BANGKOK: Reigning Olympic badminton champion Carolina Marin on Sunday (Jan 24) claimed her second Thailand Open title in a fortnight against the same opponent - women's singles top seed Tai Tzu-ying. Thailand is hosting three consecutive badminton t...

TAIPEI: A US aircraft carrier group led by the USS Theodore Roosevelt has entered the South China Sea to promote "freedom of the seas", the US military said on Sunday (Jan 24), at a time when tensions between China and Taiwan have raised concern in...

GREATER NOIDA, India: India's huge coronavirus vaccination drive is behind schedule, with a third of recipients not showing up for appointments because of safety fears, technical glitches and a belief that the pandemic is ending. After one week, In...

YANGON: Hammering at bamboo poles to erect a stilt house, minority Christians who have fled conflict in northern Myanmar are building a sanctuary on the outskirts of Yangon. The small Christian community in the Buddhist-majority nation is part of 2...

SYDNEY: The alleged ringleader of Asia's biggest crime syndicate and one of the world's most wanted men has been arrested in the Netherlands, with Australian authorities pushing for his extradition to face trial. Police had been chasing alleged drug...

BEIJING: Chinese rescuers pulled 11 gold miners to safety on Sunday (Jan 24), 14 days after they were trapped by an underground explosion, state broadcaster CCTV reported. Footage showed the first miner to be rescued, a black blindfold across his e...

Normal diets for trapped China miners as rescue continues

KARACHI: South Africa will play their first Test in Pakistan for 14 years this week, a match being described as a "monumental moment" for the revival of international cricket in the country. The match in the port city of Karachi starting on Tuesday ...

TAIPEI: Eight Chinese bomber planes and four fighter jets entered the south-western corner of Taiwan's air defence identification zone on Saturday (Jan 23), and Taiwan's air force deployed missiles to "monitor" the incursion, the island's defence min...

BEIJING: China reported 80 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday (Jan 23), down from 107 cases a day earlier, the country's national health authority said on Sunday. The National Health Commission, in a statement, said 65 of the new cases were local infe...

WUHAN: A year ago, a notice sent to smartphones in Wuhan at 2am announced the world's first coronavirus lockdown, bringing the bustling central Chinese industrial and transport centre to a virtual standstill almost overnight. It would last 76 days. ...

KUALA LUMPUR: Barangan keperluan harian 10 sen (US$0.03), perkhidmatan teksi 10 sen dan rumah transit yang mengenakan bayaran RM1 sehari. Semua ini merupakan sebahagian daripada usaha murni Kuan Chee Heng, 57, pengasas Persatuan Kepolisan Komuniti ...

KUALA LUMPUR: Daily necessities at RM0.10 (US$0.03), a taxi ride at RM0.10 and a transit hostel that costs RM1 a day.  These are some of the philanthropic initiatives by Kuan Chee Heng, 57, who founded non-governmental organisation (NGO) Communit...

Larry King, broadcasting giant for half-century, dies at 87

Malaysia health authorities reported 4,275 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, the highest daily infections so far, raising the total number of confirmed cases to 180,455.

The critically endangered Siamese crocodile has been spotted for only the second time in a decade at Thailand's largest national park, according to photos released on Saturday.

China on Saturday reported a slight increase in new cases of COVID-19 as it marks the anniversary of the world's first coronavirus lockdown, in the city of Wuhan where the disease emerged in late 2019.

China law empowers coast guard to use force amid disputes

The Biden administration said Friday it will review a landmark US deal with the Taliban, focusing on whether the insurgent group has reduced attacks in Afghanistan, in keeping with its side of the agreement.

PUNE, India: The tiny clinking vials supervised by silent PPE-wearing technicians belie the excitement inside the world's largest vaccine manufacturer, the Serum Institute of India, a major player in the fight against coronavirus. The firm, founded ...

Sri Lanka's health minister, who publicly endorsed sorcery and magic potions to stop surging coronavirus infections in the island, has tested positive and will self-isolate, officials said Saturday.

On the anniversary of the world's first coronavirus lockdown, in the Chinese city of Wuhan, life for animal lover Du Fan has returned to something like normal.

Exactly one year after it thrust the word "lockdown" into the global conversation, Wuhan passes the anniversary on Saturday with a mix of pride at recovering from the coronavirus and caution over a possible relapse.

Thousands of Hong Kongers were ordered to stay home on Saturday (Jan 23) in the city's first COVID-19 lockdown.

TOKYO: The entire Olympic movement is united in its determination to ensure the Tokyo Games happen in July and August, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach said in a video message to mark the six-month countdown to the opening ...

A Mukbang star got herself into a pickle with Chinese and South Korean netizens – over the origins of kimchi. But a larger food fight has been brewing for some time, says Steven Borowiec.

Due to COVID-19, many Malaysians stuck in Singapore will be celebrating Chinese New Year without their extended family. CNA spoke to some of them about the challenges faced.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday India was completely self-reliant on coronavirus vaccine supplies as the world's second-most populous country inoculated more than one million people within a week of starting a massive campaign.

Italian prosecutors have opened a probe into the accidental death of a 10-year-old girl who allegedly took part in a "blackout challenge" on the video-sharing network TikTok.

SINGAPORE: Cargo drivers from Malaysia delivering essential goods to Singapore on Friday (Jan 22) said they experienced delays at the land entry checkpoints, on the first day the Singapore government implemented mandatory COVID-19 tests.  Sing...

Relatives of 62 people killed when an Indonesian passenger jet slammed into the sea scattered flowers at the crash site Friday, as investigators look for clues to why the plane dropped from the sky minutes after takeoff.

Thousands of Hong Kongers will be ordered to stay in their homes for the city's first coronavirus lockdown, local media reported Friday, as authorities battle an outbreak in one of its poorest and most densely packed districts.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian health authorities reported 3,631 new coronavirus cases on Friday (Jan 22) with 18 new fatalities, the highest daily death toll so far. Friday's figures take the total number of infections to 176,180. A total of 660 peopl...

SINGAPORE: The Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link moved a step closer to reality as work on the Singapore station of the rail link began on Friday (Jan 22).  The RTS Link Woodlands North station would be constructed underground a...

Myanmar on Friday received 1.5 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine supplied by India to inoculate 750,000 people, the first vaccine batch delivered to the Southeast Asian country as it fights one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in the region.

BEIJING: China reported its first cluster of COVID-19 cases among workers in a meat processing plant, raising fears among local consumers who have until now mainly worried about the safety of imported foods. Ten confirmed cases were found in a facto...

Truck with quarry explosives blasts in India, killing 5

TAIPEI: Taiwan is under no illusions it can quickly sign a long hoped for free trade deal with the United States but feels when the time is right "success will flow naturally", the island's chief trade negotiator said on Friday (Jan 22). Taiwan has ...

TOKYO: Japan's Cabinet approved draft laws to toughen coronavirus restrictions on Friday (Jan 22), a move that could threaten rule-breakers with fines and prison sentences for the first time since the outbreak began. With just six months until the v...

JAKARTA: Indonesia's air accident investigator is probing whether a problem with the autothrottle system, which controls engine power automatically, contributed to the Sriwijaya Air crash on Jan 9 that killed 62 people, an official said on Friday (J...

BEIJING: It will take at least 15 more days to get through a massive amount of debris and reach miners already trapped for 11 days since an explosion in a gold mine in eastern China, authorities said on Thursday (Jan 21). The mine shaft is blocked 3...

CHONBURI, Thailand: Underwater divers in plastic-choked waters off the coast of Thailand snip through discarded nets tangled around a reef - a new initiative helping protect marine life and aiding the fight against coronavirus. The "ghost nets" dis...

Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Friday that he was determined to realise the Tokyo Olympics.

BEIJING: Beijing launched mass COVID-19 testing in parts of the city on Friday (Jan 22), while Shanghai was testing all hospital staff, as China battles the worst outbreak since March 2020. China reported a slight decline in new daily COVID-19 cases...

TOKYO: Suicides increased in Japan during 2020 after a decade of declines, with the number of women committing suicide surging amid the emotional and financial stress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic even as fewer men took their own lives. Suicide h...

BEIJING: A new form of African swine fever identified in Chinese pig farms is most likely caused by illicit vaccines, industry insiders say, a fresh blow to the world's largest pork producer, still recovering from a devastating epidemic of the virus....

TOKYO: With much of Japan under a state of emergency due to a third wave of COVID-19 infections, organisers of the Tokyo Olympics will mark six months to go on Saturday (Jan 23) with little fanfare, no fireworks and amid rapidly dwindling public supp...

US military prosecutors have filed formal charges against Indonesian extremist Hambali and two others in the 2002 Bali bombings and 2003 Jakarta attack, the Pentagon said on Thursday (Jan 21).

JAKARTA: Indonesia has rolled out a mass COVID-19 vaccination programme with President Joko Widodo becoming the first person in the country to be inoculated last week.  The government is aiming at vaccinating two-thirds of the population to rea...

Strong earthquake shakes southern Philippines; no tsunami

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Thursday that China has agreed to provide half a million doses of the Chinese Sinopharm COVID-19 free of cost to Pakistan by January 31.

PUTRAJAYA: A movement control order (MCO) in six Malaysian states and federal territories which was to expire on Jan 26 is to be extended to Feb 4, Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said on Thursday (Jan 21). The affected areas are the states of ...

A fire broke out Thursday at India's Serum Institute, the world's largest maker of vaccines, but a source said production of the coronavirus vaccine was not affected.

The rotting carcass of a nearly 14-metre (46-foot) whale washed up Thursday on Bali beach popular with tourists.

Thousands of Mongolians have protested against what they say is the heavy-handed treatment of a coronavirus-infected mother and her newborn baby, prompting a wave of resignations by officials.

A Japanese court upheld a ban on dual citizenship on Thursday, rejecting a suit that challenged the measure's constitutionality and sought damages for those affected.

BANGKOK: A banned Thai opposition politician, who is facing a criminal complaint of defaming the monarchy, defended on Thursday (Jan 21) his criticism of the government's COVID-19 vaccine strategy that relies on a company owned by King Maha Vajiralon...

TOKYO: When the Tokyo Olympics were postponed last year, officials promised they would open in 2021 as proof of mankind's triumph over the coronavirus. But six months before the rescheduled start, victory over the virus remains distant, and fears a...

Barriers still enclose Wuhan's notorious seafood market - one of the few immediate reminders that the city was once the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic that has transformed the world.

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka reopened to foreign tourists on Thursday (Jan 21) after a nearly 10-month closure that cut deeply into the Indian Ocean island nation's lucrative travel industry. Full operations also resumed on Thursday at the island's two intern...

Chinese rescuers drilled deep into the ground Thursday in an increasingly desperate bid to save 21 miners now trapped for almost two weeks, with one confirmed dead and still no signs of life from over half of the missing workers, state media reported...

The former president has come under fire after the US Capitol storming. While America prepares to turn a page on his term, Americans should be wary not to throw out policies the last administration got right.

The family of French-Irish teenager Nora Quoirin will challenge an inquest ruling that she died by misadventure after vanishing in the Malaysian jungle while on holiday, their lawyer said on Thursday (Jan 21).

Taiwan's relationship with its most important global backer the United States has gotten off to a strong start with President Joe Biden's new administration, after the island's de facto ambassador attended his inauguration on Wednesday (Jan 20).

SHANGHAI: Twitter has locked the account of China's US embassy for a tweet that defended China's policies in the Xinjiang region, which the US social media platform said violated the firm's policy against "dehumanisation". The Chinese Embassy acco...

BEIJING: China plans to impose strict COVID-19 testing requirements during the Chinese New Year holiday season, when tens of millions of people are expected to travel, as it battles the worst wave of new infections since March last year. The commer...

COVID-19 has turbocharged Malaysia’s already fractious politics – and that’s flowing into the country’s economy says this observer.

BANGKOK: As the Thai government races to secure more COVID-19 vaccines from various sources, a group of medical scientists is preparing for the first clinical trial of a home-grown cure they are developing to fight the pandemic. In April, they expe...

World leaders said they were looking forward to working with US Joe Biden, as the Democrat was sworn in as president after four turbulent years under Donald Trump.

India's government on Wednesday offered to suspend implementation of three new farm laws that have triggered the biggest farmers' protests in years, which farm union leaders said they would now consider calling off.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia reported 4,008 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday (Jan 20), the country’s second highest daily tally since the start of the pandemic. Malaysia previously reported a record 4,029 cases on Jan 16 and has registered four-digit da...

China on Wednesday dismissed Washington's allegation that Beijing was committing genocide against Uighurs and other minorities as "outrageous lies" and "poison" in a rancourous epilogue to a combative period in relations between the superpowers.

BANGKOK: An ultra royalist group in Thailand launched a new political party on Wednesday (Jan 20) to defend King Maha Vajiralongkorn, amid unprecedented calls for reform of the monarchy by a youth-led protest movement. The Thai Pakdee (Loyal Thai) ...

Thailand's ministry of digital economy and society will file a criminal complaint of defaming the country's monarchy against banned opposition politician Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, the ministry said on Wednesday.

South Korea may secure additional coronavirus vaccines for 20 million people from U.S. drugmaker Novavax Inc, President Moon Jae-in said, according to a statement from the presidential office on Wednesday.

DENPASAR, Indonesia: Foreigners caught not wearing face masks on the Indonesian resort island of Bali are being subject to an unusual punishment: Push-ups. Video footage circulating on social media this week shows tourists in T-shirts and shorts bei...

India started exporting coronavirus vaccines on Wednesday with the first shipment to the neighbouring Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, the foreign ministry said.

BEIJING: A partial lockdown was imposed on the Chinese capital on Wednesday (Jan 20), with 1.6 million residents banned from leaving Beijing, after a handful of cases were detected. Seven cases were reported in the city on Wednesday, including six ...

Rescuers are widening a communication shaft in the hope of extracting a group of Chinese gold miners who have been trapped deep underground for 10 days in rising floodwaters, state media said Wednesday.

HONG KONG: A top British barrister has pulled out of leading a team prosecuting a group of prominent Hong Kong dissidents, the city's authorities said on Wednesday (Jan 20), following growing criticism in the UK. David Perry was announced last week...

Seven former and current bank employees have been arrested in Hong Kong as part of a major operation against a US$810 million international money-laundering syndicate, police said Wednesday.

THULASENDRAPURAM, India: A tiny, lush-green Indian village surrounded by rice paddy fields was beaming with joy on Wednesday (Jan 20) hours before its descendant, Kamala Harris, takes her oath of office and becomes the United States vice president. ...

Japan's top government spokesman said on Wednesday that the timeline for vaccinating the broader population against the coronavirus would be decided and disclosed to the public after the approval of a vaccine.

Japan aims to start vaccinating the general public against the coronavirus in May - just two months before the postponed Olympics - after targeted jabs for the most vulnerable, reports said on Wednesday (Jan 20).

SHANGHAI: Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma made his first public appearance since October on Wednesday (Jan 20) when he spoke to a group of teachers by video, easing concern about his unusual absence from the limelight and sending shares in the e-commer...

BEIJING: China's capital Beijing said on Wednesday (Jan 20) it will investigate all individuals who entered the city from abroad from Dec 10 and shut down a subway station after reporting the biggest daily jump in new COVID-19 cases in more than thr...

World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee says Australia's plan to force digital giants to pay media outlets for news content is "unworkable" and undermines a "fundamental principle" of the Internet.

Like China, India will be looking to leverage the diplomatic benefit of its ability to manufacture vast amounts of the vaccines, says an observer.

KUALA LUMPUR: Traders in Kuala Lumpur and beyond who were anticipating a busy season in the lead up to Chinese New Year are now bracing themselves for potential losses, after the government again enforced a Movement Control Order (MCO) in almost a...

The United States declared Tuesday that China is carrying out genocide against the Uighurs and other mostly Muslim people, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo dramatically raising pressure over Beijing's sweeping incarceration of minorities on his la...

Thai leader threatens punishment for false vaccine news

TOKYO: At least 134 cars were involved in a series of crashes in Japan on Tuesday (Jan 19) when a snowstorm struck a stretch of highway, with one person killed and a dozen hurt in the chaos. Ten people were taken to hospital, two of them seriously ...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia reported 14 new COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday (Jan 19), as the government moved to expand its movement control order (MCO) to all states except Sarawak. The latest fatalities come amid a nationwide state of emergency as Malaysia...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's National Unity Minister Halimah Mohamed Sadique has tested positive for COVID-19, becoming the fifth member of the Cabinet to be diagnosed with the disease.  She will undergo treatment and quarantine in Johor Bahru.  In a...

China is using localised tactics to battle a wave of COVID-19 outbreaks, an approach that avoids the sort of widespread shutdowns that devastated the economy last year but is also sowing uncertainty ahead of the Lunar New Year travel season.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said on Tuesday (Jan 19) that all states in Malaysia, with the exception of Sarawak, will be placed under Movement Control Order (MCO) from this Friday. In a press conference, Mr Ismail...

Thailand’s government defended its coronavirus vaccine strategy on Tuesday against opposition criticism that it is too reliant on a company owned by King Maha Vajiralongkorn.

TAIPEI: Taiwan on Tuesday (Jan 19) cancelled a major festival during the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday as the island reported four locally transmitted cases of COVID-19, the biggest daily rise in local infections in nearly 11 months. Taiwan, wh...

Medical experts say the South Korea governent is not taking the steps necessary to achieve its goal of reaching herd immunity to the coronavirus through mass vaccinations by November.

Four UNICEF schools for Rohingya children in refugee camps in Bangladesh have been destroyed in a fire, officials said Tuesday, with the UN children's agency calling it arson.