Cambodia closed all markets in the capital Phnom Penh on Saturday to contain a spike in coronavirus infections as thousands of families plead for food during a two-week lockdown.

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's police on Saturday (Apr 24) arrested a member of parliament in connection with the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks that killed 279 people as pressure to speed up the investigation mounted. Detectives took Rishad Bathiudeen, leader ...

NEW DELHI: India's daily COVID-19 death toll passed a new record on Saturday (Apr 24) as the government battled to get oxygen supplies to hospitals overwhelmed by the hundreds of thousands of new daily cases. Queues of COVID-19 patients and their ...

A spokesperson for the Xinjiang region called accusations of genocide “counter to the facts” as China came under more pressure this week over its treatment of the Uighur ethnic group in the remote border area.

BANGKOK: Thailand curbed shop operating hours on Saturday (Apr 24) after the country recorded another record daily rise in COVID-19 cases and deaths amid a third wave of the pandemic. Shopping malls in 18 risky provinces, including in the capital Ba...

JAKARTA: Southeast Asian leaders will hold Myanmar crisis talks on Saturday (Apr 24) with junta leader Min Aung Hlaing who has become the focus of international outrage over a military coup and crackdown that has left more than 700 dead. The senior ...

BALI: Hopes of rescuing dozens aboard a missing Indonesian submarine faded Saturday (Apr 24) as its oxygen reserves were believed to have run out, turning the focus to retrieving the stricken vessel from waters off Bali. As hundreds of military per...

Former president Donald Trump on Friday accused his South Korean counterpart of ripping off the United States, while continuing to highlight his supposed friendship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Nationalist Chinese bloggers resemble militias arguing with one another which is what makes this a more complex battlefield than it appears, says the Financial Times’ Yuan Yang.

ASEAN must balance competing challenges in order to arrive at a meaningful outcome at the Special Summit, says Moe Thuzar.

US President Joe Biden’s early foreign policy offers promise, showing discipline, a focus on Asia and pressing issues on trade, taxation and more. The key question is whether this will last, says Dr Prashanth Parameswaran.

A new industrial boom is bringing high-tech investments to eastern Thailand. But in this drought-prone landscape, is there enough water to go around?

HONG KONG: A former member of a now defunct Hong Kong independence group was jailed on Friday (Apr 23) for possessing explosives during protests that swept the financial hub nearly two years ago. Louis Lo, 29, pleaded guilty to storing TATP, a high-...

LONDON: The West must urgently act to ensure that China does not dominate the key technologies of the 21st century or the communist state could effectively grab control of the world's global "operating system", Britain's top cyber spy said. Britain'...

HONG KONG: Hong Kong is to grant a site on the western Kowloon peninsula, close to the high-speed railway to the mainland, to Beijing's national security office for its permanent base in the city, the government said on Friday (Apr 23). The office, ...

Beijing on Friday (Apr 23) criticised British MPs after they approved a symbolic parliamentary motion declaring that Uighur Muslims in China were "suffering crimes against humanity and genocide", calling the accusations a "big lie".

YANGON: Protesters marched through downtown Yangon on Friday (Apr 23) to demand that regional leaders "stand with Myanmar people", ahead of a weekend ASEAN summit attended by junta leader Min Aung Hlaing. The country has been in turmoil since Feb 1...

SYDNEY: Australia's diving team said it was "not safe" to travel to Japan as they withdrew from a Tokyo Olympics test event on Friday (Apr 23) just three months before the pandemic-postponed Games begin. The Diving World Cup was set to take place fr...

TOKYO: Japan announced a new COVID-19 state of emergency in Tokyo and three other regions on Friday (Apr 23), as the country battles surging infections just three months before the Olympic opening ceremony. The nation's virus outbreak remains much s...

Japanese car giant Honda said on Friday (Apr 23) that it would aim to have electric and fuel cell vehicles account for 100 per cent of all sales by 2040 to promote climate goals.

TOKYO: Japan is singling out alcohol consumption in bars and restaurants in a new state of emergency for Tokyo, Osaka and two other prefectures, a response that highlights experts' belief that alcohol can help accelerate transmission of COVID-19. Th...

SINGAPORE: Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will travel to Jakarta on Saturday (Apr 24) to attend a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), where the crisis in army-ruled Myanmar is set to be discussed. Leaders at the ...

NEW DELHI: India is reeling from a new COVID-19 surge, stretching hospitals to the limit with dire shortages of beds, oxygen and drugs as more than 2,000 people die daily. Here's a look at the reasons for the vicious new wave and why the healthca...

BANYUWANGI, Indonesia: The past few days have been trying times for Mdm Yayak Dwi Ernawati, 46.  Her son-in-law, Mr Pandu Yudha Kusuma, 23 is among those serving on board the missing KRI Nanggala 402 submarine.  In an interview with CNA on Friday...

JAKARTA: Indonesia will stop issuing visas for foreigners who have been in India in the past 14 days to prevent the spread of different coronavirus strains, a government minister said on Friday (Apr 23). India is facing a health crisis, including t...

TOKYO: Japan will hold a joint military drill with United States and French troops in the country's southwest next month, the defence minister said on Friday (Apr 23), as China's actions in regional waters raise concern. The exercise, running from M...

MANILA: The Philippines has sent two new diplomatic protests to China over its failure to withdraw what it called on Friday (Apr 23) "threatening" vessels that were massing in contested areas of the South China Sea. The Philippines has ramped up its...

NEW DELHI: Sirens wailing, a police convoy escorting a tanker carrying oxygen reached a hospital in India's capital just in time, to the huge relief of doctors and relatives of COVID-19 patients counting on the supply to stave off death. India on Fr...

BENGALURU: India recorded the world's highest daily tally of coronavirus cases for a second day in a row on Friday (Apr 23), while daily deaths from COVID-19 also jumped by a record. With 332,730 new cases, India's total caseload has now passed 16 m...

Southeast Asian summit to address Myanmar's post-coup crisis

JAKARTA: An Indonesian military spokesman said 25 ships have joined the search for an Indonesian submarine which went missing during a military exercise, as more ships were on their way to the scene. Military spokesman Major-General Achmad Riad t...

SEOUL: South Korea on Friday (Apr 23) granted conditional approval to allow the public to use two coronavirus self-test kits for the first time, as a surge in infections rekindled calls to step up testing.  The decision comes as South Korea grapple...

MUMBAI: As India's daily coronavirus cases set global records, people desperately searching for hospital beds and oxygen cylinders are finding help on social media. But for others like Ruby Yadav, who has never heard of Twitter, time and hope is runn...

WASHINGTON: The United States military will send airborne teams to help Indonesia search for a submarine that went missing with 53 sailors aboard, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on Thursday (Apr 22). Kirby said the US Defense Department was "dee...

TOKYO: Japan will declare "short and powerful" states of emergency for Tokyo, Osaka and two other prefectures on Friday as the country struggles to contain a resurgent pandemic just three months ahead of the Olympics. Under a new state of emergency ...

Viral photos of crowds gathered at Ramadan bazaars across the country have sparked concern, but vendors maintain that all will be well if health protocols are adhered to.

Jokowi’s decision to convene a summit specifically to deal with the Myanmar issue is a marked departure from ASEAN’s indirect and informal diplomacy, says an analyst.

The belligerence displayed in recent years by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been called “wolf warrior” diplomacy, but a more accurate characterisation may be “internet troll” diplomacy, says a China observer.

The United States voiced solidarity on Thursday (Apr 22) with Australia, saying it suffered from China's "coercive" diplomacy, after the US ally angered Beijing by scrapping a major infrastructure deal.

Afghanistan’s military “will certainly collapse” without some continued American support once all US troops are withdrawn, the top US general for the Middle East told Congress on Thursday (Apr 22). 

A weekend summit on the Myanmar coup crisis will be a test for ASEAN's credibility and unity, a senior Thai official said on Thursday (Apr 22), amid an escalating death toll and violence across its western border.

South Korea will stop funding coal-powered plants overseas, President Moon Jae-in told a US-led summit Thursday, as he vowed a larger role in fighting climate change.

A Norwegian climber hoping to summit Everest confirmed Thursday that he has tested positive for Covid-19, in a blow to Nepal's hopes for a bumper mountaineering season on the world's highest peak.

SHANGHAI: China will start to phase down coal consumption over the 2026-2030 period as part of its efforts to reduce climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions, President Xi Jinping told the Climate Leaders' Summit on Thursday (Apr 22). "We will stric...

Japan's government is expected to issue a third state of emergency on Tokyo and three western prefectures that could last for about two weeks, according to media reports, underscoring its struggle to deal with a surge in new COVID-19 case numbers.

Japan aims to cut emissions 46 percent by 2030, significantly more than previously pledged, the country's prime minister announced Thursday ahead of a key US-hosted climate summit.

The Pakistan Taliban claimed responsibility on Thursday (Apr 22) for a deadly bomb blast at a luxury hotel hosting the Chinese ambassador in the south-west of the country, as officials raised the death toll to five.

Belgium's ambassador to South Korea apologised Thursday after footage showed his wife hitting two boutique staff in the head in a row over shoplifting.

TOKYO: A police officer helping with Japan's Olympic Torch relay has become the first participant in the event to be diagnosed with COVID-19, organisers said on Thursday (Apr 22). A man in his 30s tested positive for the virus after working on the r...

An award-winning Hong Kong journalist was found guilty on Thursday of improperly searching a public vehicle licence database to help track down the perpetrators of an attack on democracy supporters by government loyalists.

Laos locks down capital over COVID-19 outbreak tied to Thailand

SYDNEY: Australia said on Thursday (Apr 22) that it cancelled two accords between Victoria state and China on the Belt and Road Initiative because they were out of line with the federal government's foreign policy, which sees a "free and open Indo Pa...

BALI: Oxygen supply for the missing military submarine will run out by early Saturday, Indonesian authorities said as they expressed optimism on search and rescue efforts. Head of navy Admiral Yudo Margono told a press conference on Thursday (Apr 2...

After an international mission to China turned up more questions than answers about the pandemic origins, the WHO is evaluating how to move forward through a diplomatic quagmire to solve the mystery.

Malaysia's government on Wednesday enacted a new emergency law allowing it to use funds derived from oil and gas contributions to pay for vaccine procurement, as it looks to ramp up its COVID-19 vaccination programme.

Both veteran Marxists who have spent decades campaigning for Hong Kong democracy, Chan Po-ying and Leung Kwok-hung viewed marriage as something of a patriarchal and unnecessary institution.

BENGALURU: India recorded the world's highest daily tally of 314,835 COVID-19 infections on Thursday (Apr 22) as a second wave of the pandemic raised new fears about the ability of crumbling health services to cope. Health officials across northern...

BALI: Rescue vessels from Singapore and Malaysia are being deployed to assist in the search for a missing Indonesia submarine.   Indonesia’s military spokesman Major-General Achmad Riad said on Thursday morning (Apr 22) that Singapore is sendin...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has issued US$800 million 10-year trust certificates, the world's first sovereign US dollar sustainability sukuk, the finance ministry said on Wednesday (Apr 21). In addition, the country also issued US$500 million 30-year t...

SEOUL: It was 7.30am on Christmas Eve when Cha Jung-hoon, South Korea's deputy minister for small businesses, got a call from his boss to make an urgent three-hour car trip to visit syringe maker Poonglim Pharmatech. The brief: Work out how the gov...

A Canadian judge on Wednesday (Apr 21) adjourned Chinese Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou's extradition hearing until August, giving her team time to review newly obtained documents from investment bank HSBC they say are key to her defence.

A growing number of countries are stamping out malaria, the World Health Organization said Wednesday, as it launched an initiative to help eradicate the deadly disease in 25 more countries by 2025.

The Myanmar military's crackdown on anti-coup protesters has displaced close to a quarter of a million people, a United Nations rights envoy said on Wednesday (Apr 21).

Chinese censors may have deemed the Macau Herald article to be an unacceptable, scalding criticism of President Xi Jinping and his policies, but that view is unwarranted, says Professor Bo Zhiyue.

SURALAYA, Banten: Villagers in the Indonesian district of Suralaya, Banten province, have for over 35 years lived near a massive coal-fired power station.  The Suralaya coal power plant is vital as it supplies electricity not only to Banten provinc...

At least four people were killed and a dozen others wounded when a bomb exploded at a top hotel hosting the Chinese ambassador in southwestern Pakistan.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in urged Joe Biden to open up talks with North Korea on its nuclear weapons and build on the ground-breaking talks his predecessor Donald Trump held with Pyongyang.

TOKYO: Tokyo Olympics organisers said on Wednesday (Apr 21) that they may put off an announcement on how many fans can attend the Games until May or June, as surging COVID-19 infections play havoc with preparations. Athletes are also likely to fac...

WASHINGTON: The United States on Wednesday (Apr 21)  imposed fresh Myanmar-related sanctions, targeting two state-owned enterprises in the latest in a series of punitive actions following the country's military coup and the killing of protesters s...

Sri Lankan authorities on Wednesday expelled an Antigua-registered ship that entered the island's territory without declaring a radioactive cargo bound for China.

Australia on Wednesday announced it would revoke a state government's deal to join China's Belt and Road Initiative, saying it was inconsistent with the nation's foreign policy.

MUMBAI: Twenty-two COVID-19 patients at a hospital in India died on Wednesday (Apr 21) when the oxygen supply to their ventilators was disrupted by a leak. The tragedy comes as India battles severe shortages of medical supplies during a fierce s...

After spending hours fruitlessly calling government helplines in a search for a hospital bed for a critically ill COVID-19 patient, Indian lawyer Jeevika Shiv posted an SOS request on Twitter.

JAKARTA: Indonesia's navy is searching for a submarine that has gone missing with 53 people on board, the country's military chief Hadi Tjahjanto said on Wednesday (Apr 21).  An oil spill was found near the dive position at 7am, Western Indonesian...

BANGKOK: Thailand reported more than 4,500 COVID-19 cases in a new wave of outbreak, which has spread from nightclubs, parties and concerts since early this month, according to the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA). On Wednesday...

SINGAPORE: India is battling a record-breaking rise in COVID-19 infections that has overwhelmed hospitals and led to severe bed and oxygen shortages. A key question is whether a new variant with potentially worrying mutations - B1617 - is behind ...

Philippines: 4 dead, 9 missing from wayward cargo vessel

BEIJING: Residents of some parts of China that are grappling with tight supplies of coronavirus vaccines have not received their second doses in time, but the crunch will ease by June as production is being stepped up, a health official told state me...

Anti-coup activists in Myanmar launched protests on Wednesday (Apr 21) calling for the release of those detained by the military ahead of junta chief General Min Aung Hlaing's first foreign trip on Saturday to attend a regional summit to discuss the...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's coordinating minister for COVID-19 immunisation programme Khairy Jamaluddin dismissed accusations that the federal government has stonewalled attempts by state governments to procure vaccines. In a statement on Wednesday (...

SYDNEY: The number of coronavirus infections in Papua New Guinea (PNG) rose past 10,000 on Wednesday (Apr 21), an alarming milestone for the Pacific country as health officials worry that its fragile health system is at risk of being overwhelmed. Pa...

TOKYO: Japan's government is considering a state of emergency for Tokyo and Osaka as new COVID-19 case numbers surge, broadcaster NHK reported on Wednesday (Apr 21), a move that would enable prefectural authorities to impose curbs to try to stop infe...

NEW DELHI: Indian authorities scrambled to shore up supplies of medical oxygen to hospitals in the capital, Delhi, on Wednesday (Apr 21) as a fast-spreading second wave of coronavirus stretched medical infrastructure to breaking point, officials and...

Handlebars tight in snaking rows of colour, thousands of abandoned bicycles line an open field outside the city of Shenyang, relics of a shared bike mania that has overwhelmed China's cities.

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga sent a ritual offering on Wednesday (Apr 21) to the controversial Yasukuni shrine, a move likely to anger China and South Korea as it honours war dead, including perpetrators of Japan's World War II atroc...

BEIJING: China's President Xi Jinping will attend US President Joe Biden's virtual climate summit this week, Beijing said on Wednesday (Apr 21), as the world's top polluting nations seek rare common ground despite wider political tensions. Biden has...

In the foothills of Taiwan's mountainous spine, reservoirs are running dry as the island experiences its worst drought in decades -- a crisis that risks deepening an already acute global semiconductor shortage.

NEW DELHI: India reported more than 2,000 COVID-19 fatalities on Wednesday (Apr 21), the highest single-day death toll for the country so far. The health ministry reported 295,000 new infections in 24 hours, on par with numbers seen in the United S...

HONG KONG: A 90-year-old Hong Kong woman has been conned out of US$32 million by fraudsters posing as Chinese officials, police said, in the city's biggest recorded phone scam. Hong Kong's elderly are plagued by phone scammers who seek out vulnerab...

An railway worker in India has been hailed a "superhero" after he saved a six-year-old boy from the path of an oncoming express train.

Japan's glacial COVID-19 inoculation push is prompting some foreign residents to consider flying to other countries to get vaccinated, as the pandemic surges again with no shots in sight for everyday people.

KUALA LUMPUR: Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) has introduced a slew of new party members, including religious scholars and celebrities, as preparations for elections kick into gear. While party leaders are heralding the move as part of PKR’s inclusivi...

Several developments point to a huge shift in the regulation of China’s digital space, says a media professor.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi late Tuesday called on Indians to step up their efforts to battle the coronavirus so that fresh lockdowns are not necessary, as the vast nation reels from an explosion of cases and the capital runs dangerously short of ox...

Japan says Chinese military likely behind cyberattacks

MANILA: A search was underway on Tuesday (Apr 20) for 20 crew members missing in the Philippines after their cargo ship ran aground while seeking shelter from rough waters churned up by a typhoon, the coast guard said. The crew abandoned the vessel...

SINGAPORE: DBS Group has agreed to buy a 13 per cent stake in privately-owned Shenzhen Rural Commercial Bank Corp (SZRCB) for 5.29 billion yuan (US$814.3 million), marking the Southeast Asian lender's biggest acquisition in China. DBS said in a sta...

NEW DELHI: India, the country currently being hit hardest by the pandemic, on Tuesday (Apr 20) reported its worst daily death toll, with large parts of the country now under lockdown amid a fast-rising second wave of infections. The health ministry ...

SINGAPORE: COVID-19 border measures will be tightened for travellers from India, who will have to serve an additional seven days of stay-home notice at their residence following their 14-day stay-home notice at dedicated facilities, said the Ministr...

BEIJING: Chinese Internet firms blocked users from sharing a lengthy article written by former Premier Wen Jiabao in tribute to his late mother, censoring a senior member of the ruling Communist Party, possibly because he spoke out of line. The obit...