borders Myanmar ordered on Wednesday a one-week home quarantine for residents of the city's urban area due to new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases there.

Australian Olympians became embroiled in the global row over Chinese forced-labour cotton on Wednesday (Mar 31) as the country revealed its uniforms for the upcoming Tokyo Games.

Her character’s name in the upcoming series was similar to that of a prominent figure in the 1987 student protests in South Korea, Chun Young Cho.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said an understanding has been reached for all ministers who are party members of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) to continue serving in his Cabinet.  The statement, issued on ...

Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr on Tuesday called for new steps to ensure Huawei Technologies and ZTE equipment is barred from U.S. telecommunications networks and ensure no electronic devices produced with forced labor enter the Uni...

JAKARTA: Indonesia's transport ministry said on Wednesday (Mar 31) that it had recovered the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) of a Sriwijaya Air jet that crashed into the Java Sea shortly after take-off on Jan 9, killing all 62 people on board. A news...

WASHINGTON: The United States strongly condemns moves by China to further reduce political participation and representation in Hong Kong and is deeply concerned by a second delay in the territory's Legislative Council elections, the US State Departme...

BEIJING: China's manufacturing activity expanded at the fastest pace in three months in March as factories cranked up production after a brief lull during the Chinese New Year holidays, with improving global demand adding further momentum to a solid ...

TOKYO: Japan's famous cherry blossoms have reached their flowery peak in many places earlier this year than at any time since formal records started being kept nearly 70 years ago, with experts saying climate change is the likely cause. Japan's favo...

US orders departure of non-essential diplomats from Myanmar

The timing, response by local authorities and other related developments this week gives food for thought on China’s response, says Professor Bo Zhiyue.

The United States will speak out about human rights everywhere including in allies and at home, Secretary of State Antony Blinken vowed Tuesday, turning a page from Donald Trump as he bemoaned deteriorations around the world.

Tracing his fingers over a "Love and Peace" tattoo inked on his forearm in a misty valley on the Thai-Myanmar border, 49-year-old former soldier Isaac said he was contemplating a return to war.

The UN Security Council on Tuesday (Mar 30) met to discuss North Korea's latest missile launches but did not take any immediate action, although the United States said the world body was considering new measures.

A group of religious and socially conscious investors and other funds are ramping up pressure on Western companies over alleged human rights abuses in China's Xinjiang region, highlighting the challenges for brands trying to maintain their business t...

Chile's president Sebastian Pinera said on Tuesday (Mar 30) that his government had signed a new deal with CanSino Biologics for its one-dose coronavirus vaccine as the South American nation vaults ahead with one of the world's fastest inoculation dr...

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday (Mar 30) replied to a letter written by his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, and said Islamabad desires peaceful relations with New Delhi, an official source told Reuters.

Japan and Indonesia's ministers of defence and foreign affairs pledged on Tuesday to tighten their military ties to face an assertive China as the two countries hold talks in Tokyo.

KUALA LUMPUR: In addition to the one it already has, Malaysia is set to receive by the middle of this year another vessel that removes plastic trash from rivers. The vessel, built by Dutch non-profit organisation The Ocean Cleanup, is sponsored by ...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has allowed in a container of plastic waste from the United States after finding that it held only clean, recyclable material, and did not after all violate a brand-new United Nations treaty banning trade in contaminated plasti...

TOKYO: A man has been charged over online abuse directed at a Japanese star of Netflix reality show Terrace House who took her own life last year, prosecutors said on Tuesday (Mar 30). A spokesman for Tokyo Prosecutors' Office told AFP they had mad...

A billionaire Thai opposition figure was charged Tuesday with defaming the monarchy after he questioned the government's alleged over-reliance on coronavirus vaccines from a company linked to the royal family.

KATHMANDU: Nepal was set to restart COVID-19 inoculations after receiving a donation of doses from China, resuming a campaign that was put on hold because India slowed vaccine exports. India and China have sought to use vaccine diplomacy to extend i...

MAE SAM LAEP, Thailand: Thailand's prime minister denied on Tuesday (Mar 30) that his country’s security forces have sent villagers back to Myanmar who fled from military airstrikes, and said his government is ready to shelter anyone who is escapin...

Thanks to media and civil society groups, there's a steady flow of accurate information and analysis on Myanmar's current situation to protesters, says a media studies professor.

HANOI: A court in Vietnam on Tuesday (Mar 30) sentenced a Facebook user to 10 years in prison after finding him guilty of spreading "anti-state propaganda" on social media, police said. Vu Tien Chi, 55, was convicted of "making, storing, spreading i...

HONG KONG: Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Tuesday (Mar 30) the government expects to hold Legislative Council elections in December, more than a year after they were postponed due to COVID-19. Lam was speaking at a press conference after China ...

YANGON: Rubbish piled up on the streets of Myanmar's main city on Tuesday (Mar 30) after activists launched a "garbage strike" to oppose military rule as the toll of pro-democracy protesters killed by the security forces since a Feb 1 coup rose to m...

JAKARTA: Indonesian state oil firm Pertamina said on Tuesday (Mar 30) it was still trying to fully extinguish a fire that broke out at its Balongan refinery a day before, injuring six people and prompting the evacuation of hundreds of nearby resident...

A Myanmar footballer playing for a Malaysian club has been hit with a one-match ban for flashing the three-finger salute used by anti-coup protesters during a game, an official said Tuesday.

HWASEONG, South Korea: In a South Korean rice field, the teenage world drone-racing champion is preparing to defend his title in one of the planet's fastest and highest-tech sports. But at all of 18 years old, Kang Chang-hyeon fears he is quickly p...

Several Asian countries scrambled to find alternative sources for COVID-19 inoculations on Tuesday (Mar 30) after export restrictions by manufacturer India left a World Health Organization-backed global vaccine sharing programme short of supplies.

HANOI: A court in Vietnam handed a two-year suspended jail term to a Vietnam Airlines flight attendant on Tuesday (Mar 30) after finding him guilty of breaking COVID-19 quarantine rules and spreading the virus to others, police said. After a one-da...

Shares in AirAsia Group fell in morning trade on Tuesday (Mar 30), as analysts lowered earnings forecasts after the Malaysian budget airline group posted its record quarterly loss.

MUMBAI: India recorded 56,211 new cases of coronavirus, a slight dip from the country's record-breaking tallies over the last three days, data from the health ministry showed on Tuesday (Mar 30). The country's tally dipped below the 60,000 mark afte...

SINGAPORE: Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan will make a two-day trip to Fujian, China, his ministry said on Tuesday (Mar 30).  "(His) visit reaffirms the long-standing and substantive relations between Singapore and China, as both cou...

BEIJING: Leather, glitter, stilettos and a strut - voguing, the underground dance phenomenon, has seized Beijing and given China's LGBT community a "playground" to celebrate their identities. Sashaying down the runway clad in fake fur, mile-high wi...

BEIJING: Beijing approved a sweeping overhaul of Hong Kong's electoral system on Tuesday (Mar 30), a senior politician who works with China's parliament on matters relating to the former British colony's mini-constitution, told Reuters. The measure...

TOKYO: Japan's health minister apologised on Tuesday (Mar 30) after media reported ministry employees had gathered at a restaurant late at night in Tokyo in violation of the government's COVID-19 contagion protocols. Norihisa Tamura confirmed that 2...

KUALA LUMPUR: The US Customs has found forced labour practices in Top Glove's production of disposable gloves and directed its ports to seize goods from the manufacturer, it said on Monday (Mar 29). In a statement overnight, US Customs and Border P...

SHRI DUNGARGARH, India: Asli Bai Sayat, 72, had to travel for two hours on a camel cart to get her first COVID-19 vaccine shot in the Indian desert state of Rajasthan, but she may not have to go so far for the follow-up dose. After a slow start, In...

The civilian death toll in the Myanmar military's crackdown on protesters passed 520 as armed rebel groups on Tuesday (Mar 30) threatened the military government with retaliation if the bloodshed does not stop.

PARIS: France on Monday (Mar 29) slammed "blind and deadly" violence in Myanmar where the ruling junta's ruthless crackdown left more than 100 people dead on Saturday, during the deadliest weekend since the military coup. "The security forces in ...

Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, slammed South Korea's president for calling the North's recent missile test "concerning" and suggesting Seoul, Pyongyang and Washington should not create hurdles for talks, state media KCNA ...

After UMNO’s general assembly meeting, the shifting sands of coalition politics and UMNO’s polarising announcement make the road ahead rockier, says James Chin.

Pakistan's President Arif Alvi said on Monday he had tested positive for COVID-19 after receiving his first dose of an unnamed vaccine, just over a week after a similar announcement from the prime minister.

WASHINGTON: The US is immediately suspending all engagement with Myanmar under a 2013 trade and investment agreement until the return of a democratically elected government, US trade representative Katherine Tai said on Monday (Mar 29).  Saturday w...

NEW YORK: Britain has called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting on the situation in Myanmar, where scores of anti-coup protesters were killed over the weekend, diplomatic sources said on Monday (Mar 29). The 15 Security Council members wil...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's budget airline AirAsia Group reported a record quarterly loss on Monday (Mar 29), as depreciation and impairments deepened the impact of lockdowns, but said it was confident of a full recovery in two years' time. Net loss in...

SINGAPORE: Singapore is studying a proposal from Hong Kong to reopen borders safely, said Minister for Transport Ong Ye Kung on Monday (Mar 29) after a Hong Kong official said it has resumed discussions on a travel bubble with Singapore. “We are v...

A Myanmar toddler has miraculously survived a weekend airstrike that killed his father in their bamboo hut near the coup-hit country's border with Thailand.

SINGAPORE: Singapore has condemned the bombing in front of a Catholic church in Indonesia on Sunday (Mar 28), saying there is no justification for such violence. “Nothing can justify such violence against innocent civilians and places of worship,â...

India reported the highest daily increase in coronavirus cases in five months on Monday, with the second wave of the disease driven by surging infections in the country's richest state Maharastra.

Thai police on Monday vowed to arrest more people participating in anti-government protests after detaining nearly 100 at a demonstration a day earlier, citing a law restricting gatherings to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Indians gather for Holi celebrations as virus cases surge

JAKARTA: The two suspected suicide bombers who attacked a Catholic church in Makassar, Indonesia were husband and wife who received online training on bomb making, authorities said on Monday (Mar 29).  Speaking at the scene of the attack, the hea...

The Oscars will not be shown in Hong Kong for the first time in more than half a century, its local broadcaster confirmed Monday, as doubts remained over whether Hollywood's top awards will air in mainland China.

SINGAPORE: Malaysia has paid more than S$102 million in compensation to Singapore for the terminated Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail (HSR) project, ministers from both countries said on Monday (Mar 29).  The payment of S$102,815,576 (RM32...

GENEVA: An international expert mission to Wuhan has concluded it was very likely that COVID-19 first passed to humans from a bat through an intermediary animal, while all but ruling out a laboratory leak. The intermediate host hypothesis was deeme...

Hong Kong will ease some coronavirus restrictions, the government said on Monday, allowing swimming pools and beaches to open and shortening the quarantine period for some international arrivals to 14 days from 21.

MANILA: More than 24 million people in the Philippines' economic hub entered a lockdown on Monday (Mar 29), as officials warned the week-long restrictions could be extended if coronavirus infections do not fall. People have been ordered to stay home...

PUTRAJAYA: The second phase of Malaysia's national vaccination exercise - which will prioritise the elderly, those with morbidity problems and people with disabilities - will start on Apr 19. Recipients will be notified of their appointments from A...

International athletes could be invited to participate in test events before the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games this summer, organisers said on Monday.

TAIPEI: There has been no progress on talks to seal a deal with Germany's BioNTech for its COVID-19 vaccine though talks are continuing, Taiwanese Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said on Monday (Mar 29). Taiwan complained last month that the firm h...

TAIPEI: Taiwan's air force is no longer scrambling each time Chinese aircraft encroach on its air defence identification zone, but tracks the intruders with ground-based missiles instead to help save resources, a senior official said on Monday (Mar 2...

TOKYO: Japan's COVID-19 vaccine minister, Taro Kono, said on Monday (Mar 29) that the pace of inoculation in the country would accelerate in May, but that the Tokyo Olympics, set to start in July, were not factoring into the schedule. Prime Minister...

A new factory in Abu Dhabi will start manufacturing a COVID-19 vaccine from Chinese pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm later this year under a joint venture between Sinopharm and Abu Dhabi-based technology company Group 42 (G42).

YANGON: Myanmar security forces killed three people in the main city of Yangon on Monday (Mar 29), witnesses and media reported, as activists called on ethnic minority forces in the diverse nation to back their campaign against military rule. Afte...

SINGAPORE: Facebook said on Monday (Mar 29) it planned two new undersea cables to connect Singapore, Indonesia and North America in a project with Google and regional telecommunication companies to boost Internet connection capacity between the regio...

The United States, Britain, the European Union and Canada have engaged in political manipulation to destabilise China, a spokesman for the regional government of Xinjiang said on Monday.

A panel of South Korean advisers said that a COVID-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson was safe and effective, the food and drug safety ministry said on Monday (Mar 29), moving the single-dose shot a step closer to receiving regulatory approval.

SEOUL: North Korea said on Monday (Mar 29) that the United Nations Security Council showed a double standard as its sanctions committee criticised the country's recent missile test as a violation of UN resolutions. North Korea launched a new type of...

BEIJING: China reported 15 new COVID-19 cases in the mainland for Sunday (Mar 28), up from eight a day earlier, the country's national health authority said on Monday. The National Health Commission, in a statement, said all the new cases were impor...

JAKARTA: Indonesian state oil company Pertamina said on Monday (Mar 29) it has shut its Balongan oil refinery in West Java as it battles to control a massive fire that broke out overnight, injuring six people. About 950 nearby residents had been ev...

YANGON: US President Joe Biden has led global condemnation of an "absolutely outrageous" crackdown by Myanmar's junta that left more than 100 people - including several children - dead in the bloodiest day since the coup two months ago. Soldiers an...

China generated 53 per cent of the world's total coal-fired power in 2020, nine percentage points more than five years earlier, despite climate pledges and the building of hundreds of renewable energy plants, a global data study showed on Monday.

Thousands of protesters broke through a police blockade in northwestern Pakistan on Sunday as they tried to march on the city of Bannu and then on to Islamabad to demand a government probe into the deaths of four young men who they allege were tortur...

The UN is in negotiations with Beijing for a visit "without restrictions" to Xinjiang to see how the Uyghur minority is being treated, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in an interview broadcast Sunday.

The Indian state of Maharashtra reported 40,414 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, the highest number reported by any Indian state since March 2020, government data showed.

JAKARTA: One of two suicide bombers who attacked an Indonesian cathedral on Sunday (Mar 28) belonged to a pro-Islamic State extremist group blamed for other church bombings in Indonesia and the Philippines, said police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo. â€...

An exhibition of World Press Photo winners opened at a different venue in Hong Kong Sunday after a local university called off the event that features images of the city's 2019 pro-democracy protests because of security fears.

KUALA LUMPUR: United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) can withdraw its support for the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government "any time" if there are no indications of a general election in the near future, said party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. "...

YANGON: Protesters in Myanmar returned to the streets on Sunday (Mar 28) to press their demands for a return to democracy, just a day after security forces killed more than 100 people in the bloodiest day since last month's military coup. Protests w...

Palau's leader flew into Taiwan on Sunday as the two coronavirus-free allies prepare to launch a travel corridor and boost their pandemic-hit tourist sectors.

Hundreds of members of a hardline Islamist group attacked Hindu temples and a train in eastern Bangladesh on Sunday, police and a local journalist said, as violence spread across the country in the wake of a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Mo...

BEIJING: China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) will need to assess results from overseas Phase III clinical trials to decide whether its two-shot COVID-19 vaccine should be followed by a booster shot, a company executive said on Sunday (Mar...

BEIJING: A digital illustration by a prominent Chinese propaganda artist mocking Western governments, media and businesses critical of labour conditions in Xinjiang has gone viral on China's social media. The digital art by the artist who goes b...

Authorities in India's western state of Maharashtra imposed night curfews on Sunday to tackle a record surge in COVID-19 cases with the financial capital Mumbai reporting 6,123 new cases, the highest single-day spike since March last year.

KUALA LUMPUR: United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the party will not work with opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, Democratic Action Party or Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) in the next general election....

The Chinese capital Beijing woke on Sunday morning shrouded in thick dust carrying extremely high levels of hazardous particles, as a second sandstorm in two weeks hit the city due to winds from drought-hit Mongolia and northwestern China.

MANILA: The Philippine military is sending light fighter aircraft to fly over hundreds of Chinese vessels in disputed waters in the South China Sea, its defence minister said, as he repeated his demand the flotilla be withdrawn immediately. Internat...

JAKARTA: Two suspected suicide bombers blew themselves up outside a Catholic church in the Indonesian city of Makassar on Sunday morning (Mar 28), the first day of the Easter Holy Week, police and witnesses said. The two suspects are confirmed dead...