HONG KONG: A group of 11 Hong Kong activists accused of subversion will stay in jail for at least another five days while judges consider whether to release them on bail, a court said on Saturday (Mar 6). The group, which includes three former legi...

North Korea illicitly imported far more refined petroleum products last year than allowed under an annual threshold set by United Nations sanctions, a report seen by AFP revealed.

SHANGHAI: China confirmed outbreaks of African swine fever in its key pork producing provinces of Sichuan and Hubei, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said in a statement on Saturday (Mar 6). The cases were detected in Aba prefecture in ...

KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia Group is recovering well from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, during which it looked at opportunities it had not been able to act on earlier and accelerated its digital transformation, group chief executive officer Tony Fer...

BANGKOK: Thai police warned anti-government protesters planning demonstrations in Bangkok on Saturday (Mar 6) that they risked being arrested following an order overnight that banned public gatherings in the capital and surrounding provinces. A yout...

Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama gets vaccine shot

NEW DELHI: Authorities in Myanmar have asked India to return several police officers who sought refuge to avoid taking orders from a military junta that seized power in the Southeast Asian country last month, an official in northeast India said on Sa...

Indian farmers began gathering on Saturday to block a six-lane expressway outside New Delhi to mark the 100th day of protests against deregulation of agriculture markets, to add pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.

YANGON: Security forces in Myanmar again used force Saturday (Mar 6) to disperse anti-coup protesters, a day after the UN special envoy urged the Security Council to take action to quell junta violence that this week left about 50 demonstrators dea...

Authorities in Inner Mongolia must "solve ethnic problems" and push the use of the Mandarin language, Chinese President Xi Jinping has said, months after the region was rocked by protests over a new rule that would reduce the use of the local languag...

SHANGHAI: Mainland China reported 10 new COVID-19 cases on Friday (Mar 5), compared with nine cases a day earlier, the country's national health authority said on Saturday. The National Health Commission, in a statement, said all of the new cases w...

A climate finance scheme in Central Kalimantan is protecting peat forests while funding more viable livelihoods and better education. The programme Insight finds out more.

Former secretary of state Mike Pompeo on Friday backed calls for the United States to boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, saying China's "nasty" activity made it an inappropriate host.

Recent actions involving Australia and New Zealand reveal the country’s modus operandi can be effective but will have broader, corrosive implications for China, says Christian Le Miere.

JAKARTA: Diaz Nawaksara, 30, tumbuh di masa perkembangan Internet dan telekomunikasi. Saat kuliah, ia mengambil jurusan manajemen informatika dengan fokus pada penyimpanan data melalui metode komputasi. Meskipun pendidikannya terkesan modern, peke...

JAKARTA: Diaz Nawaksara grew up during the rise of the Internet and telecommunications. When the 30-year-old went to college, he decided to study information management, focusing on storing information through computational methods. But as modern ...

With reforestation becoming a popular choice for companies and governments’ sustainability programmes, misconceptions abound over what makes tree planting truly valuable for both people and the planet, says a sustainable development consultant.

GENEVA: The findings of a WHO-led mission to Wuhan, China to investigate the origins of the virus that causes COVID-19 are expected in mid-March, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday (Mar 5). "The current timing is the week of 14th-15t...

India on Friday condemned a report by a U.S.-based think-tank that dropped its status from free to "partly free" saying the claims made by Freedom House are "misleading, incorrect and misplaced".

Police in Myanmar on Friday (Mar 5) opened fire on protesters against last month's military coup, killing one man, as international condemnation rained down on the junta ahead of a United Nations Security Council meeting to discuss the crisis. The v...

A top aide of Indonesian President Joko Widodo was named chairman of an opposition party on Friday, in a move that could broaden the president's coalition and tighten his grip on parliament - although the legitimacy of the move was challenged by othe...

HONG KONG: Ever since Britain returned Hong Kong to Chinese rule in 1997, opposition activists have tried to bring full democracy to the city, believing that China would live up to its promise to one day allow universal suffrage to elect the city's l...

Government, rebels formally sign peace agreement in Nepal

HONG KONG: Four Hong Kong democracy activists were released from custody on Friday (Mar 5) after prosecutors withdrew an appeal against a court decision to grant them bail in a controversial national security case following marathon hearings this wee...

Red Cross volunteers have been injured while helping people hurt in violence in Myanmar, where security forces are cracking down on pro-democracy protests, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said on Friday (Mar 5). ...

Cambodians face up to 20 years in jail for flouting coronavirus rules after the country's parliament on Friday passed a strict Covid-19 prevention bill that rights groups have blasted as a tool to curb dissent.

KUALA LUMPUR: The tussle for leadership in Malaysia’s government saw a key development on Thursday with United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) severing ties with Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) going into the next general election. ...

BEIJING: China will invest more in coal to power its economy over the next five years, according to a government plan released Friday (Mar 5) that only modestly increased renewable ambitions. Environmentalists had been hoping China's five-year natio...

SHANGHAI: Despite a high-profile visit to China by a team of international experts in January, the world is no closer to knowing the origins of COVID-19, according to one of the authors of an open letter calling for a new investigation into the pande...

Controversy in India over Amazon's political drama Tandav has put Bollywood and global video streaming giants on edge, prompting a closer scrutiny of scripts for possible offence to religious sentiments in a key growth market.

The Philippines has recorded 52 more cases of a highly contagious coronavirus variant first identified in South Africa, the health ministry said on Friday, presenting new challenges for a country battling one of Asia's worst outbreaks.

YANGON: Electricity supply was cut across many areas of Myanmar on Friday (Mar 5) because of a "system breakdown", according to multiple government agencies.  Residents started posting on Twitter and Facebook about the widespread blackouts across...

HONG KONG: Hong Kong police have arrested 12 people for running a stock manipulation scheme that duped investors on social media into buying shares at inflated prices before the stock was dumped, authorities said on Friday (Mar 5). Raids across Hong...

MANILA: Philippine authorities have seized illegally harvested giant clam shells worth US$3.3 million as smugglers turn to the endangered creatures as a substitute for the illicit ivory trade. In one of the biggest operations of its kind in the cou...

Indian farmers who have been protesting for months against deregulation of produce markets plan to block a major expressway outside New Delhi on Saturday, the 100th day of their campaign, they said.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has detected two cases of a new COVID-19 variant that is thought to be more transmissible and resistant to antibodies, a senior health official said on Friday (Mar 5). The variant, also known as B1525, was found in two people ...

SYDNEY: Australian broadcaster SBS said it was suspending the broadcast of Chinese TV news services CGTN and CCTV after receiving a human rights complaint. An SBS spokesman told Reuters that programmes from Chinese state media CCTV and CGTN would no...

Alphabet Inc's YouTube has removed five channels of Myanmar's military-run television networks hosted on its platform in the wake of the coup in the country.

SINGAPORE: A peaceful resolution of the situation in Myanmar is possible as long as all sides can come together to engage in genuine and direct dialogue, said Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan on Friday (Mar 5). “We thus hope th...

BEIJING: China is increasing its defence spending by 6.8 per cent next year as it works to maintain a robust upgrading of the armed forces despite high government debt and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. A national budget report issued on Frida...

BEIJING: China will resolutely deter any separatist activity seeking Taiwan's independence but is committed to promoting the peaceful growth of relations across the Taiwan Strait and China's "reunification", Premier Li Keqiang said on Friday (Mar 5)....

TOKYO: The remains of a woman who went missing in the devastating 2011 Japan tsunami have been found and identified, police said on Friday (Mar 5), days before the 10th anniversary of the disaster. "Skeletal remains including a skull were found on ...

BEIJING: China's parliament is considering changes to Hong Kong's electoral committee, which selects the city's leader, as well as giving it new powers to nominate and elect candidates to the city's legislature, a senior parliament official said on ...

BEIJING: China on Friday (Mar 5) set a modest annual economic growth target, at above 6 per cent, and pledged to create more jobs in cities than last year, as the world's second-biggest economy planned a careful course out of a year disrupted by the ...

SHANGHAI: China reported 9 new coronavirus cases in the mainland on Thursday, compared with 10 cases a day earlier, the country's health commission said on Friday (Mar 5). All of the new infections were imported cases originating from abroad, accord...

The Japanese government plans to extend a state of emergency for Tokyo and three neighbouring prefectures to combat COVID-19 until March 21, two weeks longer than originally scheduled, Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said on Friday.

GENEVA: The United Nations Security Council should impose a "global arms embargo" and targeted sanctions against Myanmar's military, a top UN rights expert said on Thursday (Mar 4), voicing alarm at the brutal repression of anti-coup protests. In a ...

WASHINGTON: The United States on Thursday (Mar 4) unveiled new measures to punish Myanmar's army for its Feb 1 coup, blocking the ministries of defence and home affairs and top military conglomerates from certain types of trade. Washington has als...

Myanmar’s internet-savvy younger generation is finding ways around communication blackouts almost as quickly as restrictions are imposed, says a human rights lecturer.

Having transformed the club of his home state, Tunku Ismail, unlike current Valencia owner Peter Lim, has a track-record of football success, says John Duerden.

NEW YORK:  Myanmar's newly appointed ambassador to the United Nations has resigned, saying that his predecessor - who was fired by the military government - continues to represent the country, a UN spokesman said on Thursday (Mar 4), the latest twis...

Indian doctors and politicians on Thursday welcomed efficacy data for a state-backed coronavirus vaccine that was given emergency approval in January without the completion of a late-stage trial, making people reluctant to receive the shot.

China's top legislature will discuss electoral reform in Hong Kong when it meets this week, state media said Thursday, as speculation grows that Beijing will use the event to further tighten control over the financial hub.

KUALA LUMPUR: Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) said on Thursday (Mar 4) that it will focus on improving cooperation with its partners in the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition, including Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) and other regional and sm...

A Hong Kong court on Thursday granted bail to around a third of 47 democracy activists charged with conspiracy to commit subversion, as the case draws widespread criticism that Beijing is using a national security law to crush the city's opposition.

SINGAPORE: About 580,000 KrisFlyer and PPS members have been affected by a data security breach, Singapore Airlines (SIA) said on Thursday (Mar 4). The data breach involves the passenger service system servers of SITA, an air transport information ...

GENEVA: At least 54 people have been killed and more than 1,700 detained since Myanmar's Feb 1 coup, the UN rights chief said on Thursday (Mar 4), demanding that the military "stop murdering" protesters. The comments come after the deadliest day of...

YANGON: Hundreds of mourners gathered in Myanmar on Thursday (Mar 4) for the funeral of a 19-year-old protester shot and killed at a demonstration against military rule. Angel, also known as Kyal Sin, was shot in the head and killed in the city of M...

Thailand's tourism minister said on Thursday he will propose a plan for foreigners to undertake COVID-19 quarantine in popular tourist areas, including beach resorts, in a bid to help revive the country's struggling tourism sector.

YANGON: Armed Myanmar soldiers and police are using TikTok to deliver death threats to protesters against last month's coup, researchers said, prompting the Chinese video-sharing app to announce it was removing content that incites violence. Digital...

TOKYO: JCR Pharmaceuticals Co said on Thursday (Mar 4) it would build a new plant in Japan to expand production of ingredients for COVID-19 vaccines over the longer term. JCR Pharma along with Daiichi Sankyo Co and other Japanese partners are coope...

SINGAPORE: Singaporeans in Myanmar have been advised to consider leaving while it is still possible to do so. Citing the "rapidly escalating clashes between protesters and the Myanmar security forces" and the rising number of civilian casualties, Si...

Photos show North Korea may be trying to extract plutonium

NEW DELHI: At least 19 Myanmar police have crossed into India to escape taking orders from a military junta that is trying to suppress protests against last month's coup, an Indian police official said on Thursday (Mar 4), adding that more were expe...

Thailand probes Facebook's removal of army-linked accounts

JAKARTA: President Joko Widodo said on Thursday (Mar 4) that Indonesian consumers should be encouraged to “love” domestic brands and “hate” foreign products, as he urged officials to stay the course in pushing for 5 per cent economic growth...

China said on Thursday it firmly opposes the practice of countries establishing official institutions in Taiwan, following Lithuania's decision to open a trade representation office there.

UNITED NATIONS: The UN special envoy for Myanmar said the generals who have seized power in the Southeast Asian nation indicated they do not fear renewed sanctions, though they are “very surprised” that their plans to restore military rule withou...

POCHEON, South Korea: “It’s a world of lawlessness,” Reverend Kim Dal-sung muttered over the phone as he drove his tiny KIA over narrow dirt paths zigzagging through greenhouses made of plastic sheets and tubes. In the bleak landscape of dull...

Overseas spectators are likely to be shut out from the Tokyo Olympics, Japanese media reported on Thursday (Mar 4), after organisers said that public safety would be the "top priority" at the COVID-19-delayed Games.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong has been removed from an annual index of the world's freest economies because the think-tank that compiles the league table said the city was now directly controlled by Beijing. The announcement is a reputational blow for Hong ...

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen inoculated against COVID-19

ISHINOMAKI: Yuto Naganuma looks silently as the cold sea breeze sweeps over the crumbling walls of the school where his little brother was lost in Japan's devastating 2011 tsunami. Ten years on, Naganuma and others like him form a generation whose y...

Myanmar police broke up demonstrations in several places with tear gas and gunfire on Thursday (Mar 4) but there was no immediate word on casualties a day after the United Nations said 38 people had been killed in the bloodiest day since last month's...

South Korea economy shrank in 2020 for first time in 22 years

Marathon bail proceedings for 47 Hong Kong democracy activists charged with conspiracy to commit subversion enter their fourth day on Thursday (Mar 4), in a landmark case after the most sweeping use yet of the city's national security law.

SHANGHAI: Mainland China reported 10 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday (Mar 3), matching the figure from a day earlier, the country's national health authority said on Thursday. The National Health Commission said in a statement that all of the new c...

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un stressed the significance of the role that city and county chief secretaries have in improving the lives of the people and carrying out his five-year economic policies, state news media KCNA said on Thursday.

NEW YORK: How about this for bargain-hunting? A small bowl bought for US$35 in a yard sale in the United States turned out to be a rare 15th century Chinese artefact possibly worth US$500,000. The porcelain bowl - with delicate floral motifs - was...

SEOUL: A transgender South Korean soldier who was forcibly discharged from the army after gender reassignment surgery has been found dead, police said, prompting anger on Thursday (Mar 4) and calls for legal reforms. Firefighters found Byun Hee-soo ...

Bangladesh is moving nearly 4,000 more Rohingya Muslim refugees to a remote Bay of Bengal island, officials said on Wednesday (Mar 3), despite complaints from rights groups concerned about the site's vulnerability to storms and flooding.

Biden plans to build a concert of democracies to contain China, but this will leave everyone worse off, say Andrew Sheng and Xiao Geng.

Vaccines are only effective if people can get vaccinated. Progress on that front is incredibly uneven, says a university dean.

Moving towards a peaceful resolution of the crisis is the only way forward for sense to prevail, says Nehginpao Kipgen.

YANGON: At least 38 people died on Wednesday (Mar 3) in the "bloodiest" day of Myanmar's crisis, the United Nations said, as the military government defied growing international condemnation of its coup with a violent crackdown that the US said lef...

WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden singled out a "growing rivalry with China" as a key challenge facing the United States, with his top diplomat describing the Asian country as "the biggest geopolitical test" of this century. The administration rolled ...

Facebook has taken down 185 accounts and groups engaged in an information influencing operation in Thailand run by the military, the company said on Wednesday (Mar 3), the first time it has taken down Thai accounts with ties to the government.

LONDON: The UK will receive 10 million AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses made by the Serum Institute of India (SII), the UK government said on Tuesday (Mar 2). SII, the world's largest vaccine manufacturer by volume, is mass producing the AstraZene...

A plan by Sri Lanka to bury Muslim coronavirus victims on a remote islet was slammed on Wednesday by locals and the minority community.

BANGKOK: Since arriving in Thailand a few years ago, Myanmar migrant worker Own Mar Shwe had been sending money home every month for her family to buy food and medicine. That came to an abrupt halt last month. Like millions of Myanmar migrants who ...

KUALA LUMPUR: Audit firm Deloitte PLT will pay Malaysia's government US$80 million to resolve all claims related to its auditing of accounts of scandal-linked state fund 1MDB and its unit SRC International from 2011 to 2014, the finance ministry said...

BEIJING: Former Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, among the most vocal supporters of Beijing's moves to tighten control over the territory, did not rule out a return to his former post in an interview on Wednesday (Mar 3). "I'd do anything ...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Takiyuddin Hassan has reiterated that there would be no parliamentary sittings during Malaysia's state of emergency which is slated to last until Aug 1.  Speaking during a pre...

YANGON: At least 10 people were killed when Myanmar security forces fired on protesters on Wednesday (Mar 3) as multiple rallies across the country descended into violence. Myanmar has been in uproar since Feb 1 when the military launched a coup...

Government ministers and officials were following Prime Minister Narendra Modi lead by opting on Tuesday for an Indian-made COVID-19 vaccine approved without late-stage efficacy data, instead of the AstraZeneca one.

An endangered turtle bred in captivity laid eggs for the first time in Cambodia, conservationists said this week, in a massive win for animal protection in the kingdom.

YANGON: Myanmar's military authorities have charged an Associated Press photographer and five other journalists over their coverage of anti-coup protests, their lawyer said on Wednesday (Mar 3). AP photographer Thein Zaw, 32, was arrested on Satur...

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa on Wednesday launched a search for eight people to join him as the first private passengers on a trip around the moon with Elon Musk's SpaceX.

SEOUL: South Korean authorities said on Wednesday (Mar 3) they are investigating the deaths of two people after a media report said the pair - both with pre-existing conditions - died within days of receiving AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine. A 63-yea...

HONG KONG: A Hong Kong teenager became the youngest person so far to plead guilty to rioting during 2019's huge protests on Wednesday (Mar 3), as he admitted throwing a petrol bomb at police when aged just 14. The judge accepted advice from the city...