TOKYO: A COVID-19 state of emergency in Tokyo and other parts of Japan was extended on Friday (May 7), less than three months before the Olympics, with restrictions also imposed in two more regions as infections surge. The emergency measures, less s...

TOKYO: Unused COVID-19 vaccines in Japan are set to reach tens of millions of doses, as the country is poised to approve two more shots in coming weeks and the pace of its inoculation campaign remains slow due to manpower and logistical bottlenecks. ...

TOKYO: Japan Airlines posted an annual net loss of US$2.6 billion on Friday (May 7) but did not release a forecast for the current financial year, citing uncertainty around the COVID-19 pandemic. The carrier, Japan's second-largest by market share, ...

Former Malaysian leader Najib Razak, who has been convicted over the mammoth 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal, is in trouble with the law again - this time for breaking COVID-19 rules in a restaurant.

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for the release on Friday (May 7) of four Hong Kong activists who were jailed for taking part in a vigil for victims of Beijing's 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.

BANGKOK: Thailand’s popular resort island Phuket is pushing for a “special channel” that would allow it to procure COVID-19 vaccines through its local administration and the private sector, as a new wave of cases could delay its reopening plan...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani said that he would issue a directive to prevent police officers and personnel from conducting random checks on foreigners without valid reason. He said that this wa...

BENGALURU: India reported another record daily rise in COVID-19 cases on Friday (May 7), bringing the total number of new cases for the week to 1.57 million, as the country's vaccination rate falls dramatically due to transport problems and a lack ...

More than 30 sick climbers have been evacuated from the foot of Mount Everest, raising fears that COVID-19 may scupper a hoped-for bumper season on the world's highest mountain.

Former Maldives president and current parliamentary speaker Mohamed Nasheed was recovering in hospital on Friday (May 7) after an assassination attempt left him with shrapnel wounds.

China's exports growth unexpectedly accelerated in April as the brisk United States recovery and stalled factory production in other countries hit by COVID-19 propped up demand for goods made in the world's second-largest economy.

Japan's government is set to extend on Friday (May 7) a state of emergency in Tokyo and three other areas by about three weeks until the end of May to curb a surge in COVID-19 cases just months before the start of the Tokyo Olympics.

TOKYO: An online petition calling for the Tokyo Olympics to be cancelled has garnered almost 200,000 signatures in the past few days, as public concerns mount over holding the Games in a pandemic. With less than three months to go before the start ...

It was harrowing to be sick from a notoriously unpredictable virus knowing that drugs, hospital beds and oxygen were scarce, says the Financial Times’ New Delhi correspondent Amy Kazmin.

The US military has deployed more heavy bombers and fighter jets to protect withdrawing American and coalition troops from Afghanistan, which have so far sustained no direct attacks, the Pentagon said Thursday.

HONG KONG: A 15-year-old was among five people arrested in Hong Kong under a sweeping national security law, police said on Thursday (May 6), with local press reporting social media posts sparked their detention. Officers from a specialist team in ...

A Thai court on Thursday granted bail to a prominent pro-democracy protest leader who has reportedly been on hunger strike for over a month.

BANGKOK: A flash mob of mostly young people in Myanmar’s biggest city staged a brief protest march on Thursday (May 6) against military rule, the latest in a series of actions aimed at reducing the chances of a deadly response by the authorities. ...

NEW DELHI: India's badminton team has been forced to withdraw from the Malaysian Open due to a travel ban, potentially impacting the players' hopes of qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics. The Sports Authority of India (SAI) said on Thursday (May 6) th...

MANILA: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered police to arrest anyone not wearing a mask properly, including below the nose, as the country battles to contain surging COVID-19 infections. Duterte issued the directive after a meeting with ...

TOKYO: A remote Japanese fishing town has sparked debate after spending coronavirus relief funds on a giant squid statue that cost nearly US$250,000 in a controversial bid to boost post-pandemic tourism. The huge pink monument with its tentacles out...

MUMBAI: About 230 million Indians fell into poverty due to the COVID-19 pandemic last year with young people and women the hardest hit, and the current second wave threatens to make matters even worse, a new study has said. India's stringent months...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will repatriate its citizens from the northern and western regions of India amid a surge in COVID-19 cases and fatalities in India. Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein on Thursday (May 6) said the repatriation mission will u...

BENGALURU: When an Indian children's rights group tracked down two boys aged 6 and 8 after it was told that their parents were both severely ill with COVID-19 and unable to care for them, the children had not eaten for days. The case, reported by t...

JAKARTA: Three Chinese vessels, one with a manned submersible capable of descending to 10,000m, have arrived in Indonesian waters to help retrieve a submarine that sank and broke apart last month, killing 53 people on board, an official said on Thurs...

MEDAN: The death toll from a landslide at a hydroelectric dam project on Indonesia's Sumatra island has risen to 10, an official said Thursday (May 6), as authorities called off a week-long search for victims. A landslide triggered by heavy rains st...

KUALA LUMPUR: Othlan Jalil, 34 was getting the charcoal fire up to roast his first batch of syrup-glazed chicken wings. There were two more days to go before he would shut for Hari Raya this year. “I had hoped that we could last all the way un...

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka on Thursday (May 6) became the latest of India's neighbours to seal its borders with the South Asian giant as it battles a record COVID-19 surge. Bangladesh and Nepal have also banned flights and sought to close their borders with...

India's cricket chief Sourav Ganguly has defended the attempt to hold the Indian Premier League (IPL) during the country's COVID-19 emergency, insisting it was not a mistake.

BEIJING: The resumption of student visa applications at United States missions in China got off to an acrimonious start this week when netizens took exception to an American embassy social media post they interpreted as likening Chinese students to ...

NEW DELHI: India saw record new jumps in COVID-19 cases and deaths on Thursday (May 6), dashing tentative hopes that the catastrophic recent surge was easing. Health ministry numbers showed 3,980 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking the national tot...

The seven members of the Blitzers have trained hard for three years – enduring gym sessions, singing lessons and up to 10 hours of dance practice at a time – for their shot at stardom.

BEIJING: China's state economic planner said on Thursday (May 6) that it has "indefinitely" suspended all activities under the China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue, the latest setback for their strained relations. "Recently, some Australian C...

HONG KONG: Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong will face another 10 months in jail for participating in an unauthorised assembly on Jun 4, 2020, to commemorate the 1989 crackdown on protesters in and around Beijing's Tiananmen Square. It was the first ...

Australia's competition regulator on Thursday (May 6) said that it would block a pricing, code-sharing and scheduling deal between Qantas and Japan Airlines because it would likely mean higher fares for passengers.

The Pentagon said on Wednesday (May 5) that it is following the trajectory of a Chinese rocket expected to make an uncontrolled entry into the atmosphere this weekend, with the risk of crashing down in an inhabited area.

NEW YORK: More than 200 global organisations urged the UN Security Council on Wednesday (May 5) to impose an arms embargo on Myanmar, saying the time for statements has passed and immediate action is needed to help protect peaceful protesters agains...

About one in four women in the world’s most populous country are said to have endured domestic abuse. The programme Undercover Asia speaks to victims, experts and an ex-abuser about the deep-seated problem.

What the glittering top line economic growth figures out of China do not show is the millions of Chinese still living in poverty and this is an important driver of China’s political strategy, says an economics professor.

The hardships of the pandemic seem to have triggered a surge in some forms of labour organising, says an economist.

 US President Joe Biden is expected to announce his strategy toward China soon, and calls are growing for him to make a clear public commitment to defend Taiwan militarily in the event of Chinese aggression.

Myanmar’s security forces moved in and the street lamps went black. In house after house, people shut off their lights. Darkness swallowed the block.

Rescue workers dressed in protection gear hoist a gleaming coffin to a temple's crematorium - a fast-tracked process that is a departure from Thailand's tradition of days-long funerals as the kingdom grapples with a COVID-19 outbreak.

HANOI: Vietnam has extended the quarantine period for anyone arriving in the country to three weeks, authorities said Wednesday (May 5), following a fresh community COVID-19 outbreak. The nation has so far kept case numbers low - recording just over...

Going door-to-door in a Manila suburb, Philippines health workers administered COVID-19 vaccinations on Wednesday to those unable to visit clinics due to illness or old age as part of efforts to protect more vulnerable groups in the area.

GENEVA: WHO experts have voiced "very low confidence" in data provided by Chinese state-owned drugmaker Sinopharm on its COVID-19 vaccine regarding the risk of serious side-effects in some patients, but overall confidence in its ability to prevent th...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said on Wednesday (May 5) that Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru are among the places under a movement control order (MCO) from May 7 to May 20, as the government retightened restrictions ami...

Thai court says key official can stay despite drug case

JAKARTA: Indonesia's economy shrank for the fourth consecutive quarter in January-March, data showed Wednesday (May 5), as the country's leaders struggle to overcome a recession wrought by the coronavirus pandemic. The 0.74 per cent on-year contract...

GENEVA: Nepal is being overwhelmed by a COVID-19 surge as India's outbreak spreads across South Asia, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said on Wednesday (May 5). "We need to act now and we need to act fast to have...

JAKARTA: Train stations and airports in Jakarta were packed with travellers making a last-ditch effort to leave the capital city, with the government set to impose another ban on Thursday (May 6) on the annual exodus to other provinces marking ...

LONDON: The United States, South Korea and Japan pledged Wednesday to cooperate on North Korea as their top diplomats met in London, coming together despite renewed tensions between the Asian nations. Joined by aides, US Secretary of State Antony B...

LONDON: The Group of Seven meeting in London was hit by a COVID-19 scare on Wednesday when India's foreign minister and his entire team said they were self-isolating after two delegation members tested positive. Britain is hosting the three-day fore...

Cricket authorities in Australia and New Zealand rushed to evacuate star players from Covid-hit India on Wednesday, after the lucrative Indian Premier League was abandoned.

GENEVA: India accounted for 46 per cent of the new COVID-19 cases recorded worldwide last week and one in four deaths, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday (May 5). The surge of the coronavirus in India, including of a highly infec...

PETALING JAYA: Veterans of the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) have announced their plan to form a new political party and contest in the country’s next general election. MAF Veterans Association president Sharuddin Omar said the veterans were in the...

WELLINGTON: New Zealand's parliament unanimously declared on Wednesday (May 5) that severe human rights abuses were taking place against Uyghur people in China's Xinjiang region, spurring the Chinese embassy to decry the move as interference in inter...

SEOUL: One dose of COVID-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca and Pfizer was 86.6 per cent effective in preventing infections among people aged 60 and older, real world data released by South Korea showed on Wednesday (May 5). Data by the Korea Disease Cont...

NEW DELHI: India on Wednesday (May 5) pledged billions of dollars to boost its flagging vaccine programme as the country's new COVID-19 cases rose by 382,315, the 14th straight day of more than 300,000 cases. With vaccines among the main weapons in...

YANGON: Five people killed in an explosion in Myanmar this week, including an ousted lawmaker, had been building a bomb, media controlled by the military junta said on Wednesday (May 5). Since the military seized power and ousted an elected governme...

SINGAPORE: Singapore is monitoring the COVID-19 situation closely, the Ministry of Transport (MOT) said on Wednesday (May 5), as community cases in Singapore spike ahead of the launch of a travel bubble with Hong Kong. "The vast majority of the com...

TAITUNG COUNTY: Before heading into Taiwan's mountains with his homemade rifle, indigenous hunter Tama Talum often chants prayers and makes offerings of rice wine and betel nut to the spirits. Talum, 62, was one of the hundreds from his Bunun tribe...

WASHINGTON: The United States policy coordinator for the Indo-Pacific on Tuesday (May 4) appeared to reject calls for the US to make a clear statement of its willingness to defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack, saying there were "significa...

The ban on travellers from India by Australia had added "anxiety" for its cricketers after the Indian Premier League's (IPL) suspension, Australia vice captain Pat Cummins said, as players isolated in the coronavirus-ravaged nation on Wednesday (May ...

The world's oldest person, a 118-year-old Japanese woman, has decided not to take part in the torch relay for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics over COVID-19 fears, an official at her nursing home said on Wednesday (May 5).

TAIPEI: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is planning to build several more chipmaking factories in the US state of Arizona beyond the one currently planned, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters. TSMC, the world's larg...

The Japanese government is considering an extension of the state of emergency for Tokyo and other major urban areas that was scheduled to end on May 11, the Yomiuri Newspaper said on Wednesday.

KUALA LUMPUR: The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has seized a shipment of 3.97 million nitrile disposable gloves from Malaysia's Top Glove estimated to be worth US$518,000, on indications they were made by forced labour, it said on Wednesda...

US intelligence agencies are warning that any gains in women's rights in Afghanistan made in the last two decades will be at risk after US troops withdraw later this year.

The European Commission said on Tuesday (May 4) that efforts to win approval for the EU's massive investment deal with China were effectively "suspended" given the soured diplomatic relations between both sides after tit-for-tat sanctions.

YANGON: Myanmar's junta-controlled media announced a ban on satellite television receivers on Tuesday (May 4), saying outside broadcasts threatened national security and threatening to jail anyone caught violating the measure. With mobile Internet a...

NEW DELHI: Britain and India on Tuesday (May 4) signed an accord on migration and mobility, an Indian foreign ministry official said, as they look to deepen economic, cultural and other ties following the UK's departure from the European Union. The ...

NEW DELHI: Eight Asiatic lions at an Indian zoo have contracted the coronavirus, the government said on Tuesday (May 4), adding that there was no evidence that animals could transmit the disease to humans. Zoo authorities in the southern state of Hy...

Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut's Twitter account was "permanently suspended" Tuesday for violating policies on hateful conduct and abusive behaviour, the social media giant said.

PHNOM PENH: Cambodia on Tuesday (May 4) ordered journalists to stop reporting from blockaded COVID-19 "red zones" and from chasing ambulances as the country battles against a record surge in infections. The country has seen COVID-19 cases surge sin...

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian government has announced that morning Aidilfitri prayers and Hari Raya visiting will be allowed with restrictions and health protocols in place.  Speaking during a press conference on Tuesday (May 4), Senior Minister ...

Thousands of Shiite Muslim devotees ?- many not wearing masks -- gathered in Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore for a religious procession on Tuesday, fanning fears about the spread of the coronavirus after similar crowds were blamed in neighbouring I...

Britain and India will begin formal free trade deal talks later this year, the UK government said Tuesday, after they agreed an initial package to boost bilateral trade and investment.

BEIJING: China urged the Philippines on Tuesday (May 4) to observe "basic etiquette" and eschew megaphone diplomacy after the Southeast Asian nation's foreign minister used an expletive-laced Twitter message to demand that China's vessels leave disp...

The fact that so many require medical care in India’s second COVID-19 wave is a symptom of longstanding structural deficiencies, says a doctor.

SEOUL: The chairman of one of South Korea’s biggest dairy companies has resigned over a scandal in which his company was accused of deliberately spreading misinformation that its yogurt helps prevent coronavirus infections. While stepping down as ...

Chinese navy ships have arrived off Bali to help haul up a submarine that sank last month killing 53 crew, the Indonesian Navy said Tuesday as it geared up for a deep-sea salvage operation.

NEW DELHI: The Indian Premier League (IPL), the world's richest Twenty20 cricket tournament, was suspended on Tuesday (May 4) and its players sent home as India battles a massive surge in coronavirus cases. The move, which follows growing controver...

Sipping bubble tea and dressed in their holiday finest, millions of Chinese travellers flocked to domestic tourist attractions over the Labour Day long holiday with COVID-19 fears already a distant memory.

The remainder of the coronavirus-hit Indian Premier League (IPL) could be played in Mumbai following bubble breaches in Delhi and Ahmedabad, local media reports said on Tuesday (May 4).

The Myanmar junta has charged a Japanese journalist under a "fake news" law, a report said on Tuesday (May 4), in the latest blow to press freedom since the military seized power.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Tuesday (May 4) that the government was working on "fake news" legislation to tackle "misinformation, hatred and lies", as worries grow over media freedoms in the global financial hub. Under Beijing's d...

NEW DELHI: India's COVID-19 caseload topped 20 million on Tuesday (May 4) as the relentless surge finally forced the suspension of the nation's lucrative cricket competition involving some of the sport's biggest global stars. The South Asian nation...

YANGON: Blasts from at least one parcel bomb in Myanmar have killed five people, including an ousted lawmaker and three police officers who had joined a civil disobedience movement opposing military rule, local media reported on Tuesday (May 3). Si...

SEOUL: A South Korean publisher's defiant move to release the memoirs of the North's founder Kim Il Sung has triggered a heated debate over Seoul's decades-old ban on Pyongyang's propaganda under national security laws. Critics of the measure say So...

MUMBAI: Her exam revision done, schoolgirl Swadha Prasad gets on with her real work: Finding life-saving oxygen, drugs and hospital beds for COVID-19 patients as India reels from a brutal second wave of infections. As their government struggles to t...

Australia's prime minister fended off accusations of racism and having blood on his hands on Tuesday (May 4), as he retreated from a threat to jail Australians trying to escape COVID-19-wracked India.

Rolling out of vaccines to developing countries, Beijing has framed itself as a solution to the pandemic rather than the origin of the coronavirus, says an international studies professor.

Several factors point to a growth story that could make Southeast Asian Tech the darling of Wall Street, says INSEAD Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise, Jason Davis.

JAKARTA: Despite obvious signs that a powerful cyclone was brewing, life carried on as usual in the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara last month.  Aside from grounding ships and airplanes from travelling in the rough weather, hardly any pr...

Pfizer said on Monday (May 3) it told the Indian government that there was no concern over the safety of its COVID-19 vaccine, as the country insists on small local trials for foreign shots despite a record surge in infections and shortage of doses...

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday (May 3) asked North Korea to embrace diplomacy as he briefed allies on a new US strategy that stresses low-key progress rather than Donald Trump's pageantry.

Former Australian cricketer Michael Slater slammed his government on Monday for threatening to jail anyone who breaks its India travel ban, telling the prime minister he had "blood on your hands".

PHNOM PENH: Prime Minister Hun Sen has ordered an end to a blanket lockdown in Phnom Penh, even as Cambodia reported a record 841 new coronavirus cases on Monday (May 3).  The Southeast Asian nation has recorded one of the world's smallest COVID-...

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte received his first dose of Sinopharm's vaccine against COVID-19 on Monday to encourage reluctant Filipinos to get inoculated and help stop the spread of the virus, his closest aide said.