RUGAO: Gu Bin leans over a desk as he carefully adds strokes to the Chinese character for "fortune", before signing off in a flourish with his age - 104. But the spry great-grandfather is five years younger than the oldest member of the community in...

SINGAPORE: Nine contracts worth about RM1 billion (S$320 million) were recently awarded for systems works on the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link, said operator RTS Operations. RTS Operations - formed in 2020 as a joint venture...

BEIJING: Exquisitely garbed in a traditional cheongsam dress, 76-year-old Sang Xiuzhu is one of an unlikely vanguard of elderly influencers storming Chinese social media with videos of glamour in the golden years. Two years ago she joined the "Fashi...

This Hari Raya will be a quiet one for Iman Nurhannah Mohamed Fariq and her grandparents, who are apart from the rest of their family due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.

TOKYO: Japan is gearing up to offer COVID-19 vaccinations to around 2,500 Olympic and Paralympic athletes and support staff, using shots donated for the Games amid public anger over the slow pace of the country's vaccine rollout. With fewer than thr...

NEW DELHI: India's COVID-19 death toll surpassed 250,000 on Wednesday (May 12), official data showed, as the pandemic raged across the vast country of 1.3 billion people. According to the health ministry, 4,205 people died in the past 24 hours - a n...

TAIPEI: Taiwan may raise its COVID-19 alert level in the "coming days", Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said on Wednesday (May 12), warning of an extremely serious situation on the island which has so far controlled the pandemic well, sending the sto...

SEOUL: Samsung BioLogics on Wednesday (May 12) said a report it was in talks with Pfizer Inc to begin production of the US drugmaker's COVID-19 vaccine in South Korea as early as in August was "not factual". The Korea Economic Daily reported earlier...

It turns out that Chinese projects overseas are giving emerging economies what they want, says a researcher.

COVID-19 policy u-turns, knee-jerk reactions and incrementalism in finalising implementation details are fueling public fatigue and a loss of confidence that Malaysia can beat this pandemic, says ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute’s Serina Rahman.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not attend the G7 Summit in the UK in person, the Indian government said Tuesday, as the country reels from a massive wave of coronavirus cases.

Volunteer Ashish Kashyap carefully shovels the ashes of India's unclaimed COVID-19 dead from a large pile into sacks at Nigambodh ghat crematorium in Delhi, where the pyres have been burning round-the-clock because of a surge of deaths.

A prominent Thai democracy protest leader facing royal defamation charges was granted bail on Tuesday (May 11) amid deteriorating health following a hunger strike that lasted more than 50 days.

Pakistan's Prime Minister on Tuesday (May 11) ruled out talks with neighboring nuclear-rival India, saying they cannot happen until New Delhi restores the semi-autonomous status of the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir.

LUCKNOW: Scores of bodies are washing up on the banks of the Ganges as Indians fail to keep pace with the deaths and cremations of around 4,000 people a day from the novel coronavirus. India currently accounts for one in three of the reported deaths...

KUALA LUMPUR: The latest COVID-19 curbs in Malaysia are not as strict as the first lockdown as the government sees a need to balance health and livelihoods, said Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob on Tuesday (May 11).  In a joint press conference ...

Shares of Chinese online giant Meituan plummeted for a second straight day Tuesday amid a run of bad headlines that included the CEO posting an ancient poem viewed as a veiled criticism of China's government.

BANGKOK: A rights activist hit with almost a decade of lawsuits after raising concerns about labour conditions at a Thai pineapple company received a court decision Tuesday (May 11) clearing him in the final case against him. Andy Hall faced a seri...

Taiwan's government on Tuesday tightened rules on public gatherings after reporting six new domestic COVID-19 cases with no clear source of infection, a rare rise on the island which has kept the pandemic well under control.

NEW DELHI: India has recorded the world's sharpest spike in coronavirus infections this month, with political and financial capitals New Delhi and Mumbai running out of hospital beds, oxygen and medicines. Scientists are studying what led to the une...

HONG KONG: Hong Kong on Tuesday (May 11) scrapped a plan to make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for foreign domestic workers after the proposal sparked an outcry and a diplomatic tussle. But authorities ordered all foreign helpers to undergo another ro...

The Philippine economy shrank in the first three months of the year as coronavirus restrictions suppressed activity, but a top official said there were signs the country was "on the mend".

Japanese, US and French troops kicked off their first-ever joint military drill Tuesday in southwestern Japan, as concerns rise over China's growing assertiveness in the region.

At least seven people were killed and one reported missing after a landslide at an Indonesian gold mine, authorities said on Tuesday (May 11).

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's King Al-Sultan Abdullah on Tuesday (May 11) advised the public to stay home and avoid going out if they have no urgent matters to attend to during the movement control order (MCO). Doing so would indirectly help frontline ...

BENGALURU: India's COVID-19 crisis showed scant sign of easing on Tuesday (May 11), with a seven-day average of new cases at a record high and international heath authorities warning that a variant of the virus which emerged in the country poses a ...

BANGKOK: Three Myanmar journalists have been arrested in Thailand after fleeing across the border to escape a crackdown by the military junta, their employer has said. The trio were set to appear in court on Tuesday (May 11), their editor added, ur...

The Philippines has detected its first two cases of a coronavirus variant first identified in India, its health ministry said on Tuesday (May 11).

TAIPEI: Taiwan's largest carrier, China Airlines, said on Tuesday (May 11) that the quarantining of its pilots to stem a COVID-19 outbreak is expected to affect more than 10 per cent of its freighter capacity, potentially affecting the island's expor...

TOKYO: Eighteen people have died from the COVID-19 respiratory disease outside of hospitals in Japan's Osaka Prefecture, officials said, amid calls for tougher restrictions on movement to halt a fourth wave of infections ahead of the Olympics. All b...

BEIJING: China's population growth in the decade to 2020 slumped to the least in official records dating back to the 1950s, fuelling pressure on Beijing to ramp up incentives to couples to have more children and avert an irreversible decline. With g...

TAIPEI: More than a year after two amateur computer coders were taken by police from their Beijing homes, they are set to be tried on Tuesday (May 11) in a case that illustrates the Chinese government's growing online censorship and heightened sensit...

"When we ask children to recite the Koran, it is a bit difficult. But if there are clowns, they feel they go to the classroom with some purpose," shared Yahya Edward Hendrawan.

China on Monday (May 10) urged the United States, Germany and Britain to cancel an upcoming video conference on Beijing's crackdown on the Uyghur Muslim minority, and called on other UN members not to attend the event.

For the second year in a row, many Muslims in Malaysia are unable to “balik kampung” (return to hometown) and reunite with their loved ones.

SINGAPORE: In the early hours of Feb 1, just hours before the first sitting of a newly elected parliament in one of Southeast Asia's most strife-ridden countries, a decade-long experiment in democracy juddered to a halt. More than three months afte...

An Australian judge on Monday (May 10) rejected a challenge to a temporary COVID-19 ban on citizens returning from India.

The World Health Organziation said on Monday (May 10) that the B1617 variant first identified in India last year was being classified as a variant of global concern.

MUMBAI: A growing number of current and recovered COVID-19 patients in India are contracting a deadly and rare fungal infection, doctors told AFP on Monday (May 10) as the vast nation battles to contain a massive outbreak of virus cases. The world'...

YANGON: A judge on Monday (May 10) ordered Myanmar's deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi to appear in person in court for the first time on May 24, her lawyer said, after weeks of delays in her case. The Nobel laureate has not been publicly seen since s...

BANGKOK: Thailand reported on Monday (May 10) its first case of the B1617 variant of the coronavirus – a variant that was first detected in India.  The case is a pregnant Thai woman who travelled with her sons from Pakistan to Thailand last ...

KUALA LUMPUR: Travellers entering Malaysia from Singapore under the Periodic Commuting Arrangement (PCA) scheme must undergo a compulsory 14-day quarantine with effect from Thursday (May 13).  The tightened restrictions come as Malaysian authoritie...

KUALA LUMPUR: The whole of Malaysia will again be placed under a movement control order (MCO), said Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, amid a third wave of COVID-19 cases.  House visits and grave visits during the upcoming Hari Raya Aidilfitri celeb...

SHENZHEN, Guangdong: From her four-bedroom flat in an affluent Shenzhen neighbourhood, Sharpay Huang, 28-years-old and four months pregnant, is already weighing up how long to wait before having a second child. After graduating from a US college, st...

With so many countries relying on India for vaccines, India’s devastating second wave is threatening vaccination progress globally, says a lecturer.

BALI: A Canadian man has been expelled from Bali for offering an "orgasmic" yoga class after Indonesian authorities said he disrespected local traditions and values. Christopher Kyle Martin was deported from Indonesia on Sunday (May 9) after he prom...

Fake cheers, empty seats and the sound of pounding feet: Welcome to the Tokyo Olympics in the era of COVID-19, which Japan seems determined to hold at all costs.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and a former unit have filed 22 civil suits seeking to recover more than US$23 billion in assets from entities and people allegedly involved in defrauding them, the finance minist...

JAKARTA: Indonesian authorities have arrested Papuan independence leader Victor Yeimo over accusations that he orchestrated some of the most serious civil unrest in decades that broke out in 2019, police said on Monday (May 10). Tension has reignite...

TAIPEI: Taiwan will quarantine all pilots for its largest carrier China Airlines for 14 days as it tries to stop an outbreak of COVID-19 among its crew, effectively grounding the airline, the health minister said on Monday (May 10). While Taiwan has...

Myanmar's mixed martial arts star Aung La N Sang - known as the "Burmese Python" - has spoken out in support of a fellow fighter injured in a bomb blast in their coup-hit homeland.

YAN'AN, China: Tourists pose for photos on Chairman Mao's bed as the Chinese Communist Party – much-criticised overseas – marks its centenary year at home with a public relations push including office history outings, big-budget movies and car...

SYDNEY: Australia started administering COVID-19 vaccines to athletes around the country on Monday (May 10) to give them "comfort and certainty" for their final preparations for the Tokyo Olympics. Australia has been relatively slow to roll out vacc...

Leopard on the loose in eastern China after zoo escape

China will set up a "separation line" on the peak of Mount Everest to avoid possible Covid-19 infections by climbers from virus-hit Nepal, state media reported, after dozens were taken ill from the summit's base camp.

JAKARTA: Indonesia's consumer confidence index rose to 101.5 in April, from 93.4 a month earlier, indicating optimism returning for the first time in a year as worries over the coronavirus pandemic eased, a central bank survey showed on Monday (May 1...

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Monday (May 10) that he has never "put the Olympics first", on the same day an opinion poll showed that nearly 60 per cent of people in Japan want the Olympics cancelled less than three months b...

KUALA LUMPUR: Placing his bare hands into a swarm of thousands of bees, a Malaysian man uses his fingers to gently guide some of them into a rattan basket. Ooi Leng Chye is a member of a group that saves bees and their nests when they are discovere...

SEOUL: South Korea President Moon Jae-in said on Monday (May 10) that the government will further boost fiscal spending if needed to increase jobs, as the country deals with its worst unemployment rate in two decades.

BEIJING: China's market regulator said on Monday (May 10) it fined online education startups Yuanfudao and Zuoyebang 2.5 million yuan (US$388,754) each for misleading consumers. Alibaba-backed online tutor Zuoyebang was found to be using false adver...

Nearly 60 per cent of people in Japan want the Tokyo Olympics to be cancelled, an opinion poll showed on Monday (May 10), less than three months before the Games are due to begin.

The Taliban on Monday declared a three-day ceasefire in Afghanistan to mark this week's Eid al-Fitr holiday, just two days after the government blamed the insurgents for bombs outside a school that killed more than 50 people, mostly young girls.

It’s time to put to rest the myth that using coal, which Indonesia’s economy now relies on, can be a long-term resource for the country’s energy needs, says Greenpeace's Tata Mustasya.

World Athletics chief Sebastian Coe said Sunday he believes the coronavirus-postponed Tokyo Olympics can be "a beacon of hope and optimism", despite infections surging in Japan and other countries.

Maldives police say key suspect in Nasheed attack arrested

Myanmar's military rulers have approved new investment in projects worth nearly US$2.8 billion, including a liquefied natural gas (LNG) power plant that will cost US$2.5 billion, the country's investment body said. Approvals for 15 projects were giv...

JERUSALEM: Israel will sign a free trade agreement with South Korea this week, marking the first such arrangement with an Asian market, Israel's economy ministry said on Sunday (May 9). The deal is meant to bolster bilateral trade by cutting out cus...

MUMBAI: India is to recruit hundreds of former army medics to support its overwhelmed healthcare system, the defence ministry said on Sunday (May 9), as the country grapples with record COVID-19 infections and deaths amid angry calls for a complete n...

The death toll from bombs planted outside a girls' school in an area of the Afghan capital populated largely by Shiite Hazaras rose to 50 Sunday as the Taliban denied government accusations that they were behind the bloody attack.

BEIJING: Remnants of China's biggest rocket landed in the Indian Ocean on Sunday (May 9), with the bulk of its components destroyed upon re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, according to Chinese state media, ending days of speculation over where the...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will ban all interstate and inter-district movement without permission from the police starting from Monday (May 10). The nationwide ban will last four weeks until Jun 6. It covers all states regardless if they are under the ...

The May 2 election results were a resounding vote of confidence for state chairman Liew Chin Tong, say researchers.

Many modern militaries operate old platforms. The greater challenge is whether maintenance programmes have kept up, says defence analysts Mike Yeo.

KUALA LUMPUR: Emily Lim Phaik Siew seperti tidak sabar-sabar setiap kali berpeluang menghidupkan enjin dan menunggang Kawasaki Vulcan S 650, sebuah motosikal berkuasa tinggi miliknya yang dibeli Disember tahun lalu. “Menunggang motosikal membolehk...

KUALA LUMPUR: Emily Lim Phaik Siew looks forward to every chance she gets to throw a leg over her Kawasaki Vulcan S 650 - a heavyweight bike she acquired last December - and ignite the engine. “Travelling on a motorcycle allows you to get closer t...

DHAKA: Bangladesh has detected its first case of a highly infectious coronavirus variant first identified in India, the country's health directorate said on Saturday (May 8), weeks after it sealed its borders with its neighbour. Six cases of the Ind...

Myanmar's junta declared Saturday night that a group of ousted lawmakers running a shadow government would now be classified as "terrorists", as the military moves to tighten its grip over a country in turmoil.

SHANGHAI: China's Internet watchdog said on Saturday (May 8) that it will ban some mobile app notifications and tighten regulations as the government ramps up a campaign to rein in the growing influence of Internet companies over its citizens' daily ...

NEW YORK: China has urged United Nations member states not to attend an event planned next week by Germany, the United States and Britain on the repression of Uyghur Muslims and other minorities in Xinjiang, according to a note seen by Reuters on Fri...

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia reported 4,519 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours on Saturday (May 8), the second consecutive day that daily infections have crossed the 4,000 mark.  Selangor recorded the highest number of new cases with 1,722 infections, ...

MALE, Maldives: Maldives police have arrested two people over an assassination attempt on former president Mohamed Nasheed who has been taken off life support, officials and relatives said on Saturday (May 8). The Indian Ocean island has called in i...

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Saturday (May 8) began a nine-day shutdown affecting travel and tourist hotspots in a bid to prevent a surge in COVID-19 cases during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr. Already battling a third wave of infections and increasi...

BANGKOK: Thailand expects to offer the Moderna vaccine to most of its population as soon as it steps up the roll-out of its COVID-19 vaccination campaign, a health official said on Saturday (May 8). The latest drive comes amid growing public critici...

COTABATO, Philippines: Dozens of Muslim militants occupied a public market overnight in the southern Philippines before fleeing after a tense stand-off with government forces, officials said on Saturday (May 8). The Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighte...

Former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed remained in intensive care Saturday as security services stepped up the hunt for the attackers, who allegedly used a remote control bomb on the democracy pioneer and climate activist.

MORADABAD, India: People in India's most populous state Uttar Pradesh are fighting not just a raging pandemic but also a prickly Hindu nationalist local government that many say is in denial. The state authorities, headed by a monk touted by some a...

PORTO, Portugal: The European Union (EU) and India are expected to further bolster warming ties on Saturday (May 8) by relaunching long-stalled trade talks and agreeing to work together against the pandemic battering the South Asian giant. The deva...

CHENNAI: India on Saturday (May 8) reported its highest ever single-day COVID-19 death toll, as cases continued to rise and states imposed stricter lockdowns. India's health ministry reported 4,187 fatalities over the past 24 hours, taking the overa...

BEIJING: A large segment of a Chinese rocket is expected to make an uncontrolled re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere on the weekend, but Beijing has downplayed fears and said there is a very low risk of any damage. A Long March 5B rocket launched t...

The State Department also advised private Americans to reconsider any plans they may have to visit the Himalayan country and asked those already there who wish to leave to submit information to the embassy.

Defeat for the BJP in the West Bengal state elections is a sign voters’ perceptions of their Prime Minister is changing, says Coventry University lecturer Saba Hussain.

Poor reception to the news in Malaysia is because of the perceived double standards in enforcement, the haphazard implementation of the MCO and the worry the government is losing the COVID-19 battle, says James Chin.

The pandemic has crippled many eateries in JB. However, this orh luak stall, run by an elderly couple and their son, has tweaked its business strategy to survive amid tough times.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday attacked a US proposal to hold a "Summit for Democracy," saying such a gathering would only deepen fissures on the international stage.

BANGKOK: Guerrilla soldiers from Myanmar’s Karen ethnic minority burned down a government military outpost on Friday (May 7) after capturing it without a fight when its garrison fled, a senior Karen officer said. The position is about 15km from a ...

GENEVA: The World Health Organization announced on Friday (May 7) it had approved a COVID-19 vaccine from China's state-owned drugmaker Sinopharm for emergency use. The vaccine, one of two main Chinese shots that collectively have already been given...

Nepali climber Kami Rita Sherpa on Friday reached the summit of Mount Everest for the 25th time, breaking his own record for the most summits of the highest mountain in the world.

Hong Kong authorities said on Friday residents who have been fully vaccinated can spend a shorter time in quarantine if they have been exposed to a COVID-19 patient, after thousands of people were sent to tiny quarantine quarters for up to 21 days.

BANGKOK: Thailand plans to waive its mandatory quarantine for vaccinated visitors to its capital Bangkok and top tourist destinations from October, an official said on Friday (May 7), in a bid to revive a key industry battered by coronavirus travel c...

TOKYO: International Olympic Committee head Thomas Bach's visit to Japan is now expected to be cancelled given that the state of emergency has been extended in Tokyo and other areas, broadcaster NHK said on Friday (May 7) citing unnamed sources. Tok...