TAIPEI: Taiwan raised its COVID-19 alert level on Saturday (May 15) in its capital, Taipei, and the city around it, bringing curbs for a period of two weeks that will shut many venues and restrict gatherings in the wake of 180 new domestic infection...

BEIJING: China's Zhurong rover touched down on Mars early on Saturday (May 15), state media reported, a triumph for Beijing's increasingly bold space ambitions and a history-making feat for a nation on its first-ever Martian mission. The lander carr...

SHANGHAI: China reported 14 new COVID-19 cases on Friday (May 14), up from seven cases a day earlier, the country's national health authority said on Saturday. The National Health Commission said in its daily bulletin that five of the new cases were...

BEIJING: One person died and more than 60 were injured after two different tornadoes struck the central Chinese city of Wuhan and a town in east China's Jiangsu Province on Friday (May 14) night, the official Xinhua news agency reported. In central...

If America's China policy is defined as a moral effort, most other nations will be alienated, not attracted, says security affairs expert Chas W Freeman Jr.

COVID-19 has altered overseas travel behavior, triggering a need for a new paradigm of promoting tourism. This means market opportunities for tourism in smaller cities, says RSIS’ Kaewkamol Pitakdumrongkit.

BANGKOK: An exodus of financing for new coal projects in Southeast Asia is heaping pressure on new regional coal power projects and the companies and governments hoping to persist with burning fossil fuels for energy.  The Asian Development Bank (...

French President Emmanuel Macron and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern were to hold talks Friday by video conference to advance their two-year-old campaign to curb online extremism.

TOKYO: A team of Japanese scientists has shown it is possible for mammals to absorb oxygen via the anus. Intrigued by how certain sea creatures breathe through their intestines in emergencies, researchers at Tokyo Medical and Dental University were ...

NEW DELHI: India on Friday (May 14) started deploying Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine, the first foreign-made shot to be used in the country as it reels from an explosion in cases and deaths. Sputnik in mid-April became the third vaccine to be a...

MANILA: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has rebuffed a call from China to withdraw vessels from disputed areas of the South China Sea and said he would not bow to pressure, even if it jeopardises his friendship with Beijing. The Philippines has...

UN envoy asks Thai leader's aid in ending crisis in Myanmar

TOKYO: Japan expanded a coronavirus state of emergency Friday (May 14), just 10 weeks before the Olympics, as campaigners submitted a petition with more than 350,000 signatures calling for the Games to be scrapped. With Tokyo and other areas already...

TAIPEI: Taiwan's state-owned electricity monopoly Taipower on Friday (May 14) blamed human error during a test for a power cut that affected some 4 million homes the day before, and said it would offer discounts worth almost US$18 million to affected...

TAIPEI: The Taiwan arm of Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai's Apple Daily is to stop publishing its print version, the newspaper said on Friday (May 14), blaming declining advertising revenue and more difficult business conditions in Hong Kong linked ...

TAIPEI: Taiwan's capital on Friday (May 14) announced an indefinite closure of entertainment venues in the wake of a widening outbreak of local COVID-19 infections. The self-ruled island has been hailed as a global leader in containing the COVID-19 ...

China's "Zhurong" rover, part of its ambitious space programme to send a probe to Mars, is set to attempt the challenging landing on the Red Planet in the next five days, Beijing's space agency said Friday.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia may see more than 8,000 new COVID-19 cases a day by June if members of the public fail to adhere to safe management regulations. According to the health ministry’s latest data modelling, COVID-19 cases will increase sharpl...

YANGON: If you need cash in Myanmar, you have to get up early. Queues start forming outside banks at 4am, where the first 15 or 30 customers are given a plastic token that will allow them to enter the bank when it opens at 9.30am and withdraw cash, a...

SHANGHAI: China reported seven new COVID-19 cases on May 13, including its first local transmissions in more than three weeks, the country's national health authority said on Friday (May 14). Two of the new cases were local infections in the eastern...

YANGON: A Japanese journalist arrested while covering the aftermath of the Myanmar coup is to be deported, Tokyo said on Friday (May 14), after charges against him were dropped as a diplomatic gesture. Yuki Kitazumi, held in Yangon's Insein prison s...

Myanmar's junta has declared martial law in a town in Chin State after blaming "armed terrorists" for attacks on a police station and a bank, state media reported on Friday (May 14), amid an upsurge in fighting between the military and ethnic rebels ...

BENGALURU: Prime Minister Narendra Modi sounded the alarm over the rapid spread of COVID-19 through India's vast countryside on Friday (May 14), as 4,000 people died from the virus for the third straight day and total infections crossed 24 million. ...

SINGAPORE: Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung said on Friday (May 14) that Singapore will "critically review" the start date of the air travel bubble between Singapore and Hong Kong, given Singapore's rising number of COVID-19 cases.  "The assessment ...

TOKYO: Japan will declare a state of emergency in three more prefectures hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said on Friday (May 14), in a surprise move reflecting growing concerns about the virus's spread. Hokkai...

China aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. The challenges ahead are daunting and the socioeconomic costs high, but meeting these targets could significantly reduce global warming says EAI’s Chen Gang.

The United States stands with Honduras and condemns the "cynical use" of COVID-19 vaccines for political purposes, the State Department said, after Taiwan blasted China for seeking to use vaccines to make diplomatic inroads with one of Taipei's allie...

Holding the Tokyo Olympics safely as the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage would be "impossible", a union of Japanese hospital doctors warned on Wednesday.

NEW DELHI: India's most populous state of Uttar Pradesh will spend up to US$1 billion to buy COVID-19 shots and held early talks this week with companies such as Pfizer and the local distributor of Russia's Sputnik V, a state official said on Thursda...

TOKYO: Dozens of Japanese towns have abandoned plans to host Olympic athletes because of concern they will overburden stretched medical resources amid a fourth wave of coronavirus infections, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Thursday (May 13). Forty...

Political turmoil returns as Nepal suffers worst COVID-19 surge

TAIPEI: Tech powerhouse Taiwan started phased blackouts islandwide on Thursday (May 13) after an outage at a coal- and gas-fired power plant hit 6 million homes, as the government worked to resume normal supply by evening. The world's biggest cont...

Of the 100 cities worldwide most vulnerable to environmental hazards all but one are in Asia, and four-fifths are in India or China, according to a risk assessment published Friday.

India recorded more than 4,000 COVID-19 deaths for a second straight day on Thursday (May 13), while infections stayed below 400,000 for a fourth day, though the virus has become rampant in rural areas where cases can go unreported due to a lack of t...

Two climbers from the United States and Switzerland have died on Mount Everest, the first fatalities of this year's season, expedition organisers in Nepal said Thursday.

The United States seized latex gloves made by Malaysian firm Top Glove after a shipment was found in Kansas City despite an import ban on its products over forced labour allegations, US Customs said on Wednesday (May 12).

Myanmar military court gives DVB reporter 3 years in prison

Myanmar's Buddhist monkhood led an earlier struggle against military rule but is split on the coup that ended the country's nascent democracy, with some prominent religious leaders defending the new junta.

A three-day ceasefire agreed by the warring Taliban and Afghan forces was due to come into force on Thursday, after weeks of intense clashes throughout the country.

JEJU, South Korea: Every April in the fishing village of Jongdal, a day-long ritual takes place. Shamans make offerings to the gods, praying for bountiful catches and the safety of those who venture out to sea. Leading up to the ceremony, a group of...

Investors should take note of Hong Kong developers, says the Financial Times’ June Yoon.

The United States warned Wednesday that Beijing would use the Winter Olympics to gloss over abuses as it slapped sanctions on another Chinese official over treatment of the Falun Gong.

The United States, Britain and Germany called Wednesday on China to end its repression of the Uyghur minority, speaking out at a video conference that infuriated Beijing.

MALE: The Maldives on Wednesday (May 12) banned travellers from across South Asia in a bid to contain surging COVID-19 infections despite having one of the world's most successful vaccination roll-outs. Sri Lanka and other countries in the region ha...

HONG KONG: A new law that tightens patriotic loyalty tests for Hong Kong politicians will take effect later this month after being passed by the city's legislature on Wednesday (May 12), local media reported. The law is widely expected to further st...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia recorded its highest daily death toll from COVID-19 on Wednesday (May 12), as the country entered another national lockdown amid a third wave of infections. It reported a record 39 new COVID-19 fatalities, bringing the nationa...

BANGKOK: Thailand’s Department of Corrections reported on Wednesday (May 12) that nearly 3,000 inmates and officials in two Thai prisons have tested positive for COVID-19. In a statement, the department said it carried out tests among its employee...

KUALA LUMPUR: A 36-year-old man was charged in Malaysia on Wednesday (May 12) with murdering and sodomising a baby.  The nine-month-old boy was being cared for by Mohamed Badruldin Mohamed’s wife, who was the baby's nanny. Police on Tuesday said...

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad on Wednesday (May 12) apologised for flouting COVID-19 regulations during a Hari Raya charity event over the weekend. In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Dr Mahathir said he had travelled ...

An analysis of Indonesian healthcare workers inoculated with a COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech showed it was 98per cent effective at preventing death and 96per cent effective at preventing hospitalisation, a health ministry offi...

RUGAO: Gu Bin leans over a desk as he carefully adds strokes to the Chinese character for "fortune", before signing off in a flourish with his age - 104. But the spry great-grandfather is five years younger than the oldest member of the community in...

SINGAPORE: Nine contracts worth about RM1 billion (S$320 million) were recently awarded for systems works on the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link, said operator RTS Operations. RTS Operations - formed in 2020 as a joint venture...

BEIJING: Exquisitely garbed in a traditional cheongsam dress, 76-year-old Sang Xiuzhu is one of an unlikely vanguard of elderly influencers storming Chinese social media with videos of glamour in the golden years. Two years ago she joined the "Fashi...

This Hari Raya will be a quiet one for Iman Nurhannah Mohamed Fariq and her grandparents, who are apart from the rest of their family due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.

TOKYO: Japan is gearing up to offer COVID-19 vaccinations to around 2,500 Olympic and Paralympic athletes and support staff, using shots donated for the Games amid public anger over the slow pace of the country's vaccine rollout. With fewer than thr...

NEW DELHI: India's COVID-19 death toll surpassed 250,000 on Wednesday (May 12), official data showed, as the pandemic raged across the vast country of 1.3 billion people. According to the health ministry, 4,205 people died in the past 24 hours - a n...

TAIPEI: Taiwan reported its largest daily rise in domestic COVID-19 cases on Wednesday (May 12), while the stock market tanked after the health minister warned the island could move to a higher alert level, though he later clarified that step was not...

SEOUL: Samsung BioLogics on Wednesday (May 12) said a report it was in talks with Pfizer Inc to begin production of the US drugmaker's COVID-19 vaccine in South Korea as early as in August was "not factual". The Korea Economic Daily reported earlier...

It turns out that Chinese projects overseas are giving emerging economies what they want, says a researcher.

COVID-19 policy u-turns, knee-jerk reactions and incrementalism in finalising implementation details are fueling public fatigue and a loss of confidence that Malaysia can beat this pandemic, says ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute’s Serina Rahman.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not attend the G7 Summit in the UK in person, the Indian government said Tuesday, as the country reels from a massive wave of coronavirus cases.

Volunteer Ashish Kashyap carefully shovels the ashes of India's unclaimed COVID-19 dead from a large pile into sacks at Nigambodh ghat crematorium in Delhi, where the pyres have been burning round-the-clock because of a surge of deaths.

A prominent Thai democracy protest leader facing royal defamation charges was granted bail on Tuesday (May 11) amid deteriorating health following a hunger strike that lasted more than 50 days.

Pakistan's Prime Minister on Tuesday (May 11) ruled out talks with neighboring nuclear-rival India, saying they cannot happen until New Delhi restores the semi-autonomous status of the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir.

LUCKNOW: Scores of bodies are washing up on the banks of the Ganges as Indians fail to keep pace with the deaths and cremations of around 4,000 people a day from the novel coronavirus. India currently accounts for one in three of the reported deaths...

KUALA LUMPUR: The latest COVID-19 curbs in Malaysia are not as strict as the first lockdown as the government sees a need to balance health and livelihoods, said Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob on Tuesday (May 11).  In a joint press conference ...

Shares of Chinese online giant Meituan plummeted for a second straight day Tuesday amid a run of bad headlines that included the CEO posting an ancient poem viewed as a veiled criticism of China's government.

BANGKOK: A rights activist hit with almost a decade of lawsuits after raising concerns about labour conditions at a Thai pineapple company received a court decision Tuesday (May 11) clearing him in the final case against him. Andy Hall faced a seri...

Taiwan's government on Tuesday tightened rules on public gatherings after reporting six new domestic COVID-19 cases with no clear source of infection, a rare rise on the island which has kept the pandemic well under control.

NEW DELHI: India has recorded the world's sharpest spike in coronavirus infections this month, with political and financial capitals New Delhi and Mumbai running out of hospital beds, oxygen and medicines. Scientists are studying what led to the une...

HONG KONG: Hong Kong on Tuesday (May 11) scrapped a plan to make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for foreign domestic workers after the proposal sparked an outcry and a diplomatic tussle. But authorities ordered all foreign helpers to undergo another ro...

The Philippine economy shrank in the first three months of the year as coronavirus restrictions suppressed activity, but a top official said there were signs the country was "on the mend".

Japanese, US and French troops kicked off their first-ever joint military drill Tuesday in southwestern Japan, as concerns rise over China's growing assertiveness in the region.

At least seven people were killed and one reported missing after a landslide at an Indonesian gold mine, authorities said on Tuesday (May 11).

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's King Al-Sultan Abdullah on Tuesday (May 11) advised the public to stay home and avoid going out if they have no urgent matters to attend to during the movement control order (MCO). Doing so would indirectly help frontline ...

BENGALURU: India's COVID-19 crisis showed scant sign of easing on Tuesday (May 11), with a seven-day average of new cases at a record high and international heath authorities warning that a variant of the virus which emerged in the country poses a ...

BANGKOK: Three Myanmar journalists have been arrested in Thailand after fleeing across the border to escape a crackdown by the military junta, their employer has said. The trio were set to appear in court on Tuesday (May 11), their editor added, ur...

The Philippines has detected its first two cases of a coronavirus variant first identified in India, its health ministry said on Tuesday (May 11).

TAIPEI: Taiwan's largest carrier, China Airlines, said on Tuesday (May 11) that the quarantining of its pilots to stem a COVID-19 outbreak is expected to affect more than 10 per cent of its freighter capacity, potentially affecting the island's expor...

TOKYO: Eighteen people have died from the COVID-19 respiratory disease outside of hospitals in Japan's Osaka Prefecture, officials said, amid calls for tougher restrictions on movement to halt a fourth wave of infections ahead of the Olympics. All b...

BEIJING: China's population growth in the decade to 2020 slumped to the least in official records dating back to the 1950s, fuelling pressure on Beijing to ramp up incentives to couples to have more children and avert an irreversible decline. With g...

TAIPEI: More than a year after two amateur computer coders were taken by police from their Beijing homes, they are set to be tried on Tuesday (May 11) in a case that illustrates the Chinese government's growing online censorship and heightened sensit...

"When we ask children to recite the Koran, it is a bit difficult. But if there are clowns, they feel they go to the classroom with some purpose," shared Yahya Edward Hendrawan.

China on Monday (May 10) urged the United States, Germany and Britain to cancel an upcoming video conference on Beijing's crackdown on the Uyghur Muslim minority, and called on other UN members not to attend the event.

For the second year in a row, many Muslims in Malaysia are unable to “balik kampung” (return to hometown) and reunite with their loved ones.

SINGAPORE: In the early hours of Feb 1, just hours before the first sitting of a newly elected parliament in one of Southeast Asia's most strife-ridden countries, a decade-long experiment in democracy juddered to a halt. More than three months afte...

An Australian judge on Monday (May 10) rejected a challenge to a temporary COVID-19 ban on citizens returning from India.

The World Health Organziation said on Monday (May 10) that the B1617 variant first identified in India last year was being classified as a variant of global concern.

MUMBAI: A growing number of current and recovered COVID-19 patients in India are contracting a deadly and rare fungal infection, doctors told AFP on Monday (May 10) as the vast nation battles to contain a massive outbreak of virus cases. The world'...

YANGON: A judge on Monday (May 10) ordered Myanmar's deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi to appear in person in court for the first time on May 24, her lawyer said, after weeks of delays in her case. The Nobel laureate has not been publicly seen since s...

BANGKOK: Thailand reported on Monday (May 10) its first case of the B1617 variant of the coronavirus – a variant that was first detected in India.  The case is a pregnant Thai woman who travelled with her sons from Pakistan to Thailand last ...

KUALA LUMPUR: Travellers entering Malaysia from Singapore under the Periodic Commuting Arrangement (PCA) scheme must undergo a compulsory 14-day quarantine with effect from Thursday (May 13).  The tightened restrictions come as Malaysian authoritie...

KUALA LUMPUR: The whole of Malaysia will again be placed under a movement control order (MCO), said Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, amid a third wave of COVID-19 cases.  House visits and grave visits during the upcoming Hari Raya Aidilfitri celeb...

SHENZHEN, Guangdong: From her four-bedroom flat in an affluent Shenzhen neighbourhood, Sharpay Huang, 28-years-old and four months pregnant, is already weighing up how long to wait before having a second child. After graduating from a US college, st...

With so many countries relying on India for vaccines, India’s devastating second wave is threatening vaccination progress globally, says a lecturer.

BALI: A Canadian man has been expelled from Bali for offering an "orgasmic" yoga class after Indonesian authorities said he disrespected local traditions and values. Christopher Kyle Martin was deported from Indonesia on Sunday (May 9) after he prom...

Fake cheers, empty seats and the sound of pounding feet: Welcome to the Tokyo Olympics in the era of COVID-19, which Japan seems determined to hold at all costs.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and a former unit have filed 22 civil suits seeking to recover more than US$23 billion in assets from entities and people allegedly involved in defrauding them, the finance minist...

JAKARTA: Indonesian authorities have arrested Papuan independence leader Victor Yeimo over accusations that he orchestrated some of the most serious civil unrest in decades that broke out in 2019, police said on Monday (May 10). Tension has reignite...

TAIPEI: Taiwan will quarantine all pilots for its largest carrier China Airlines for 14 days as it tries to stop an outbreak of COVID-19 among its crew, effectively grounding the airline, the health minister said on Monday (May 10). While Taiwan has...