BENGALURU: India reported 81,466 new COVID-19 infections on Friday (Apr 2), the highest daily number in six months, as several states were hit by a second wave of the coronavirus. Health ministry data showed the total number of cases surged to 12.3 ...

TOKYO: The Olympic torch relay will not be run on public roads in Osaka city given rising COVID-19 cases, the Japanese region's governor said Friday (Apr 2), but a cancellation has not yet been decided. "We're sorry for torch relay runners ... but w...

SHANGHAI: China's top football official urged teams to make the Communist Party proud and said that the sport in the country is at "a historical turning point", days after champions Jiangsu FC were kicked out. Chinese Football Association (CFA) pres...

MANILA: Filipinos marked Good Friday, one of the most solemn holidays in Asia’s largest Roman Catholic nation, with deserted streets and churches following a strict lockdown to slow down the spread of COVID-19. Major highways and roads were eerily...

Parit Chiwarak, 22, was charged in February with sedition and defaming the monarchy for his role in leading demonstrations.

YANGON: Myanmar's junta faced fresh international criticism on Friday (Apr 2) over the deaths of more than 40 children and the "forced disappearance" of hundreds of people in its crackdown on anti-coup protests. The military's ruthless suppression o...

MUMBAI: India batting great Sachin Tendulkar said on Friday (Apr 2) he has been admitted to hospital as a precautionary measure after contracting COVID-19 last week. Tendulkar, who will turn 48 later this month, was previously quarantining at home a...

BEIJING: A Chinese border city hit by a fresh outbreak of COVID-19 began a five-day drive on Friday (Apr 2) to vaccinate its entire population of 300,000 people. State broadcaster CCTV showed people lining up and getting vaccinated in Ruili, where 1...

SHANGHAI: China and its neighbours must not only crack down on wildlife trade but also shut legal loopholes that allow disease-prone species to be farmed, experts said after an investigation team concluded that COVID-19 most likely originated in anim...

BEIJING: Chinese biopharmaceutical firm Sinovac said on Friday (Apr 2) a third production line for its COVID-19 vaccine has been put into use, doubling its annual capacity of the jabs to 2 billion doses. Its CoronaVac is one of four domestic vaccin...

TOKYO: Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will hold face-to-face talks with Joe Biden in Washington on Apr 16, as the first foreign leader hosted by the US president, the Japanese government said Friday (Apr 2). Local media had reported the trip ...

TAIPEI: At least 41 people were killed and dozens more injured when a train derailed in a tunnel in Taiwan on Friday (Apr 2) after apparently hitting a truck, in the island's worst rail disaster in at least four decades. The train, an express travel...

VANCOUVER: Canada's attorney general on Thursday (Apr 1) fired back at defense accusations of US jurisdictional overreach in Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou's extradition case, saying the issue is ultimately for a trial judge to decide. ...

UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations Security Council late Thursday (Apr 1) strongly condemned the use of violence against peaceful protesters and the deaths of hundreds of civilians in Myanmar, but dropped the threat of possible future action against ...

Celebrities may shift public attitudes on environmental issues but putting them in practice will depend on parents, teachers and other role models, says mum June Yong.

Concerns over sharp swings in US foreign policy, its focus on democracy and whether ASEAN countries could be asked to choose between the US and China weigh heavy on the region's minds, says Dewi Fortuna Anwar.

Top security officials of the United States, Japan and South Korea will meet  on Friday (Apr 2) to discuss next steps on North Korea as President Joe Biden completes a policy review.

Protesters in Myanmar on Thursday (Apr 1) marked two months since the military seized power by again defying the threat of lethal violence and demonstrating against its toppling of the country's democratically elected government.

The gunman who killed four people and critically wounded a fifth at a Southern California office building knew all the victims and apparently before opening fire chained shut the gates to two entrances, delaying police from getting inside, authoritie...

MOSCOW: Russia's embassy in Pyongyang said on Thursday (Apr 1) that conditions in North Korea's capital had become exceptionally difficult after drastic measures were imposed to combat the coronavirus. The hermetic totalitarian state, which has yet...

South Korean authorities are facing a backlash for relying on global vaccine-sharing scheme COVAX for a bulk of its COVID-19 shots as shipment delays threaten to slow the country's inoculation programme.

LONDON: Britain sanctioned a Myanmar conglomerate on Thursday (Apr 1) for its close links to the military leadership which Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said was wantonly killing innocent people including children. Britain imposed sanctions on the...

As Myanmar descends into chaos, smartphone warriors in the anti-coup movement are seeking revenge online against the junta, hounding people with family ties to the military as a form of "social punishment".

CHIANG MAI, Thailand: Tigers were fed frozen chicken "popsicles" and enticed to splash in a wading pool at a Thai zoo on Thursday (Apr 1) as temperatures rose. About 50 of the big cats live at the Tiger Kingdom zoo in Chiang Mai, 700km north of Ban...

The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics launched a series of test events on Thursday as China ploughs on with preparations despite calls for a boycott over its treatment of the Uyghur minority.

SEOUL: South Korean capital Seoul said on Thursday (Apr 1) it has sent a proposal for co-hosting the 2032 Olympics with the North's Pyongyang to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in a bid to keep its hopes alive despite Brisbane being the fr...

An internal probe is underway on how an alleged attacker was able to sneak a gun into the police headquarters on Wednesday, before being fatally shot.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong authorities said on Thursday (Apr 1) they would resume the use of BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine next Monday after abruptly halting inoculations nine days ago due to defective packaging. A batch of 300,000 doses is due to arrive i...

MANILA: The Philippine military said on Thursday (Apr 1) it has documented illegal manmade structures on Union Banks in the South China Sea's Spratly Islands, near areas where hundreds of Chinese vessels had massed last month. Military chief Lieu...

Taiwan and the tiny Pacific island nation of Palau launched a coronavirus travel bubble on Thursday (Apr 1) to promote tourism, in recognition of their success in stamping out the pandemic locally.

China's CanSino Biologics Inc said the efficacy rate for its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine may fall over time although it should still have a rate of 50per cent or more five to six months after inoculation.

SEOUL: Roiled by property scandals and economic failures, South Korea's liberal ruling party looks set to lose the mayoral offices in the two largest cities, making it harder for President Moon Jae-in to achieve the policy goals of his last year in o...

TOKYO: Japan's government said on Thursday (Apr 1) it will impose COVID-19 emergency measures in Osaka, such as shorter business hours, asking people to work from home and that they should refrain from activities like karaoke. Osaka governor Hir...

BEIJING: Designer Zhou Li took to the stage amid applause following her runway show at China Fashion Week with a prop that has political overtones: A bouquet of cotton plants. "As far as I'm concerned, I think Xinjiang cotton is my sweetheart, my lo...

GENEVA/KUALA LUMPUR: Myanmar Red Cross workers have been arrested, intimidated and injured on the frontlines as they tried to treat mounting civilian casualties, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said on Thur...

RAWANG, Malaysia: Paper masks and goggles are among offerings that Chinese Malaysians will burn to mark Qing Ming Festival on Sunday (Apr 4), hoping that their ancestors can use them to fight COVID-19 in the afterlife. Qing Ming, or Tomb Sweeping ...

NEW DELHI: India opened up its COVID-19 inoculation programme to people above 45 on Thursday (Apr 1) as infections surge, which will delay vaccine exports from the world's biggest vaccine producer. The country, with the most number of reported COVI...

HONG KONG: A Hong Kong court found seven prominent democrats guilty of unauthorised assembly charges, including 82-year-old barrister Martin Lee and media tycoon Jimmy Lai, 72, the latest blow to the city's beleaguered democracy movement. Lee, who ...

SEOUL: South Korea said on Thursday (Apr 1) it will issue so-called COVID-19 vaccine passports to immunised citizens, joining other nations introducing such certificates to revive cross-border travel while keeping infection risks under control. Prim...

The national security advisers for the United States and the Philippines discussed their shared concerns over Chinese activities in the South China Sea in a call on Wednesday (Mar 31), the White House said.

NEW YORK: China on Wednesday (Mar 31) said it wanted a "democratic transition" in military-ruled Myanmar, but ruled out sanctions at a United Nations Security Council meeting. "China hopes that Myanmar will restore peace, stability and constitutio...

Japan's first doses of AstraZeneca Plc's COVID-19 vaccine are coming from plants in the United States, the company said in an interview with the Asahi Newspaper.

The UN envoy on Myanmar on Wednesday implored the Security Council to take action amid the escalating crisis there, warning of the risk of civil war and an imminent "bloodbath" as the junta violently represses pro-democracy protests.

India hit a five-month high for cases this week, but it will need to revisit the factors that gave it a breather for 10 weeks earlier this year, say NUS’ Dr Karthik Nachiappan and Dr Diego Maiorano.

Asian Americans of all types experience being “forever foreigners” in a wide range of ways, says a sociology professor.

Myanmar’s military government announced on Wednesday (Mar 31) it is implementing a unilateral one-month ceasefire, but made an exception for actions that disrupt the government’s security and administrative operations.

Worldwide losses of old-growth tropical forests increased 12 per cent in 2020, with climate impacts such as fires, storms and droughts playing a significant role, causing an area roughly the size of Denmark to disappear, according to new data report...

The Bangladesh government wants to send thousands more Myanmar Rohingya refugees to an isolated island in the Bay of Bengal before the cyclone season starts despite safety concerns raised by the international Red Cross.

SINGAPORE: Singapore and China are looking at how travel links between the two countries can resume, Singapore's Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said on Wednesday (Mar 31). Dr Balakrishnan was speaking at the end of a two-day visit to F...

The United States reaffirmed Wednesday that Hong Kong has lost its autonomy from China as it vowed to pressure Beijing for dismantling the city's special status.

BEIJING: China on Wednesday (Mar 31) slammed "unethical" critics as it faced mounting pressure over origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, after the World Health Organization chief revived the theory that the coronavirus may have leaked from a Chinese lab...

JAKARTA: A woman was shot dead by Indonesian police in a gunfight at the force's national headquarters in Jakarta on Wednesday afternoon (Mar 31). The 25-year-old was a "lone wolf" who believed in Islamic State ideology, police chief Listyo Sigit ...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will receive its first 600,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines made by drugmaker AstraZeneca in June, the country's science minister said on Wednesday (Mar 31). The Southeast Asian nation, which began its national COVID-19 vaccinat...

JAKARTA: Indonesia's state oil company Pertamina said it has put out a fire that had engulfed part of its 125,000 barrel per day refinery in Balongan, West Java and had begun making preparations to restart the plant. The fire broke out just after mi...

Hundreds of Chinese vessels believed to be manned by militias in the South China Sea have spread to a wider area, the Philippines said on Wednesday, defying its demand for the flotilla to be withdrawn immediately.

KUALA LUMPUR: Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) and Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) have pledged to strengthen cooperation in facing the next general election.  In a joint statement on Mar 31 (Wednesday), both parties also stressed that the...

Indonesian firefighters were working Wednesday to put out a large blaze at one of the country's biggest oil refineries that has been burning for more than two days after an explosion rocked the facility.

YANGON: Myanmar's deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi appeared in good health on Wednesday (Mar 31)  in her first video meeting with one of her lawyers since she was detained in a coup, as the United States ordered non-essential embassy staff to leave t...

H&M and other fashion brands have been under fire in China for statements voicing concern about allegations of labour violations in cotton fields in the far west region.

China's Huawei Technologies reported modest annual profit growth for 2020 as overseas revenues declined due to disruption caused by the pandemic and the company's placement on a US export blacklist.

TOKYO: A Japanese karate champion who will compete at the Tokyo Olympics testified before an ethics commission on Wednesday (Mar 31), alleging that a federation official hit her in the face with a bamboo sword. Ayumi Uekusa, who will compete in the ...

Japan has halted new aid to Myanmar in response to the coup, according to the country's foreign minister, but is stopping short of sanctions imposed by some nations on military and police commanders.

BANGKOK: Five Thai activists were indicted on Wednesday (Mar 31) on charges of attempted violence against the queen during a demonstration last year, when a royal motorcade encountered dozens of protesters. Their lawyer Poonsuk Poonsukcharoen said p...

JAKARTA: The second black box of the ill-fated Sriwijaya Air plane that crashed into the Java Sea in early January and killed all 62 people on board has been recovered, authorities said on Wednesday (Mar 31).  The location of the cockpit voice reco...

TAIPEI: The China-US trade war is pushing Beijing to step up its efforts to steal technology and poach talent from Taiwan to boost China's semiconductor industry's self-sufficiency, the government of the tech-powerhouse island said on Wednesday (Mar...

HONG KONG: A Filipina who was sacked as a domestic worker in Hong Kong after being diagnosed with cancer - a case that exposed the vulnerability of low-paid foreign workers - has passed away, a friend confirmed on Wednesday (Mar 31). Baby Jane Allas...

YANGON: Myanmar activists held candle-lit vigils overnight after scores of deaths in recent days from a military crackdown on anti-coup protesters and clashes in ethnic border areas, as the United States ordered non-essential embassy staff to leave. ...

The southwestern Chinese city of Ruili that borders Myanmar ordered on Wednesday a one-week home quarantine for residents of the city's urban area due to new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases there.

Australian Olympians became embroiled in the global row over Chinese forced-labour cotton on Wednesday (Mar 31) as the country revealed its uniforms for the upcoming Tokyo Games.

Her character’s name in the upcoming series was similar to that of a prominent figure in the 1987 student protests in South Korea, Chun Young Cho.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said an understanding has been reached for all ministers who are party members of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) to continue serving in his Cabinet.  The statement, issued on ...

Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr on Tuesday called for new steps to ensure Huawei Technologies and ZTE equipment is barred from U.S. telecommunications networks and ensure no electronic devices produced with forced labor enter the Uni...

JAKARTA: Indonesia's transport ministry said on Wednesday (Mar 31) that it had recovered the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) of a Sriwijaya Air jet that crashed into the Java Sea shortly after take-off on Jan 9, killing all 62 people on board. A news...

WASHINGTON: The United States strongly condemns moves by China to further reduce political participation and representation in Hong Kong and is deeply concerned by a second delay in the territory's Legislative Council elections, the US State Departme...

BEIJING: China's manufacturing activity expanded at the fastest pace in three months in March as factories cranked up production after a brief lull during the Chinese New Year holidays, with improving global demand adding further momentum to a solid ...

TOKYO: Japan's famous cherry blossoms have reached their flowery peak in many places earlier this year than at any time since formal records started being kept nearly 70 years ago, with experts saying climate change is the likely cause. Japan's favo...

US orders departure of non-essential diplomats from Myanmar

The timing, response by local authorities and other related developments this week gives food for thought on China’s response, says Professor Bo Zhiyue.

The United States will speak out about human rights everywhere including in allies and at home, Secretary of State Antony Blinken vowed Tuesday, turning a page from Donald Trump as he bemoaned deteriorations around the world.

Tracing his fingers over a "Love and Peace" tattoo inked on his forearm in a misty valley on the Thai-Myanmar border, 49-year-old former soldier Isaac said he was contemplating a return to war.

The UN Security Council on Tuesday (Mar 30) met to discuss North Korea's latest missile launches but did not take any immediate action, although the United States said the world body was considering new measures.

A group of religious and socially conscious investors and other funds are ramping up pressure on Western companies over alleged human rights abuses in China's Xinjiang region, highlighting the challenges for brands trying to maintain their business t...

Chile's president Sebastian Pinera said on Tuesday (Mar 30) that his government had signed a new deal with CanSino Biologics for its one-dose coronavirus vaccine as the South American nation vaults ahead with one of the world's fastest inoculation dr...

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday (Mar 30) replied to a letter written by his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, and said Islamabad desires peaceful relations with New Delhi, an official source told Reuters.

Japan and Indonesia's ministers of defence and foreign affairs pledged on Tuesday to tighten their military ties to face an assertive China as the two countries hold talks in Tokyo.

KUALA LUMPUR: In addition to the one it already has, Malaysia is set to receive by the middle of this year another vessel that removes plastic trash from rivers. The vessel, built by Dutch non-profit organisation The Ocean Cleanup, is sponsored by ...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has allowed in a container of plastic waste from the United States after finding that it held only clean, recyclable material, and did not after all violate a brand-new United Nations treaty banning trade in contaminated plasti...

TOKYO: A man has been charged over online abuse directed at a Japanese star of Netflix reality show Terrace House who took her own life last year, prosecutors said on Tuesday (Mar 30). A spokesman for Tokyo Prosecutors' Office told AFP they had mad...

A billionaire Thai opposition figure was charged Tuesday with defaming the monarchy after he questioned the government's alleged over-reliance on coronavirus vaccines from a company linked to the royal family.

KATHMANDU: Nepal was set to restart COVID-19 inoculations after receiving a donation of doses from China, resuming a campaign that was put on hold because India slowed vaccine exports. India and China have sought to use vaccine diplomacy to extend i...

MAE SAM LAEP, Thailand: Thailand's prime minister denied on Tuesday (Mar 30) that his country’s security forces have sent villagers back to Myanmar who fled from military airstrikes, and said his government is ready to shelter anyone who is escapin...

Thanks to media and civil society groups, there's a steady flow of accurate information and analysis on Myanmar's current situation to protesters, says a media studies professor.

HANOI: A court in Vietnam on Tuesday (Mar 30) sentenced a Facebook user to 10 years in prison after finding him guilty of spreading "anti-state propaganda" on social media, police said. Vu Tien Chi, 55, was convicted of "making, storing, spreading i...

HONG KONG: Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Tuesday (Mar 30) the government expects to hold Legislative Council elections in December, more than a year after they were postponed due to COVID-19. Lam was speaking at a press conference after China ...

YANGON: Rubbish piled up on the streets of Myanmar's main city on Tuesday (Mar 30) after activists launched a "garbage strike" to oppose military rule as the toll of pro-democracy protesters killed by the security forces since a Feb 1 coup rose to m...

JAKARTA: Indonesian state oil firm Pertamina said on Tuesday (Mar 30) it was still trying to fully extinguish a fire that broke out at its Balongan refinery a day before, injuring six people and prompting the evacuation of hundreds of nearby resident...

A Myanmar footballer playing for a Malaysian club has been hit with a one-match ban for flashing the three-finger salute used by anti-coup protesters during a game, an official said Tuesday.

HWASEONG, South Korea: In a South Korean rice field, the teenage world drone-racing champion is preparing to defend his title in one of the planet's fastest and highest-tech sports. But at all of 18 years old, Kang Chang-hyeon fears he is quickly p...

Several Asian countries scrambled to find alternative sources for COVID-19 inoculations on Tuesday (Mar 30) after export restrictions by manufacturer India left a World Health Organization-backed global vaccine sharing programme short of supplies.

HANOI: A court in Vietnam handed a two-year suspended jail term to a Vietnam Airlines flight attendant on Tuesday (Mar 30) after finding him guilty of breaking COVID-19 quarantine rules and spreading the virus to others, police said. After a one-da...