Malaysia detains French conspiracist wanted for kidnapping

The president of the Tokyo 2020 organising committee ruled out a cancellation or further postponement of the Olympics as doubts swirled among host cities and medical professionals whether the event can be held safely amid the pandemic.

TAIPEI: Taiwan reported 583 domestic COVID-19 infections on Thursday (Jun 3), including 219 cases added to recent days' totals as it reflected delays in reporting positive tests. The figure was an increase from the 549 cases reported on Wednesday. ...

TAIPEI: Taiwan called on China on Thursday (Jun 3) to return power to the people and embark upon real political reform rather than avoid facing up to the bloody 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing. Friday marks ...

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka on Thursday (Jun 3) readied for the possibility of an oil spill after a cargo ship laden with chemicals sank off its western coast. The Singapore-registered MV X-Press Pearl, carrying 1,486 containers, including 25 tonnes of nitri...

BANGKOK: When restaurant owner Chirayu Na Ranong heard the Thai government announce new coronavirus restrictions in Bangkok in April, he burst into tears. The latest curbs were the final straw for his Chu Chocolate Bar & Cafe in the centre of the ci...

SEOUL: A member of the South Korean air force has been arrested on charges of sexually harassing and injuring a female colleague, which led to her taking her own life, the defence ministry said on Thursday (Jun 3).  The master sergeant, only identi...

WUWEI, Gansu: After a hard morning planting fresh shoots in the dunes on the edge of the Gobi Desert, 78-year-old farmer Wang Tianchang retrieves a three-stringed lute from his shed, sits down beneath the fiery midday sun, and starts to play. "If yo...

India's government said on Thursday it has inked a deal with domestic vaccine maker Biological-E for 300 million COVID-19 vaccine doses for 15 billion rupees (US$205.62 million).

HONG KONG: Hong Kongers are seeking innovative ways to commemorate the victims of China's deadly Tiananmen Square crackdown after authorities banned an annual vigil and vowed to stamp out any protests come Friday's anniversary. Discussion of tanks a...

Around 10,000 of 80,000 planned Tokyo 2020 Olympic volunteers have quit, organisers have revealed as they battle persistent doubts over the Games with just 50 days until the opening ceremony.

BANGKOK: From the moment he was dragged into a car in broad daylight on the streets of Phnom Penh on Jun 4 last year, nothing has been seen or heard of Thai activist Wanchalearm Satsaksit. Thai and Cambodian police insist they are investigating, but...

TOKYO :Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is likely to call a snap election after the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, a media report said, showing his resolve to push ahead with the Games despite the country's struggle to contain the COVID-19...

SHANGHAI: China will invest in new desalination plants over the 2021 to 2025 period and raise capacity to 2.9 million tonnes a day in a bid to boost water supplies, the country's state planning agency said in a new "five-year plan" for the sector. A...

It is an uphill battle to track down the culprits, the programme Undercover Asia finds out. Meanwhile, experts urge greater protection of underwater cultural heritage.

JOHOR BAHRU: Johor Chief Minister Hasni Mohammad said the state must focus on reducing the number of COVID-19 cases before discussions on reopening borders with Singapore.  Speaking to CNA in an exclusive interview on Monday (May 31), Mr Hasni sai...

Using geographical names for coronavirus variants can stoke racism and xenophobia, says a microbiologist.

More than 100 Jews from India's northeastern Manipur state have had to delay plans to emigrate to Israel as family members fell ill with COVID-19 and were placed in quarantine in New Delhi.

Climbers returning from Mount Everest and other Himalayan peaks are struggling to find a return flight back home after Nepal banned most air travel to contain a surge in COVID-19 cases, mountaineering operators and hikers said on Wednesday (Jun 2).

SINGAPORE: The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said on Wednesday (Jun 2) that operations are under way to minimise the environmental impact of a Singapore-registered container ship at risk of sinking off Sri Lanka. The X-Press Pearl h...

BEIJING: China on Wednesday (Jun 2) said it would suspend all sports competitions that lack national safety standards, after extreme weather at an ultramarathon killed 21 runners and sparked calls for more regulation. Beijing's General Administrati...

PHNOM PENH: China will help to modernise and expand Cambodia's largest naval base but will not be the only country given access to the facility, Cambodian media reported on Wednesday (Jun 2), quoting the country's defence minister. In October, Cambo...

YANGON: A Myanmar journalist who live-streamed his detention by the junta was jailed for two years on Wednesday (Jun 2), his employers said, as the military continues its crackdown on critical reporting.  Aung Kyaw, who worked for Democratic Voice ...

Vietnam is in talks to buy 20 million doses of the Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V this year, its health minister said on Wednesday.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia reported a record 126 COVID-19 fatalities on Wednesday (Jun 2), the highest since the start of the pandemic. The country’s previous record was less than a week ago on May 29 with 98 deaths.   Health director-general Noor...

Indonesia's navy has officially ended its efforts to salvage the KRI Nanggala-402 submarine, which sank in April in the waters off Bali island killing all 53 on board, a navy spokesman said on Wednesday.

A herd of 15 wild elephants was approaching the city of Kunming, the capital of southwest China's Yunnan province, on Wednesday, defying attempts to redirect them after a journey of several hundred kilometres from forests to the south.

TAIPEI: Taiwan reported a rise in domestic coronavirus infections on Wednesday (Jun 2) after six days of falls, and unveiled details of a mass vaccination plan that aims to eventually cover 1.7 million people a week. After months of relative safety,...

KUALA LUMPUR: The latest stimulus package worth RM40 billion (US$9.7 billion) for Malaysians undergoing the “total lockdown” is too small to offer a significant boost to the economy, experts said.   Considering that Malaysia was going back i...

MANILA: A tropical storm has left at least three people dead and displaced hundreds of villagers in the southern and central Philippines, where it triggered floods and landslides, officials said on Wednesday (Jun 2). Forecasters said the storm Choi-...

SEOUL: Leaders of South Korea's largest conglomerates urged President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday (Jun 2) to pardon Jay Y Lee, the jailed vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, to maintain the country's edge in the chip industry. The plea was made duri...

TAIPEI: Germany's top diplomat in Taipei said his government has been helping in talks between Taiwan and drugmaker BioNTech to supply COVID-19 vaccines, after Taiwan said a deal fell apart earlier this year due to Chinese "intervention". China deni...

HONG KONG: A private Hong Kong sports club has instructed all staff members to get vaccinated for COVID-19 by the end of June or be denied future bonuses, promotions and pay rises. The request, an example of the rising pressure on residents in the A...

SHENZHEN: Embattled Chinese tech giant Huawei will launch a homegrown new mobile operating system on Wednesday (Jun 2) as it fights for survival in the smartphone arena after the US blocked it from using Android. Huawei will unveil its first mobile...

COLOMBO: A burnt-out container ship that has already caused Sri Lanka's worst maritime environmental disaster was sinking on Wednesday (Jun 2) with nearly 350 tonnes of oil in its fuel tanks. The MV X-Press Pearl, carrying hundreds of containers of...

Vietnam will resume incoming international flights to its capital Hanoi and business hub Ho Chi Minh City effective immediately, after a few days of suspension due to COVID-19, its aviation authority said on Wednesday.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition on Wednesday (Jun 2) urged the government to develop a “clear action plan”, after Chinese military transport planes were detected heading towards Malaysian airspace and threatened the country’s s...

NEW DELHI: Low pay, 24-hour shifts and severe shortages of staff and protective gear have left many doctors on the frontlines of India's brutal pandemic surge near breaking point and fearful for their lives. Coronavirus infections have killed at lea...

HONG KONG: Hong Kong's June 4th Museum, dedicated to commemorating the victims of China's 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in and around Beijing's Tiananmen Square, said on Wednesday (Jun 2) it would temporarily close due to a licensing inv...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian teenager Ain Husniza Saiful Nizam's unexpected rise from anonymous pupil to national leader against school harassment began with a teacher allegedly joking about rape. When the 17-year-old called out the incident in a viral ...

China says trade envoy spoke with US treasury secretary

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is planning to pledge an additional US$800 million to the World Health Organization's COVAX programme, which provides COVID-19 vaccines to countries in need, the Mainichi newspaper reported on Wednesday. ...

Just a few hours after using a mobile app to order some dishwashing liquid, Jakarta resident Juweriah opens the door to a motorcycle courier who provides a direct refill in her kitchen.

BEIJING: China on Wednesday (Jun 2) reported 24 new coronavirus cases on the mainland for Tuesday, versus 23 a day earlier, the country's health authority said. Of the new infections, 14 were imported, the National Health Commission said in a state...

China President Xi Jinping said that the country must improve the way it tells its "stories" to a global audience as it seeks to develop an international voice that reflects its status on the world stage, official news agency Xinhua reported.

A Pakistani journalist recently beaten by unidentified men in his apartment said on Tuesday (Jun 1) he was summoned by authorities to answer allegations he defamed a key national institution, a term often used for the military.

Billions in developing countries remain unprotected, but advanced economies can do more to share vaccines more equitably, says Mohamed A El-Erian.

Widespread distrust of the Prayut government is aggravating Sinovac hesitancy in the country, says an analyst.

The US military will hand over its main Bagram Air Base to Afghan forces in about 20 days, an official said on Tuesday (Jun 1), as Washington carries out its final withdrawal after nearly two decades of war.

The US Commerce Department is failing to do its part to protect national security and keep sensitive technology out of the hands of China's military, according to a US congressional advisory report seen by Reuters.

Three Myanmar journalists who illegally crossed into Thailand to flee a military crackdown have been fined and could face deportation, a member of their legal team said Tuesday, warning the trio's lives will be in danger if they are sent home.

A fire aboard a cargo ship off Sri Lanka carrying hundreds of tonnes of chemicals, plastics and cosmetics was finally extinguished on Tuesday (Jun 1) after a 13-day operation.

The most senior US official to visit Cambodia in years expressed concern on Tuesday about China's military presence there and sought clarification on the demolition of US-funded buildings, the State Department said.

BANGKOK: Thailand's health minister on Tuesday (Jun 1) sought to reassure the public that a mass-immunisation programme would start as planned next week, amid anxiety over vaccine supplies and no relent in its deadliest COVID-19 outbreak yet. Thaila...

KUALA LUMPUR: Main roads in Malaysia fell silent on Tuesday (Jun 1) as the country began its third nationwide lockdown amid a surging third wave of COVID-19 that has hit record levels in recent weeks. Only essential businesses, such as supermarket...

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian air force said on Tuesday (Jun 1) that it scrambled its jets to conduct a visual confirmation, after Chinese military transport planes were detected heading towards its national airspace and threatened the country’s sove...

HONG KONG: Hong Kong's financial regulators on Tuesday (Jun 1) told banks, brokers and asset managers to identify staff in key roles and encourage them to receive a COVID-19 vaccine as part of their business continuity planning. Authorities in the f...

KUALA LUMPUR: Giant panda Liang Liang gave birth to her third cub on Monday (May 31) at the Giant Panda Conservation Centre at Malaysia's national zoo in Selangor. The Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) said the cub, born a...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's daily COVID-19 cases may hit the 13,000 mark by Jun 14 if COVID-19 measures are not followed, according to its health ministry's projections. According to modelling data published on Monday (May 31), COVID-19 cases will inc...

KUALA LUMPUR: Duopharma Biotech’s wholly-owned subsidiary Duopharma (M) has signed a deal with Malaysia to supply Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine. The company has "concluded execution of separate definitive supply agreements" with the Mal...

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) said there has been a lack of engagement with private general practitioners (GPs) on their involvement in the national COVID-19 immunisation programme.  In a statement issued on Tuesday, MMA�...

China on Tuesday denied an Australian academic's claims that he had been tortured in custody during his two-year detention on espionage charges.

Japanese fans and public figures rallied in support of tennis star Naomi Osaka on Tuesday, offering sympathy after she withdrew from the French Open and opened up about her battles with depression.

Two prominent Thai pro-democracy protest leaders were granted bail on Tuesday, weeks after contracting coronavirus in the kingdom's overcrowded prison system.

BEIJING: A 41-year-old man in China's eastern province of Jiangsu has been confirmed as the first human case of infection with the H10N3 strain of bird flu, China's National Health Commission (NHC) said on Tuesday (Jun 1). The man, a resident of the...

Myanmar protesters took to the streets on Tuesday (Jun 1) in several districts, as fighting between the army and anti-junta militias raged in border areas, four months after the military ousted an elected government in a coup. Myanmar's military is ...

BEIJING: China's decision to allow families to have up to three children was met with scepticism on Tuesday (Jun 1), with doubts expressed on social media whether it would make much difference, and calls for details on what promised "supportive measu...

SINGAPORE: Malaysia’s Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department (NCID) has busted a drug syndicate that smuggled drugs into Singapore using modified fire extinguishers. In a statement on Tuesday (Jun 1), the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) said ...

SEOUL: South Korea summoned Japan's deputy ambassador on Tuesday (Jun 1) to protest over a map on the Tokyo Olympics website that showed a set of South Korea-controlled islands as Japanese territory. The small islands, called Dokdo in South Korea a...

Shares in Chinese toy makers, diaper producers and infant food companies soared for the second day on Tuesday, as investors piled into stocks seen as benefitting from Beijing's new three-child policy.

SEOUL: South Korea closed its first phase of reservations for Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines on Tuesday (Jun 1) as military personnel signed up for all 800,000 shots on offer, the government said. South Korea received 1 million doses of the va...

HONG KONG: Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways said on Tuesday (Jun 1) that it had resumed pilot recruitment for those with local residency rights, as part of medium-to-long term planning despite having much of its fleet parked due to the COVID-19 pan...

TAIPEI: Foxconn and its billionaire founder Terry Gou sought permission from Taiwan's government on Tuesday (Jun 1) to buy COVID-19 vaccines from Germany's BioNTech as the island grapples with a rise in infections. The proposed purchase of 5 million...

SEOUL: A climate change summit hosted by South Korea has drawn ridicule for kicking off with a promotional video suggesting it was taking place in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang. The opening ceremony for the P4G, or Partnering for Green Growth,...

SEOUL: A shipment of coronavirus vaccines to North Korea via the global COVAX sharing programme that was expected for late May has been delayed again amid protracted consultations, South Korea's Unification Ministry said on Tuesday (Jun 1). COVAX, w...

BEIJING: China has jailed a popular blogger for "defaming martyrs" after he suggested the death toll of the China-India border clash last year was higher than the official count of four. Qiu Ziming - with more than 2.5 million followers on China's t...

SEOUL: North Korea's ruling party has amended its rules to create a de facto second-in-command under leader Kim Jong Un as he looks to revamp domestic politics, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said on Tuesday (Jun 1). Citing an unidentified source ...

HANOI: Vietnam is seeking to buy COVID-19 vaccine production technology and wants to build a plant to supply the COVAX programme, its health ministry said on Tuesday (Jun 1), as the country tries to step up vaccinations to stem a new outbreak of infe...

TOKYO: Japan has signed off on a US$338 million semiconductor research project to develop cutting-edge chip technology in the country with the market-leading Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). Taiwan's chip-making plants are among th...

TOKYO: Tokyo 2020 was supposed to be a marketing bonanza, but public opposition and a possible spectator ban over COVID-19 fears have left some Japanese sponsors with an Olympic headache. Around 60 Japanese companies ploughed a record US$3.3 billion...

YANGON: Schools in Myanmar will open on Tuesday (Jun 1) for the first time since the military seized power, but teachers and students are set to defy the junta's calls for full classrooms in a show of resistance. Four months of national turmoil have...

BEIJING: Fifteen tutoring firms have been hammered with millions of dollars of fines over alleged fraud, Chinese state media said on Tuesday (Jun 1), as the government's chastening of the tech sector seeps into the private education businesses. The ...

BONGHWA, South Korea: Hidden in a South Korean mountain tunnel designed to withstand a nuclear blast, the seeds of nearly 5,000 wild plant species are stored for safekeeping against climate change, natural disaster and war. Plant extinction is progr...

Rolling out a vaccination drive in a country as large and diverse as Malaysia is no mean feat, says a researcher.

The Japanese public has a darkening sense of the unstoppable arrival of tens of thousands of athletes and their teams, says the Financial Times’ Leo Lewis.

Thailand held a welcoming ceremony on Monday to mark the return of two ancient hand-carved artefacts that were stolen decades ago and smuggled out of the country to the United States.

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday prolonged partial coronavirus curbs in the capital and nearby provinces until mid-June to contain infections that have been decreasing since hitting a peak in April.

BANGKOK: Thailand's government has reversed a decision by authorities in its capital Bangkok to ease some COVID-19 restrictions, as the city battles its worst outbreak of the virus so far. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) late on Monday...

BANGKOK: Two ancient sandstone artefacts believed to have been stolen from Thailand during the Vietnam War were unveiled on Monday (May 31) at a Bangkok museum, greeted with a fanfare of traditional dancers and an elaborate worship ceremony. The te...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin unveiled a new economic stimulus package worth RM40 billion (US$9.7 billion) on Monday (May 31), in an attempt to mitigate the impacts of an impending total lockdown.  Speaking during a...

Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on Monday announced an additional 40 billion ringgit (US$9.70 billion) stimulus package, ahead of the imposition of stricter lockdown measures this week to curb the spread of COVID-19.

NEW DELHI: India's economic growth picked up in the January to March quarter from the previous three months, but economists have grown pessimistic about this quarter after a huge second wave of COVID-19 infections hit the country last month. Gross d...

China plans to strengthen controls in industries such as steel and aluminium which involve high energy use and produce high emissions, in an effort to promote low-carbon developments, the environment ministry said on Monday.

HANOI: Vietnam announced the suspension of incoming international flights to its capital and tightened restrictions in its biggest city on Monday (May 31), as part efforts to contain a coronavirus outbreak that has seen cases double in the past month...

PUTRAJAYA: Measures will be taken to ensure that food supply from the agriculture, fishing and farming sectors will not be disrupted during the two-week total lockdown from Tuesday (Jun 1), said Minister for Agriculture and Food Industries Ronald ...

PUTRAJAYA: A total of 82,341 infants and children in Malaysia have tested positive for COVID-19 to date, health minister Adham Baba said on Monday (May 31). Giving a breakdown of the numbers, Dr Adham said 19,851 cases were children below the age o...

China and Taiwan traded more accusations on Monday about COVID-19 vaccines, with Beijing saying they should not be a political tool while Taiwan's ruling party said China was the "black hand" preventing it accessing shots internationally.

South Korea on Monday reported its first case of rare blood clotting linked to AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine.

Several thousand Rohingya staged "unruly" protests Monday against living conditions on a cyclone-prone island off Bangladesh where they were moved from vast camps on the mainland, police said.

Bangkok will ease bans on venues such as massage shops, clinics and parks applied to stop the spread of COVID-19, but schools, cinemas, gyms and zoos will remain closed, the Thai capital said in a statement on Monday.