YANGON: The underground government set up by opponents of Myanmar's military junta said its first batch of recruits have finished training for a new defence force, releasing video of them parading in uniform. The National Unity Government had annou...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia reported 9,020 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday (May 29), its highest daily toll since the start of the pandemic. This is the fifth straight day of record new infections, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 558...

Chinese fans of the popular sitcom Friends were furious after censors cut guest stars Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and Korean boy band BTS from the much-awaited reunion episode.

HANOI: Vietnam health minister Nguyen Thanh Long said on Saturday (May 29) the country has detected a new variant of the coronavirus, a mix of the COVID-19 variants from India and the United Kingdom that spreads quickly by air, online newspaper VnEx...

MANILA: The Philippines has protested China's continuing "illegal presence and activities" near an island in the South China Sea held by the Southeast Asian nation, the foreign ministry said on Saturday (May 29). Manila lodged the diplomatic protest...

BANGKOK: A coronavirus surge sweeping through Thailand's prisons has thrown the spotlight on the kingdom's overcrowded penal system, where some inmates have less space to sleep than the inside of a coffin. More than 22,000 people have tested positi...

KATHMANDU: Mount Everest guide Buddhi Bahadur Lama has spent days isolated in a tent after testing positive for coronavirus, as an outbreak that climbers say is putting lives at risk sweeps base camp. He is one of four in his expedition team thought...

NEW YORK: Nine Southeast Asian nations have proposed watering down a United Nations General Assembly draft resolution on Myanmar, including removing a call for an arms embargo on the country, in a bid to win the unanimous support of the 193-member bo...

As the Philippines’ presidential elections loom next year, it is timely to assess if Rodrigo Duterte has taken the hard decisions he promised he would, says Michael Beltran.

BANGKOK: When Dr Deo Florence Onda found himself more than 10,000m below the surface, in the third deepest trench on the planet, he was on the lookout for mysteries hidden in the darkness. The Emden Deep, part of the Philippine Trench, is one of E...

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday (May 28) the United States and India are united in trying to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic together and Washington wants to make sure it takes action to help India with its coronavirus c...

The US customs agency announced Friday it would block imports of products from China's Dalian Ocean Fishing Co for alleged use of forced labor and abuse of workers on its tuna vessels.

More than 96,000 hectares (237,221 acres) of agricultural land has been inundated in parts of an eastern Indian state hit by a powerful storm this week, officials said on Friday, a year after the coastal region was ravaged by a super cyclone.

During his reign as heavyweight champion of the world, no one was more feared than Mike Tyson, who obliterated opponents with ruthless efficiency.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will close all economic and social sectors by implementing a "total lockdown” throughout the country. The first phase of the lockdown will last from Jun 1 to Jun 14. This move was announced in a media statement posted on ...

The maiden voyage of a new British aircraft carrier will seek to show allies that post-Brexit Britain is ready to defend Western interests and eager to see China respect international rules, the vessel's commander said.

Two ancient sandstone artefacts believed to have been stolen from Thailand during the Vietnam War are set to return from the United States Friday night, officials say.

CHIBA, Japan: Japan thrashed Myanmar 10-0 on Friday (May 28) to cruise into the third round of Asian World Cup qualifier, after protesters had raised anti-junta three-fingered salutes on and off the pitch. About 70 protesters gathered before kick-o...

Hong Kongers reluctant to get the coronavirus jab have been given a million-dollar reason to roll up their sleeves after property tycoons donated a brand new flat to a vaccine lottery.

The Philippines has suspended the deployment of workers to Saudi Arabia after it received reports that their employers and recruiters were making them pay for COVID-19 testing, quarantine and insurance upon arrival in the kingdom.

BEIJING: The foreign ministers of Ireland, Poland, Hungary and Serbia will visit China from Saturday (May 29), the Chinese foreign ministry said, in a sign of a push to strengthen ties with Europe after an investment treaty was frozen. The European ...

Indian authorities Friday announced a "very very slow" easing of the lockdown in the capital New Delhi as coronavirus infections fall in major cities after weeks of lockdown.

A royal academy chaired by Princess Chulabhorn, the youngest sibling of Thailand's king, on Friday said it would import 1 million doses of Sinopharm's COVID-19 vaccine next month, after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorised its use.

Taiwan aims to cover 60per cent of its population with at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine by October, the health minister said on Friday, adding that the island's infection rate was not good, despite its pandemic curbs.

BRUSSELS: Belgium on Friday (May 28) said that it will recall its ambassador to South Korea after the envoy's wife was accused of assaulting two boutique employees in an incident that went viral. Belgian Foreign Minister Sophie Wilmes ordered Ambas...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia on Friday (May 28) reported its fourth straight day of record new COVID-19 cases with 8,290 infections. This is the first time Malaysia’s daily COVID-19 caseload has breached the 8,000 mark. It also comes after several con...

KUALA LUMPUR: The Kelana Jaya Light Rail Transit (LRT) line has returned to full service following the conclusion of repair works on the tracks damaged by a head-on collision on Monday (May 24), Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong said. "I wish to anno...

YANGON: A Myanmar military tribunal has sentenced 28 people to 20 years in jail with hard labour for arson attacks on two factories, state media reported, after a string of mainly Chinese-financed factories were torched during unrest in Yangon in Ma...

China will establish up to 18 "key cities" dedicated to football by 2025, its top sports body said, as it outlined plans to be among Asia's best by the end of the decade.

Tonnes of charred plastic pellets from a burning container ship washed ashore near Sri Lanka's commercial capital on Friday (May 28) as an international effort to salvage the vessel dragged into a ninth day.

BENGALURU: India reported on Friday (May 28) 186,364 new COIVD-19 infections during the previous 24 hours, for its lowest daily rise since Apr 14, while deaths rose by 3,660. READ: India scraps local trials for COVID-19 shots to fast-track import...

HANOI: European business leaders in Vietnam are urging the government to allow private companies to procure COVID-19 vaccines and inoculate their own staff, as the country battles its biggest outbreak since the start of the pandemic. "This would red...

Canada is investigating allegations of forced labour in Malaysia's palm oil and glove manufacturing industries, the government said on Friday.

BEIJING: ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming, the brains behind TikTok, said he preferred "daydreaming" as he stepped down as head of his own firm last week. But his departure comes as several of China's once-lauded tech entrepreneurs step aside under inc...

YANGON: Aye Mar sits with her seven children in their Yangon kitchen and worries whether their meal of rice and stringy vegetables - all she can afford in coup-stricken Myanmar - will satisfy their hunger. The national economy and banking system hav...

TOKYO: Japan said on Friday (May 28) it would consider sharing COVID-19 vaccines with other countries as a ruling party panel urged that part of its stock of AstraZeneca doses be provided to Taiwan, which hailed the move and urged a swift decision. ...

HONG KONG: Hong Kong's legislature approved the biggest overhaul of its political system in the quarter century since British rule on Thursday (May 27), in a decisive step to assert Beijing's authority over the autonomous city. The move was quickly ...

Malaysian volunteers, who help to give COVID-19 victims a Muslim burial, say they are being stretched like never before, as the country struggles to cope with its worst coronavirus outbreak since the start of the pandemic.

HONG KONG: Jailed Hong Kong media tycoon and Beijing critic Jimmy Lai was given a new prison sentence of 14 months on Friday (May 28) over his role in an unauthorised assembly on Oct 1, 2019, during one of the city's pro-democracy rallies that year. ...

The United States called on Thursday (May 27) for the World Health Organisation to carry out a second phase of its investigation into the origins of the coronavirus, with independent experts given full access to original data and samples in China...

KATHMANDU: Hong Kong mountaineer Tsang Yin-hung has recorded the world's fastest ascent of Everest by a woman with a time of just under 26 hours, a Nepal official said on Thursday (May 27). Tsang, 44, scaled the 8,848.86-m mountain in a record time ...

COLOMBO: An international firefighting effort to put out a huge blaze on a container ship off Sri Lanka's coast will likely take days, the country's navy chief said on Thursday (May 27), amid mounting fears of a major oil leak. Nine Sri Lankan ships...

HONG KONG: Hong Kong police cited COVID-19 restrictions to ban for a second year running an annual vigil to commemorate the protests in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989. Despite the ban, organisers expect a large turnout of people to mark the Jun ...

JAKARTA: An Indonesian court sentenced on Thursday (May 27) hardline Muslim cleric Rizieq Shihab to eight months in prison and fined him 20 million rupiah (US$1,400) for breaching coronavirus curbs after his return last year from self-imposed exile. ...

NEW DELHI: Twitter on Thursday (May 27) said it is worried about the safety of its staff in India and called for the government to respect freedom of expression, days after Indian police visited its office in New Delhi over its labeling of a tweet by...

The Indian government's battle with social media giants escalated Thursday with Twitter accusing the police of "intimidation" and slamming new IT rules that have also alarmed its peers and privacy campaigners.

JOHOR BAHRU: The Johor state government is planning to launch another economic stimulus package to help residents cope with the financial impact of COVID-19, Chief Minister Hasni Mohammad said on Thursday (May 27).  Mr Hasni made the announcement ...

Five members of an Indonesian family drowned when a dock where they were taking a selfie collapsed, police said Thursday, just weeks after a similar fatal accident.

MATHURA, India: Suman Lata's family begged her to refuse a summons to monitor elections in Uttar Pradesh state last month but, worried about losing her job, the 49-year-old mother of three went anyway, just as India's second coronavirus wave hit a pe...

Germany's BioNTech asked Taiwan to remove the word "country" from an announcement they planned to make on a COVID-19 vaccine sale to the island, its health minister said on Thursday, giving details of the deal whose axing was blamed on China by Taipe...

TOKYO: The head of a Japanese doctors' union warned on Thursday (May 25) that holding the Olympic Games in Tokyo this summer, with tens of thousands of people from around the world, could lead to the emergence of an "Olympic" strain of the coronaviru...

NEW DELHI: India on Thursday (May 27) scrapped local trials for "well-established" foreign COVID-19 vaccines to fast-track imports as it battles a devastating second wave of the pandemic that has killed tens of thousands of people. India recorded i...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian celebrity Siti Nurhaliza Tarudin and her husband, Khalid Mohamad Jiwa, were each given a fine of RM10,000 (US$2,400) for breaching COVID-19 Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) during a religious ceremony known as ‘tahnik�...

At least 60 marathons and cross-country races have been cancelled or postponed in China after 21 runners died when extreme weather hit an ultramarathon last weekend, state media said Thursday.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia on Thursday (May 27) reported a record number of new COVID-19 cases for the third straight day, with 7,857 infections. The Klang Valley area accounted for about 40 per cent of the new cases, with 2,675 cases in Selangor and 5...

BANGKOK: The Thai king's sister has approved COVID-19 vaccine imports by an institution she sponsors, bypassing the government as it deals with surging infections and growing public anger over a slow and chaotic roll-out. The secretary-general of th...

Thousands of people were homeless Thursday after the latest cyclone to hit Covid-ravaged India left a trail of destruction, although timely evacuations meant the death toll was limited to single figures.

COLOMBO: Three Indian vessels on Thursday (May 27) joined the battle to contain a major fire on a container ship off the Sri Lanka coast amid fears that it could break up and spew out hundreds of tonnes of oil. The X-Press Pearl has been blazing out...

BHUBANESHWAR: Hundreds of thousands of villagers along the low-lying coast of eastern India and Bangladesh were marooned by floodwaters on Thursday (May 27) in the aftermath of a powerful cyclone that has killed at least five people, officials in bot...

TOKYO: A goalkeeper boycotting Myanmar's World Cup qualifiers has urged his teammates to "stand with the people" and raise the anti-junta three-finger salute in protest at the country's military coup. Kyaw Zin Htet, who opted out of the games in Jap...

TAIPEI: Facing Taiwan’s largest outbreak of the pandemic and looking for rapid virus test kits, the mayor of the island’s capital did what anyone might do: He Googled it. “If you don’t know, and you try to know something, please check Google...

BEIJING: Two COVID-19 vaccines from China's Sinopharm showed more than 70 per cent efficacy against symptomatic cases, but it remains unclear how much protection they provide against severe or asymptomatic cases, according to the first detailed resul...

JASIN, Malaysia: Filipina weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz grunts with the effort of hoisting a barbell over her head in an outdoor makeshift gym ringed by banana and rambutan trees as trucks thunder past - an unlikely training base for a shot at Olympic g...

Countries reliant on tourism are racing to reopen borders and revive economies decimated by the pandemic. The World Travel and Tourism Council estimates that the sector lost nearly US$4.5 trillion and 62 million jobs last year. Airlines alone lost U...

JOHOR BAHRU: Johor ruler Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar has called for the Malaysian government to consider "a full lockdown" if the number of COVID-19 cases in the country continue to rise.  Sultan Ibrahim released the statement on Wednesday (May 26) ...

Wu En-tzu has delivered more than 2,000 babies working as an obstetrician but she has no desire to have children of her own -- an increasingly common position taken by Taiwanese families.

KUALA LUMPUR: The two trains involved in an underground collision along the Kelana Jaya Light Rail Transit (LRT) have been successfully retrieved, said Malaysian Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong in a Facebook post on Thursday (May 27). The minister...

SHANGHAI: China reported 19 new COVID-19 cases for May 26, up from 13 cases a day earlier, the country's national health authority said on Thursday (May 27). Two of the new cases were local infections in the southern province of Guangdong, the Natio...

Pramila Devi's shrouded body lay on a bier, resting on a rock on the banks of a muddy Ganges.

Over 20,000 Indonesian firms are vaccinating their workers but this isn't going to help the country reach herd immunity, says ISEAS-Yusof Ishak’s Visiting Fellow A'an Suryana.

BEIJING: A Beijing court will hear an espionage case on Thursday (May 27) against Australian blogger Yang Hengjun, detained by Chinese authorities two years ago as he arrived from New York, against a backdrop of worsening ties between the two nations...

The Philippines will allow the Pfizer and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use in children aged 12-15, the head of its Food and Drugs Administration said, widening the number of people in the country that will be protected against the virus.

KUALA LUMPUR: Tajuddin Abdul Rahman, the chairman of rail operator Prasanara, had his service terminated "with immediate effect", said Malaysia's Ministry of Finance on Wednesday (May 26).  This comes after his conduct during a press conference ...

Prince Harry and Oprah Winfrey are to revisit their documentary about mental health with a follow-up, Apple TV+ said on Wednesday, adding that the series had brought a 25per cent increase in new viewers to the streaming platform.

Pakistan on Wednesday opened up its coronarvirus vaccination campaign to everyone aged 19 or older as it scrambles to protect more of its 220 million people.

SHANGHAI: Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp reported first-quarter revenue growth of 55per cent on Wednesday (May 26), above analyst expectations, as it nabbed market share from one-time market leader Huawei Technologies. Revenue rose to 76.88 bi...

AstraZeneca Plc and Nipro Corp signed an agreement to supply the British-Swedish company's COVID-19 vaccine in Japan, Nipro said on Wednesday.

BEIJING: China's tech hub of Shenzhen aims to make it harder for people from out-of-town to settle in a rare tightening of residency rules, as its population balloons and resources and services come under pressure. While the southern boomtown is far...

SEOUL: South Korea on Wednesday (May 26) said masks will no longer be required outdoors from July for those vaccinated with at least one COVID-19 shot. The move is a bid to encourage older residents to get vaccinated as South Korea aims to immunise ...

BEIJING: Family members of 21 runners who died when freezing rain and strong winds interrupted a weekend mountain race in northwestern China have rejected offers of compensation and want to know how the tragedy could happen, local media reported on W...

Limb-lengthening surgery for cosmetic reasons is in demand in India, but it does not always end well, the programme Undercover Asia finds out.

BANGKOK: Some inmates in Thailand could soon get a provisional release as the government plans to reduce overcrowding in prisons in its fight against COVID-19. A new wave of outbreak is sweeping through detention facilities nationwide. More than 10...

Israel-Palestinian issues have long featured in Jakarta’s worldview. But today the issue has been coopted into a domestic battleground about identity politics, says a political analyst.

With new lockdowns and closure of international borders, wildlife has been an increasingly common sight in Malaysia’s urban areas, says Siew Lyn Wong.

DIGHA, India: Heavy rains and howling winds lashed eastern India on Wednesday (May 26) as the COVID-19 stricken country's second cyclone in as many weeks battered the coast, forcing more than 1.2 million people to seek shelter. Weather officials sai...

KUALA LUMPUR: Two passengers who were injured in the collision between two LRT trains on Monday (May 24) evening have undergone brain surgery, with a third needing cerebral resuscitation treatment, said Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) director Heric ...

Vietnam widened lockdown measures in its industrialised north on Tuesday to combat its biggest COVID-19 outbreak so far, as authorities reported a daily record in new cases that was more than double the previous high.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia on Tuesday (May 25) reported a record 7,289 new COVID-19 cases, the highest number of new daily infections in the country since the start of the pandemic. This is also the first time the number of new cases has breached the 7,...

Four people have been arrested in Indonesia for allegedly stealing Covid-19 vaccines marked for prisoners and selling them to the public, authorities said Tuesday.

BANGKOK: Vaccine hesitancy has risen sharply in Thailand opinion polls show, just weeks away from the start of a mass inoculation programme and as the country fights its deadliest COVID-19 outbreak. Reasons for the rise in vaccine hesitancy were unc...

TAIPEI: Millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses are on their way to Taiwan, the health minister said on Tuesday (May 25), as he extended virus-related restrictions until the middle of June even though the trend in new infections is falling. Having spent ...

Pfizer is in talks with the Indian government over supplies of its COVID-19 vaccine, the U.S. drugmaker said on Tuesday, as New Delhi scrambles to bridge shortfalls, having pledged to fast-track approvals for overseas vaccines.

KUALA LUMPUR: Preliminary investigations into the head-on collision between two LRT trains has indicated that driver negligence was the cause of the accident, said Malaysian Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong on Tuesday (May 25).  The collision, ...

HONG KONG: Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam on Tuesday (May 25) defended Hong Kong as an attractive place for businesses, after a recent survey found foreigners were considering leaving the longtime Asian business hub. Hong Kong has long been seen as on...

SHANGHAI: A shepherd has been hailed as a hero in China after it emerged that he saved six stricken runners during an ultramarathon in which 21 other competitors died. Zhu Keming was trending on the Twitter-like Weibo on Tuesday (May 25), three days...

SINGAPORE: There are currently no reports of Singaporeans injured in an accident involving two LRT trains in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said on Tuesday (May 25). More than 210 people were injured, with dozens seriou...

Hong Kong may soon have to throw away millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses because they are approaching their expiry date and not enough people have signed up for the jabs, an official warned on Tuesday (May 25).

64 people are currently hospitalised, with 6 of them in critical condition.

A new United States travel warning for Japan over COVID-19 risks will not affect this summer's pandemic-postponed Olympic Games, the Japanese government and Tokyo 2020 organisers said on Tuesday (May 25).

KUALA LUMPUR: The LRT Kelana Jaya Line in Kuala Lumpur resumed service at 6am on Tuesday (May 25) with trains operating on a single track, Prasarana Malaysia said in a statement, adding that there will also be supporting shuttle bus services. Ser...