Three prominent Thai pro-democracy figures were denied bail in a Bangkok court Monday after being charged with insulting the monarchy, as the government escalates a legal row with a youth-led movement that emerged last year.

KLUANG, Johor: Malaysia’s Environment and Water Minister Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man on Monday (Mar 8) said that his ministry has instructed the relevant departments - including the Environment Department (DOE) - to investigate claims of black patches p...

Malaysia will buy additional doses of Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine, bringing the total secured to 32 million, enough to cover half of its population, the country's science minister said on Monday.

The Philippines' human rights watchdog said Monday it has launched an investigation after nine people were killed in a series of raids by security forces targeting alleged communist insurgents.

Thousands of women joined protests by farmers on the outskirts of Delhi on Monday to mark International Women's Day, demanding the scrapping of new laws that open up agriculture produce markets to private buyers.

Indonesia's state-owned pharmaceutical company Bio Farma said that 1.1 million doses of vaccine produced by AstraZeneca under the global vaccine-sharing COVAX facility would arrive on Monday.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong's leader on Monday (Mar 8) praised China's plan to ensure only "patriots" remain in politics, denying the move was a purge of the opposition. Chief Executive Carrie Lam ruled out any need to consult the public on the changes, a...

SEOUL: South Korea said on Monday (Mar 8) it had found no link between the coronavirus vaccine and several recent deaths, as it ordered nearly 100,000 foreign workers to be tested after clusters emerged in dormitories. Health officials had been inve...

HANOI: Vietnam launched its COVID-19 vaccination programme on Monday (Mar 8) with healthcare workers first in the queue, even as the Southeast Asian country looked set to contain its fourth outbreak of the coronavirus since the pandemic began. Viet...

Two protesters were killed by gunshot wounds to the head in Myanmar on Monday (Mar 8), witnesses said, while shops, factories and banks were closed in the main city Yangon as part of the uprising against the country's military rulers. Photos posted ...

TOKYO: Japan's COVID-19 inoculation campaign is moving at a glacial pace, hampered by a lack of supply and a shortage of specialty syringes that underscore the enormous challenge it faces in its aim to vaccinate every adult by the year's end. Since ...

TOKYO: More than 75 per cent of Japanese oppose overseas fans attending the Tokyo Olympics, a poll showed on Monday (Mar 8), as organisers prepare to make a decision on foreign spectators. The poll, by the Yomiuri Shimbun daily, found that only 18 p...

CHENNAI: It was only when the buffaloes disappeared from an almost-dry pond in Saligao, in India's state of Goa, that residents hatched a community plan to revive it - one now seen as a model for local efforts to shore up India's precarious water su...

PAHALGAM, India: Ghulam Khatana's family lived half their lives in a simple log hut in Kashmir's forests, until about 200 men brandishing guns and iron rods chased them out of their home and into the blistering cold. As India steps up its efforts to...

PHNOM PENH: Cambodian fisherman Tin Yusos tucks into a meal of the previous day's catch with his wife and granddaughter aboard a boat which doubles as their home moored by the banks of the Tonle Sap River. They plan to set out for another day of fis...

BEIJING/SHANGHAI: China reported 19 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday (Mar 7), up from 13 a day earlier, the country's national health authority said on Monday. The National Health Commission said in a statement that all of the new cases were imported i...

SYDNEY: Australia has suspended its defence cooperation programme with Myanmar, Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne said, amid an intensified crackdown by the country's military on massive protests against last month's coup. Australia will also re...

TOKYO: More than 110,000 Olympic volunteers had their dream summer all mapped out for 2020. But now, with the Games postponed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic and for many still in doubt, they are left waiting in limbo, lives on hold. Hiro...

Chinese drone giant DJI Technology built up such a successful US business over the past decade that it almost drove all competitors out of the market.

GENEVA: Swiss voters on Sunday (Mar 7) narrowly backed a free trade deal signed with Indonesia, opening up a vast potential market with the world's fourth most populous country. Controversy surrounding the importation of Indonesian palm oil and its ...

Medical experts and civil society have criticised Indonesia’s vaccination programme, as the country continues to suffer from an endless wave of COVID-19, says a visiting senior fellow at ISEAS-Yushof Ishak Institute.

Police in Myanmar’s ancient former capital, Bagan, opened fire on Sunday (Mar on demonstrators protesting last month’s military takeover, wounding several people, according to witness accounts and videos on social media.)

YANGON: Myanmar's major trade unions called on members to shut down the economy from Monday (Mar 8) to back a campaign against last month's coup, raising pressure on the military government as its forces fired weapons and occupied hospitals in the m...

India sets up holding center for Rohingya in Kashmir

BANGKOK: The escalation of violence in Myanmar as authorities crack down on protests against the Feb 1 coup is raising pressure for more sanctions against the junta, even as countries struggle over how to best sway military leaders inured to global c...

China said on Sunday it has plans to set up COVID-19 vaccination stations to vaccinate Chinese citizens abroad and is also ready to work with the International Olympic Committee to help provide vaccines to Olympic athletes for upcoming events.

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's Catholic Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith demanded that the government find the perpetrators of deadly Easter attacks two years ago, as black-clad worshippers held silent protests outside the capital's churches on Sunday (Mar 7). No one...

The Chinese government's top diplomat State Councillor Wang Yi on Sunday said the electoral system in Hong Kong must be improved for long-term stability, saying reform would bring about a "brighter future" for the city.

NAYPYIDAW: Hein Yar Zar grimaced as a tattoo artist etched onto his chest the features of his first love, a young protester whose death has become a symbol of resistance against Myanmar's junta. Mya Thwate Thwate Khaing was shot in the head during a...

BEIJING: China's export growth jumped to the highest in more than two decades, official data showed on Sunday (Mar 7), with imports also surging in a sharp bounceback from the coronavirus outbreak that had brought activity to a near halt. Electronic...

BEIJING: Shirley Shi has received three offers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 - through her hometown, her Beijing residential area and her office area - but the human resources manager is in no rush. "I'd like to keep an eye out for any adverse e...

SEOUL: South Korea and the United States will conduct their springtime military exercise this week, but the joint drill will be smaller than usual because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Seoul said on Sunday (Mar 7). The allies will begin a nine day "comp...

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts: Moderna said on Saturday (Mar 6) it has agreed to supply the Philippines government 13 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine, with deliveries set to begin in mid-2021. The company will work with regulators to pursue necessa...

KUALA LUMPUR: Growing up watching planes take off and land at Alor Setar airport in the northern Malaysian state of Kedah left Tan Zu Puayen with a long-standing fascination with aircraft and flight. So much so that he chose to pursue aerospace eng...

While BTS and big labels look towards the future, questions arise about the sustainability of K-pop’s growth, says Steven Borowiec.

YANGON: Myanmar police fired tear gas to break up a sit-in demonstration by tens of thousands of people in Mandalay on Sunday (Mar 7), while protests were held in at least half a dozen other cities in some of the most widespread action against last m...

Scores of Myanmar nationals have gathered at the border with India waiting to join about 50 who have already crossed the frontier to flee the country's coup turmoil, Indian officials said Saturday.

NEW DELHI: India's federal government on Saturday (Mar 6) asked local authorities to prioritise COVID-19 vaccinations in several districts of eight states including New Delhi that have seen a spike in coronavirus cases in recent weeks, it said in a s...

KUALA TERENGGANU: The limited global supply of COVID-19 vaccines has made it necessary for the Malaysian government to monopolise purchases to ensure the success of its national immunisation programme, said Deputy Minister of Science, Technology an...

BANGKOK: Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in the Thai capital on Saturday (Mar 6) evening to demand that authorities release some protest leaders from jail, defying an order late Friday banning public gatherings in the city. A youth-led protest mo...

Beijing's proposal for Hong Kong electoral reforms could prevent "dictatorship of the majority", a pro-Beijing Hong Kong lawmaker said, calling people who want one man one vote "politically immature".

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia reported 1,680 new cases of COVID-19 and seven deaths on Saturday (Mar 6). Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the drop in the number of new cases, from 2,154 recorded on Friday, brought the cumulative case c...

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...