BEIJING: A sprawling quarantine centre of more than 4,000 rooms is being thrown up in northern China in response to a COVID-19 outbreak in Shijiazhuang, a city of more than 10 million people in Hebei province. Satellite images from the European Spa...

SEOUL: Drugmaker Pfizer has filed an application seeking approval of its COVID-19 vaccines to be used in South Korea as the country gears up to begin inoculations next month, authorities said on Monday (Jan 25). The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety...

JAKARTA: Iran has asked Indonesia to provide details about the seizure of an Iranian-flagged vessel, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday (Jan 25), a day after Jakarta said it had seized Iran and Panama-flagged tankers ...

BEIJING: The United States often sends ships and aircraft into the South China Sea to "flex its muscles" and this is not good for peace, China's Foreign Ministry said on Monday (Jan 25), after a US aircraft carrier group sailed into the disputed wate...

KATHMANDU: Nepal's caretaker Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli was ejected from the country's ruling Communist party on Monday (Jan 25), his opponents said, in protest at his abrupt move in December to dissolve parliament and call for an early general el...

Caravans of tractors clogged a key highway in northern India on Monday as tens of thousands of farmers protesting against agriculture reforms streamed into the capital ahead of celebrations for Republic Day.

NEW DELHI: Indian and Chinese troops brawled on their contested Himalayan border leaving injuries on both sides, military sources and media reports said on Monday (Jan 25). The incident last week came six months after a pitched battle which killed a...

PARIS: Almost half a million people have died in natural disasters linked to extreme weather events in the last 20 years, according to a new assessment of the direct threat posed to humanity by climate change. The mortality burden of climate-relate...

LONDON: Japan is likely to achieve herd immunity to COVID-19 through mass inoculations only months after the planned Tokyo Olympics, even though it has locked in the biggest quantity of vaccines in Asia, according to a London-based forecaster. That ...

BEIJING: China has found harmless traces of the coronavirus in some COVID-19 inoculation sites potentially linked to vaccine liquid, its disease control centre said. Samples taken from tables, walls, doorknobs and hallways of the sites tested posit...

SEOUL: The head of a left-wing South Korean political party that has championed gender equality was sacked on Monday (Jan 25) for sexually harassing one of his own members of parliament, a prominent rights campaigner. Kim Jong-cheol was chairman of...

KORAPUT, India: Reena Jani rose early, finished her chores in the crisp January cold and walked uphill to the road skirting her remote tribal hamlet of Pendajam in eastern India. Riding pillion on a neighbour's motorcycle for 40 minutes through hill...

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga faced renewed pressure on Monday over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, with a new opinion poll showing many believed the government was too slow to respond to the latest wave of infections.

HONG KONG: "Social robots like me can take care of the sick or elderly," Sophia says as she conducts a tour of her lab in Hong Kong. "I can help communicate, give therapy and provide social stimulation, even in difficult situations." Since being unv...

SEOUL: The de facto chief of South Korea's Samsung business empire will "humbly accept" the court ruling that sentenced him to two-and-a-half years in prison for corruption and will not appeal, his lawyer said on Monday (Jan 25). Lee Jae-yong, vice...

Almost 1,600 leading members of Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party meet this week to approve future policy and help select the nation’s top leaders amid talk whether the current party chief will stay.

PHNOM PENH: Dinner is late. The laundry isn't done. The pickles aren't sour enough. When it comes to reasons for a man to beat his wife, Rem Ran has heard it all. For most his 40 years, the construction worker saw domestic violence as "a normal part...

EVRY, France: A French court will on Monday (Jan 25) hear a case against more than a dozen multinationals, accused by a French-Vietnamese woman of causing grievous harm to her and others by selling the Agent Orange defoliant to the US government, wh...

HONG KONG: The Hong Kong government lifted a lockdown in an area of Kowloon district in the early hours of Monday (Jan 25) after testing about 7,000 people for COVID-19 to curb an outbreak in the densely populated area. The government set up 51 te...

SHANGHAI: China reported a climb in new COVID-19 cases driven by a spike in infections among previously symptomless patients in northeastern Jilin province, official data showed on Monday (Jan 25). The total number of confirmed cases in the mainlan...

JAKARTA: The flimsy, makeshift bamboo walkway creaked and bent as Ade Djuhana treaded his steps carefully metres above trash-strewn water in a coastal area of Jakarta.  At the end of the 500m passageway, the rows of mangrove trees opened up reveali...

The US has reaffirmed its support for Taiwan following China’s dispatch of warplanes near the island in an apparent attempt to intimidate its democratic government and test the resolve of the new American presidential administration.

NEW DELHI: Police in India's capital New Delhi will allow thousands of protesting farmers to drive through the city after this week's Republic Day military parade, despite security concerns, a senior official said on Sunday (Jan 24). The police stat...

JAKARTA: Indonesian authorities said that they seized an Iranian tanker and Panamanian tanker suspected of carrying out the illegal transfer of oil in their country's waters on Sunday (Jan 24). The tankers - the Iranian-flagged MT Horse and the Pana...

TAIPEI: Taiwan will more than double the number of people who have to quarantine at home to more than 5,000 as it seeks to contain a rare domestic cluster of COVID-19 connected to a hospital, the health minister said on Sunday (Jan 24). While Taiwan...

MANILA: Four Philippine private universities rejected accusations on Sunday (Jan 24) by the authorities that they serve as recruitment grounds of Maoist rebels, days after students protested against security force patrols at some university campuses....

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia reported 3,346 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday (Jan 24), taking the national tally to 183,801 infections. There were also 11 more deaths involving ten citizens and one foreigner, aged 34 to 91. Malaysia’s death toll from the d...

DENPASAR: A Russian social media celebrity was being deported from Indonesia on Sunday (Jan 24) after he held a party at a luxury hotel on the resort island of Bali attended by more than 50 people despite COVID-19 restrictions. The party held on Jan...

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.