Pet cats and dogs with a fever, cough or breathing difficulties will be offered COVID-19 tests if they have been exposed to carriers, the Seoul metropolitan government said on Monday (Feb 8).

TOKYO: Japan said Monday (Feb 8) it has protested to China over two incursions into Japanese territorial waters that come after Beijing enacted legislation toughening its response to violations of its maritime territory. Japan and China dispute owne...

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani military helicopters continued to search for three missing climbers on the world's second highest mountain K2 on Monday (Feb 8), as hope of their survival faded rapidly. Muhammad Ali Sadpara, 45, of Pakistan, John Snorri, 47, of...

Chinese unable to re-unite with loved ones this Lunar New Year are sending them a taste of home instead, using food packages to bridge the distance, as coronavirus warnings in some regions put a stop to the usual lengthy journeys home.

BANGKOK: Police in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw used water cannon on Monday (Feb 8) against protesters demonstrating against last week's military coup, according to witnesses. "Police used water cannon to clear the (road)," Naypyidaw resident Kyaw Ky...

Thousands of people joined anti-coup protests across Myanmar on Monday (Feb 8) as workers went on a nationwide strike, demanding the release of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the return of democracy.

The Philippines and the United States will meet this month to iron out differences over a two-decade-old Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), Manila's top diplomat said, amid renewed concerns in the region over China's assertive maritime agenda.

Hundreds of military personnel were deployed in the Indian Himalayas on Monday to help find at least 125 people unaccounted for after a part of a glacier broke away, setting off a torrent of water, rock and dust down a mountain valley.

Indonesia's air accident investigator expects to release the preliminary report into last month's deadly crash of a Sriwijaya Air plane on Feb. 10, the agency's head said on Monday.

SYDNEY: An Australian journalist who worked as an anchor for Chinese state television has been formally arrested for "illegally supplying state secrets overseas", six months after she was detained in China without explanation, Canberra said on Monda...

South Korea reported the lowest daily number of new coronavirus cases since late November as the government slightly eased social distancing restrictions in the face of growing criticism from businesses impacted by the rules.

Opponents of Myanmar's coup called for more protests and work stoppages on Monday after tens of thousands of people joined weekend demonstrations against the removal and detention of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi a week ago.

Dwarfed by a 21-storey-tall statue of the Hindu god Vishnu riding the mythical eagle Garuda, a tour guide on the Indonesian resort island of Bali said he was staring at a dismal Lunar New Year season as the coronavirus wreaks havoc on tourism.

TOKYO: A majority of Japanese remain opposed to holding the Olympics this summer amid the coronavirus pandemic but the ratio lowered significantly from recent polls, a Yomiuri newspaper poll showed on Monday (Feb 8). Some 28 per cent of respondents...

SHANGHAI: China reported no new locally transmitted mainland COVID-19 case for the first time in nearly two months, official data showed on Monday (Feb 8), adding to signs that it has managed to stamp out the latest wave of the disease. The total n...

The city is facing extreme weather more frequently, its flood mitigation responses have not kept pace, and a proposed sea dyke has sparked debate. The programme Insight finds out why the solutions will not be easy.

China’s practical stance stands in contrast to Joe Biden’s focus on democratic values and push for sanctions which could alienate Asian countries, says Dr Nehginpao Kipgen.

BANGKOK: There have been concerns over data privacy in Thailand’s COVID-19 contact tracing app, as the country battles a new wave of infections. Despite these challenges, the authorities are trying to encourage more people to use the app, includi...

Fears are growing for three climbers missing while attempting to summit the world's second-highest mountain, K2, after helicopters failed to spot them on the second day of searching, the Alpine Club of Pakistan said Sunday.

Afghanistan received half a million doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine from India Sunday, the first consignment to arrive in the country that was hit hard by the virus last year.

Myanmar's military took power in a coup on Monday (Feb 1), ousting the democratically elected government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Here is a look at the events of the past week.

DHAKA: Bangladesh launched a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive with the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine on Sunday (Feb 7), aiming to inoculate 3.5 million people in the first month. The south Asian country is seeking to inoculate 80 per ce...

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis on Sunday (Feb 7) expressed "solidarity with the people of Myanmar" following last week's military coup, urging the army to work towards "democratic coexistence" as protesters took to the streets. The pope was speaking as ...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia on Sunday (Feb 7) eased COVID-19 restrictions for Chinese New Year reunion dinner, just days after announcing the initial curbs. Up to 15 family members from different households will now be allowed to dine together for their ...

PHNOM PENH: The first 600,000 doses of coronavirus vaccines donated by China to Cambodia arrived in Phnom Penh on Sunday (Feb 7) by special plane, with the doses earmarked to vaccinate health workers and the military. The Southeast Asian nation of a...

NEW DELHI: India has approved the shipment of COVID-19 vaccines to Cambodia and plans to supply Mongolia and Pacific Island states, officials said on Sunday (Feb 7), as supplies arrived in Afghanistan: All part of the country's widening vaccine diplo...

BEIJING: China's market regulator released new anti-monopoly guidelines on Sunday (Feb 7) that target Internet platforms, tightening existing restrictions faced by the country's tech giants. The new rules formalise an earlier anti-monopoly draft law...

PEKALONGAN, Indonesia: An Indonesian village was inundated by crimson-coloured water after flooding hit a fabric dyeing centre in central Java, sparking a social media frenzy. Residents of Jenggot, near the town of Pekalongan, were seen wading throu...

HONG KONG: A Hong Kong Internet radio host was arrested on Sunday (Feb 7) under a little-used colonial era sedition law that authorities have begun to wield against Beijing's critics. Officers from the police's national security department arrested ...

YANGON: Internet access was partially restored in Myanmar on Sunday (Feb 7), as a nationwide web and social media blockade failed to curb public outrage and massive protests against the military coup that ousted elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. "Par...

NEW DELHI: Nine people were confirmed dead and at least 140 missing in northern India, after a Himalayan glacier broke and swept away a hydroelectric dam on Sunday (Feb 7), with floods forcing the evacuation of villages downstream. Surjeet Singh, a...

ISLAMABAD: An aerial search was underway on Sunday (Feb 7) to find three experienced climbers who lost contact with base camp during their ascent of the world’s second highest mountain in northern Pakistan, officials said. Karrar Haideri, a top of...

PONTIANAK, Indonesia: An escaped tiger that killed a keeper at a zoo on Borneo island has been captured alive after a day on the loose, police said. The white Bengal tiger was found wandering in a jungle surrounding Sinka Zoo in the town of Singkawa...

TAIPEI: Taiwan's central bank on Sunday (Feb 7) said it had banned Deutsche Bank from trading Taiwan dollar deliverable and non-deliverable forwards and suspended them for two years from trading forex derivatives as part of a crackdown on speculation...

BEIJING: Private social audio app Clubhouse is attracting masses of new users from mainland China, where the US app remains uncensored by authorities despite flourishing discussions on rights, national identity and other sensitive topics. Western so...

MANILA: A strong earthquake hit the southern Philippines on Sunday (Feb 7), though there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage, the US Geological Survey and local officials said. The 6.0-magnitude quake struck the town of Bansalan on Min...

YANGON: Thousands rallied against the Myanmar coup in Yangon on Sunday (Feb 7), as an Internet blackout failed to quash outrage over the military's power grab from elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The fresh rally followed the largest protests to dat...

LONDON: Jihyun Park shares the civic concerns of any other would-be town councillor in Britain, from local education to potholes in the roads. But she is unique in one regard: No other candidate has fled North Korea. Park is believed to be the first...

MAJURO, Marshall Islands: The Pacific Islands Forum leadership rift widened on Sunday (Feb 7) as the Marshall Islands voiced its disapproval with the central political body in a region where the United States and China are competing for influence. ...

Little is understood about which COVID-19 conspiracy theories are popular on Chinese social media, how this differs from misinformation on US social media, says an observer.

JAKARTA: Setiap lapisan kue lapis legit diyakini oleh orang Indonesia keturunan Tionghoa sebagai simbol keberuntungan. Kue lapis legit terdiri dari tumpukan pelbagai lapisan kue tipis yang terbuat dari mentega, margarin, susu, dan telur. Untuk mena...

JAKARTA: Each layer of the kue lapis legit is believed by Indonesians of Chinese descent to symbolise fortune. Also known as thousand layer cake, it comprises many thin layers piled on each other, made of butter, margarine, milk and egg. To add ...

YANGON: Myanmar saw its largest anti-coup protests yet on Saturday (Feb 6) with young demonstrators spilling onto the streets to denounce the country's new military regime, despite a nationwide Internet blackout aimed at stifling a growing chorus of ...

KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 3,847 new COVID-19 infections were recorded in Malaysia on Saturday (Feb 6), raising the number of active cases to 50,894. "Of the new cases, four were imported infections involving Malaysians while 3,843 were local trans...

NEW DELHI: Thousands of protesting Indian farmers blockaded highways across the country for several hours on Saturday (Feb 6) to press their demands for the repeal of new agricultural laws that have led to months of massive protests. The protesters...

Three climbers have gone missing attempting to summit the world's second-highest mountain, K2, their expedition manager and the Alpine Club of Pakistan said Saturday.

A critically endangered Sumatran tiger was shot dead on Saturday while another is still on the loose after they escaped from a zoo on Borneo island, leaving a zookeeper dead, an official said.

Sinovac Biotech said on Saturday that its unit's COVID-19 vaccine has been formally approved for use by the general public by China's medical products regulator.

YANGON: Sean Turnell, an Australian economic adviser to Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi, said in message to Reuters on Saturday (Feb 6) that he was being detained, the first known arrest of a foreign national since the Feb 1 military coup that overthrew...

Japanese tennis superstar Naomi Osaka on Saturday (Feb 6) slammed "ignorant" remarks from the Tokyo Olympics' chief organiser after a sexism row that has triggered an angry backlash and calls for his resignation.

A year after his death from COVID-19, residents in the Chinese city of Wuhan say they remain grateful to the "whistleblower" doctor who first sounded the alarm about the outbreak before it received official recognition.

SHANGHAI: China has added 517 species to its list of major protected wild animals, part of its campaign in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic to end the wild animal trade and destruction of habitats.  A joint statement on Friday (Feb 5) by the fores...

A surreal, blood-red river inundated the Indonesian village of Jenggot after floods hit a nearby batik factory on Saturday, causing a frenzy on social media.

SHANGHAI: Mainland China reported 12 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday (Feb 6), down from 20 cases a day earlier and the lowest daily increase since Dec 12, the national health authority said on Saturday. The National Health Commission, in a statemen...

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi in a phone call on Friday (Feb 5) the United States will stand up for human rights and democratic values in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong, the State Department sa...

YANGON: Myanmar saw its largest anti-coup protests yet on Saturday (Feb 6) with young demonstrators spilling on to the streets to denounce the country's new military regime, despite a nationwide Internet blackout aimed at stifling a growing chorus o...

SINGAPORE: United Nations chief Antonio Guterres backed the right of the Myanmar people to peacefully express their rejection of this week's military takeover that displaced the country's elected civilian government. "Coups are not acceptable in t...

Indian farmers plan nationwide 3-hour blockade of highways

The Latest: Sri Lankan officials say vaccinations advancing

Military authorities in charge of Myanmar broadened a ban on social media following this week's coup and shut Twitter and Instagram, as residents in the biggest city again banged pots and plastic bottles to show their opposition to the army takeover.

Fox Corp's Fox Business Network has canceled "Lou Dobbs Tonight," a weekday program hosted by the business journalist and vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump, the company said on Friday.

South Korea on Saturday eased curfews on businesses outside the capital Seoul, letting them stay open an hour later, amid a public backlash over tight curbs to contain COVID-19.

Democracy campaigners and the National League for Democracy (NLD) tried to play by the military’s rules. They suffered for it anyway, says this professor.

The Indonesian government is exploring multiple options to contain the worsening floods, but there are obstacles including climate change and illegal settlements.

A one-time ally of Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi said on Friday that she was no traitor for accepting a ministerial post with the military that overthrew the elected leader this week.

India said on Friday it was restoring high-speed mobile Internet in the federal territory of Jammu and Kashmir for the first time since August 2019, when the government withdrew the special rights of the restive Muslim-dominated region.

China's maiden space exploration mission to Mars has captured its first image of the red planet, the space agency said on Friday, some six months after the probe left Earth.

EAST CHINA SEA: Taiwanese coast guard commander Lin Chie-ming is on the frontline of a new type of warfare that China is waging against Taiwan. China's weapon? Sand. On a chilly morning in late January, Lin, clad in an orange uniform, stood on the r...

BEIJING: Chinese scientists have found a natural mutation in the African swine fever virus they say could be less deadly than the strain that ravaged the world's largest pig herd in 2018 and 2019. The findings, published in the February edition of t...

WUHAN: A member of the World Health Organization-led team visiting the central Chinese city of Wuhan said he has been surprised by the complexity of getting to the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic and that years of research lay ahead. Dominic Dwyer,...

Vietnam is expected to get access to the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines within the first quarter under the COVAX coronavirus vaccine sharing scheme, its government said on Friday.

YANGON: Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi is in good health under house arrest after being detained in Monday's military coup, her National League for Democracy (NLD) press officer said on Friday (Feb 5).  "We have learnt that State Counsellor Daw Aung Sa...

SEOUL: South Korea's trade minister Yoo Myung-hee said on Friday (Feb 5) she has withdrawn from the race to lead the World Trade Organization (WTO), clearing the way for members to appoint the first African and the first woman to lead the global trad...

Indonesia has banned schools from forcing girls to wear Islamic hijab headscarves after the case of a Christian pupil pressured to cover up sparked outrage in the world's most populous Muslim nation.

SEOUL: South Korea unveiled a 48.5 trillion won (US$43.2 billion) plan to build the world's largest wind power plant by 2030 as part of efforts to foster an environmentally-friendly recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The project is a major compone...

KUALA LUMPUR: Private hospitals in Malaysia are getting ready to play a bigger role in combatting COVID-19, following the enactment of an emergency ordinance to mobilise resources of the private healthcare sector. Hospitals involved are currently c...

Serena Williams pulled out of the Yarra Valley Classic at Melbourne Park on Friday (Feb 5) with a right shoulder injury just days before the Australian Open.

The BBC came under fire from Chinese official and social media on Friday (Feb 5) in an escalating diplomatic dispute, a day after Britain's media regulator revoked the TV licence of Chinese state media outlet CGTN.

Twenty-four activists appeared in a Hong Kong court on Friday on charges related to a June 4 vigil last year marking the anniversary of China's military crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in and around Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989.

JAKARTA: Indonesian President Joko Widodo received the nation's first coronavirus vaccine live on television last month, but despite the fanfare, his ambitious inoculation campaign is already facing glitches from refrigeration, distrust and disinform...

WASHINGTON: The United States (US) has expressed its concern over the military coup in Myanmar to Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) ambassadors in Washington, the White House said in a statement on Thursday (Feb 4). US national security...

SINGAPORE: Police issued a warning on Friday (Feb 5) against plans to hold protests in Singapore in relation to the ongoing political situation in Myanmar, reminding the public that organising or participating in a public assembly without a police ...

Turkey Uighurs fear sellout to China in exchange for vaccine

Pfizer Inc has withdrawn an application for emergency-use authorization of its COVID-19 vaccine in India that it has developed with Germany's BioNTech, the company told Reuters on Friday.

JAKARTA: Indonesia and Malaysia are committed to working together to combat international discrimination against palm oil, the countries' leaders said in Jakarta on Friday (Feb 5). In a press conference after a four-eye meeting with Malaysia’s P...

South Korea and COVID-19 vaccine maker Moderna Inc are in discussions over a US$200 million investment by the U.S. drugmaker in the country to build a factory, as it seeks to expand in Asia.

TOKYO: Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said on Friday (Feb 5) the Olympic Games were facing a "major issue" after the head of the organising committee made sexist remarks and as criticism of his comments showed no sign of abating. Yoshiro Mori, 83, set ...

JAKARTA: Indonesia's gross domestic product fell slightly more than expected in the fourth quarter and suffered its first full-year contraction in over two decades in 2020 as Southeast Asia's largest economy grappled with the COVID-19 pandemic. GDP ...

TOKYO: Japanese drinks giant Kirin Holdings on Friday (Feb 5) scrapped its beer alliance with a conglomerate linked to the Myanmar military after the army staged a coup deposing the democratically elected government earlier this week. The move effec...

YANGON: The Myanmar military's shutdown of Facebook access following the ouster of the democratically elected Aung San Suu Kyi caps years of tension between the social media company and the most powerful institution in a nation where Facebook is use...

China reported 20 new COVID-19 cases on the mainland on Feb. 4, official data showed on Friday, down from 30 a day earlier.

TAIPEI: Taiwan on Friday (Feb 5) blamed Chinese "bullying" for Guyana's decision to revoke a deal for the island to open a representative office in the South American country, saying it had tried without success to get Guyana to change its mind. Tai...

CHONBURI, Thailand: With tails wagging to a chorus of barks and yelps, more than two dozen dogs attached to wheels that support their disabled hind legs scramble along a rocky path, taking their daily exercise. Mostly victims of accidents, the 27 do...

YANGON: Another leading figure in Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, Win Htein, told Reuters on Friday (Feb 5) that he had been arrested in the aftermath of this week's coup even as the UN Security Council called for detainees ...

The UN Security Council on Thursday voiced "deep concern" over the military coup in Myanmar, and called in a statement for the "release of all detainees" including Aung San Suu Kyi.

We need to spend whatever it takes on wartime-style mobilisation to make, distribute and inject vaccines, says the Financial Times’ Simon Kuper.

ASEAN was previously criticised for failing to effectively address Myanmar’s Rohingya crisis. Its track record on engaging Myanmar in past decades, however, suggests a stronger role for the multilateral grouping this time around following the coup ...

NGANJUK, East Java: After returning home to Indonesia, former domestic helper Parti Liyani said she hopes her acquittal can inspire other migrant workers who are facing legal problems to never give up if they are innocent. Ms Parti, who worked for ...

The United Nations Security Council called for the release of Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi and others detained by the military and voiced concern over the state of emergency, but stopped short of condemning this week's coup.

YANGON: Denied their chance to take their parliament seats after a coup in Myanmar this week, a group of lawmakers held their own house session on Thursday (Feb 4) in a show of defiance towards the return of military rule. About a dozen elected le...