Japan's top court on Wednesday ruled a law requiring married couples to have the same family name is constitutional, rejecting plaintiffs who sought the right to keep separate surnames, local media said.

MOSCOW: Myanmar's junta chief on Tuesday (Jun 22) thanked Russia, a major weapons supplier to the troubled Southeast Asian country, for strengthening the army which seized power in a coup earlier this year. Myanmar has been in turmoil since the mili...

KATHMANDU: Nepal’s Supreme Court delivered a fresh blow to embattled communist Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli by removing 20 recently appointed ministers, pending a ruling on whether a caretaker prime minister can make such sweeping cabinet changes....

BENGALURU: India on Tuesday (Jun 22) declared a new coronavirus variant to be of concern, and said nearly two dozen cases had been detected in three states. The variant, identified locally as "Delta plus", was found in 16 cases in the state of Maha...

TAIPEI: Taiwan will extend its coronavirus curbs by two more weeks until Jul 12, as the situation has yet to reach a point where they can be relaxed, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said on Wednesday (Jun 23). Taiwan has been dealing with a rise in...

"Pride of China" Sun Yang is "a victim of political posturing" and did not break doping rules, his lawyer said, after a ban of more than four years forced the swimming star out of the Tokyo Olympics.

BENGALURU: India reported on Wednesday (Jun 23) 50,848 new COVID-19 infections over the past 24 hours, health ministry data showed. The nation's total infections now stand at 30.03 million, according to a Reuters tally. India also recorded another 1...

HONG KONG: Hong Kong's pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper confirmed on Wednesday (Jun 23) that the following day's newspaper will be its final edition after police froze its assets using a new national security law. "Apple Daily decided that the pa...

TAIPEI: A major Taiwanese Buddhist group said on Wednesday (Jun 23) that it was hoping to buy 5 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine, joining Foxconn and TSMC in trying to secure vaccines for the island. Taiwan's government has millio...

The stripped-back Tokyo Games, held despite the ongoing pandemic, will highlight the Olympics' "true values", Tokyo 2020 chief Seiko Hashimoto said as organisers mark a month to go.

A panda at Tokyo's Ueno zoo gave birth to twins on Wednesday, weeks after news of Shin Shin's pregnancy sent stocks in nearby restaurants soaring.

China on Wednesday reported 24 new coronavirus cases in the mainland for June 22, compared with 25 cases a day earlier, the health authority said.

The first trial under Hong Kong's new national security law begins on Wednesday (Jun 23) without a jury, a landmark moment for the financial hub's fast-changing legal traditions.

BANGKOK: Underreporting from strained medical systems and extensive social lockdowns could explain why many Southeast Asian countries have recorded substantially fewer cases of dengue fever in 2021 than previous years, said experts. Data from the W...

The favourable market conditions for IPOs might be coming to an end and could pose a problem for SoftBank’s Vision Fund, says David Kuo.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian conglomerate Sunway has agreed to sell around a 15 per cent stake in its healthcare unit to Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC for RM700 million to RM800 million (US$168.3 million to 192.3 million), two sources familiar with ...

NAYPYIDAW: Deposed Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi appeared in a junta court again Tuesday (Jun 22) on trial for sedition and for flouting COVID-19 restrictions during an election her ousted party won in a landslide. A mass uprising in Myanmar again...

HONG KONG: An American lawyer working in Hong Kong was convicted of assaulting a policeman on Tuesday (Jun 22) when he intervened in a confrontation between the officer and members of the public during political unrest two years ago. Samuel Phillip ...

More than 40 countries led by Canada voiced grave concerns at the UN Human Rights Council on Tuesday about China's actions in Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Tibet - triggering a fierce backlash from Beijing.

TOKYO: The head of a major inquiry into Japan's nuclear disaster and a former senior Cabinet adviser have sounded alarm over plans this week to restart a 44-year old reactor, saying that the industry and government have not taken on board the lessons...

BEIJING: The vice mayor of Tianjin told financial institutions on Tuesday (Jun 22) he expected no additional state companies to default in the northern Chinese city and promised to maintain a healthy credit environment, three sources told Reuters. S...

Thai authorities on Tuesday (Jun 22) greenlighted a pilot model for quarantine-free travel to ultra-popular beach destination Phuket, a first step towards the tourist-hungry kingdom's goal of resuscitating its pandemic-battered economy.

The ill-fated inaugural World Test Championship final between India and New Zealand resumed at Southampton on Tuesday after an hour's delay following the latest rain interruption to blight the showpiece match.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has made an agreement to procure 13 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer, the country's health minister said on Tuesday (Jun 22). An exact timeline was not yet available, health minister Faisal Sultan told Reuters, but s...

KATHMANDU: Hong Kong resident Tsang Yin-Hung, who made the fastest ascent of Mount Everest by any woman, and dozens of other mountaineers from China are unable to get out of Nepal because of COVID-19 restrictions imposed by Beijing, they said. Nepal...

BENGALURU: India's COVID-19 vaccinations over the next few weeks could fall short of the blistering pace set on the first day of a federal campaign, unless it makes inroads in a vast hinterland and bridges a shortage of doses, experts said on Tuesda...

One million doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine will be transferred to Vietnam weekly starting next month to fulfil its order of 30 million doses within this year, state media reported on Tuesday.

China's longest-serving ambassador to Washington, Cui Tiankai, announced on Tuesday (Jun 22) that he will be leaving his post after eight years.

A Thai medical committee has agreed to narrow the gap between doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to eight weeks from 10-12 weeks previously in places where there has been outbreaks of the Delta variant, an official said on Tuesday.

Olympic organisers plan to allow the sale of alcohol to Tokyo 2020 spectators, Kyodo News reported on Tuesday (Jun 22), drawing criticism from residents of the capital who face curbs on bars to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Myanmar security forces backed by armoured vehicles clashed on Tuesday (Jun 22) with a newly formed militia group in the second-biggest city of Mandalay resulting in at least two casualties, according to members of the group and media reports. Since...

BERLIN: Germany needs an honest discussion about how to deal with trading partners such as China and must not duck confrontation if red lines on human rights are crossed, the head of the influential BDI industry association said on Tuesday (Jun 22). ...

HONG KONG: Hong Kong's embattled pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily has been hit by a wave of resignations as authorities push to silence the outspoken tabloid and staff mull whether to leave or stay until the bitter end. On late Monday (Jun 21) ...

HONG KONG: Media outlets in Hong Kong must not "subvert" the government, the city's leader said on Tuesday (Jun 22), rejecting US criticism of recent action against a pro-democracy newspaper under a powerful new security law. Hong Kong has long host...

An aviation firm has carried out the first tests in India of longer-range drone deliveries, as hopes grow that they could deliver medicines as well as Covid-19 vaccines to remote areas.

SEOUL: An anonymous messaging app called Blind used by South Korean employees to air their grievances is helping change management attitudes towards workers in some of the nation's biggest companies. The bosses have taken note as the app's popularit...

SEOUL: The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said on Tuesday (Jun 22) that Washington had "wrong" expectations for dialogue with Pyongyang and was facing "greater disappointment", state media reported. Kim Yo Jong's comments came...

JAKARTA: Flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, which last week defaulted on a US$500 million sukuk, is considering a court supervised debt restructuring process and is in talks to slash its fleet size, company executives said on Monday (Jun 21). Sukuk is a...

TOKYO: From a state-of-the-art aquatics centre to a historic martial arts arena whose roof resembles Mount Fuji, Tokyo's Olympic sites are ready for action after a year's COVID-19 delay. The 43 venues are located in two main areas: The "Tokyo Bay Zo...

BANGKOK: An elephant broke into a house in the Thai resort town of Hua Hin in the early hours of Sunday (Jun 20), using its trunk to search for food through a hole in the kitchen wall. Resident Ratchadawan Puengprasopporn said her family was asleep ...

SHANGHAI: His bald head glistening with sweat, Zhi Xiang peers into the eyes of a stray dog whose coat has become matted in heavy rain and says soothingly: "Let me cut your hair, cutie." The bedraggled pooch is among scores of dogs hauled off the st...

China reported 25 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the mainland for June 21, up from 17 infections a day earlier, the health authority said on Tuesday.

The United States and South Korea have agreed to consider scrapping a working group established to coordinate North Korea policy, Seoul's foreign ministry said on Tuesday, after it became seen as a way for Washington to block inter-Korean projects.

Reported deaths from COVID-19 in Colombia passed 100,000 on Monday (Jun 21), the country's health ministry said, amid warnings of potential scarcity of treatment drugs and oxygen in hospitals during a long and brutal third peak of infections and deat...

PHNOM PENH: A Cambodian court has charged four environmental activists with insulting the king and plotting against the government, an official said on Monday (Jun 21), after three of them were arrested for documenting waste run-off into a river. Un...

Thousands of Japanese companies began distributing COVID-19 vaccines to workers and their families on Monday (Jun 21) in an employer-led drive reaching more than 13 million people that aims to rev up the nation's slow vaccine rollout.

President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to jail people who refuse to be vaccinated against the coronavirus as the Philippines battles one of Asia's worst outbreaks, with over 1.3 million cases and more than 23,000 deaths.

Lawyers for Myanmar's ousted leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, said on Monday (Jun 21) she told them some of the testimony against her was wrong in her trial on criminal charges that could send her to prison and end her political career.

Nikolai Patrushev, the secretary of Russia's Security Council, and Myanmar's military leader committed to further strengthening security and other ties between the two countries at a Moscow meeting on Monday (Jun 21).

The EU on Monday (Jun 21) added eight officials from Myanmar's military and three firms linked to the military to its sanctions blacklist over the country's February coup and bloody repression of protests.

Myanmar's junta-controlled health ministry reported 595 cases of COVID-19 on Monday (Jun 21) as daily infections hit the highest since the army seized power in a coup that prompted many medical workers to abandon the health service and anti-coronavir...

TAIPEI: Taiwan needs a thorough review of how it handled the COVID-19 pandemic once it is over, President Tsai Ing-wen said on Monday (Jun 21) as case numbers dropped below 100 for the first time in more than a month, admitting they had been caught o...

YANGON: Deposed Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday (Jun 21) thanked her supporters for defying the junta to celebrate her 76th birthday with flower protests, as her trial on a raft of criminal charges resumed. A mass uprising in Myanmar again...

GENEVA: The UN rights chief on Monday (Jun 21) called for concerted action to recover from the worst global deterioration of rights she had seen, highlighting the situation in China, Russia and Ethiopia among others. "To recover from the most wide...

Debate over Myanmar upends start to UN rights body session

TAIPEI: Taiwan criticised Hong Kong on Monday (Jun 21) in an escalating row over China's sovereignty claims over Taiwan, prompting the island to pull out officials from its representative office in the Chinese-run city. Taiwanese staff working at th...

Cryptocurrency prices have fluctuated wildly in recent weeks as China intensifies a crackdown on trading and mining operations.

BEIJING: The major manufacturing hub of Dongguan in China's most populous province of Guangdong launched mass testing on Monday (Jun 21) for the coronavirus and cordoned off communities after detecting its first infections in the current outbreak. T...

BANGKOK: Thailand's health minister said on Monday (Jun 21) that Japan's government would donate some AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines, as the Southeast Asian country seeks to shore up supplies after some early delays in its vaccinations. An agreement ...

LONDON: Bitcoin tumbled on Monday to a two-week low on China's expanding crackdown on bitcoin mining, as investors grew more uncertain about the future of the leading cryptocurrency. Bitcoin fell as low as US$31,333, a two-week trough, dragging down...

JAKARTA: Indonesia reported on Monday (Jun 21) a record-breaking 14,536 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections nationally past the 2 million mark. Cumulative total of cases now stands at 2,004,445.  The country also saw 294 d...

JAKARTA: After not securing a COVID-19 vaccination at home, Indonesian Muhammad Risqy Putra booked a trip to the United States to get inoculated there on his first overseas trip since the pandemic. With rich nations like the United States rolling ou...

TOKYO: Up to 10,000 fans will be allowed at Tokyo Olympics events, organisers said on Monday (Jun 21), warning that competition could move behind closed doors if COVID-19 infections surge. The decision, which comes just weeks before the opening cere...

HONG KONG: Hong Kong's government said on Monday (Jun 21) that it would shorten the quarantine period for vaccinated people arriving in the city to seven days from 14 days provided travellers show sufficient antibodies against the coronavirus. Lead...

NEW DELHI: India's Olympic body has slammed as "unfair" strict rules imposed by the Japanese government on athletes from several nations hit by COVID-19 for the Tokyo Games starting next month. Tokyo 2020 organisers said on Monday (Jun 21) that addi...

KUALA LUMPUR: The United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) has given the Malaysian government a two-week deadline to reconvene parliament.  Party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said in a statement on Monday (Jun 21) that it was important to reconv...

NEW DELHI: India opened up free vaccinations to all adults in an attempt to bolster its inoculation drive on Monday (Jun 21), as Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicked off a muted International Yoga Day hailing the practice's "protective" properties aga...

HONG KONG: The world's biggest casino hub of Macau will shake up its casino regulator by more than doubling the number of gaming inspectors and restructuring several departments in its latest move to ramp up supervision.  The executive council that...

HONG KONG: Hong Kong pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily said on Monday (Jun 21) its board will decide whether to close the publication at their next meeting on Friday after an asset freeze by authorities using a new national security law left the ou...

SEOUL: The United States' new top envoy for North Korea said on Monday (Jun 21) he looks forward to a "positive response soon" on dialogue from North Korea, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported, during his Seoul trip to meet counterparts from S...

A rise in religious conservatism in Indonesia is drawing talent away from what some view as un-Islamic jobs in banking, industry professionals say, creating hiring woes for conventional banks but a boon for the country's fledgling sharia finance sect...

PM Muhyiddin Yassin’s government could always have Parliament reconvene but push out bills without them needing to go through legislative scrutiny, says Oh Ei Sun.

Myanmar's junta chief left the country Sunday for Moscow, where he will attend a security conference, state media said, marking only his second known trip abroad since he seized power in a coup.

Afghan leader Ashraf Ghani and the head of the country's peace process will meet President Joe Biden at the White House on Friday, as the planned American military withdrawal accelerates.

DUBAI: Aviation giant Emirates said on Sunday (Jun 20) that it will resume flights from India from next week, after Dubai lifted a ban imposed when COVID-19 cases spiked. The United Arab Emirates, which includes Dubai, suspended all flights from In...

Sri Lanka's military launched an investigation on Sunday (Jun 20) after social media posts showed soldiers forcing civilians to kneel on the streets as a punishment for flouting COVID-19 lockdown rules.

Pope Francis on Sunday (Jun 20) appealed to Myanmar's military leaders to allow aid to reach displaced, hungry people who have fled fighting since the Feb 1 coup and to respect religious sites as places of sanctuary.

SHANGHAI: Hong Kong's strategy to strengthen the city's global financial hub status is through greater integration with mainland China, now that Beijing has helped restore "stability" in the city, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on Sunday (Jun 20). ...

On Sunday, Ho Chi Minh City banned public gatherings of more than three people and imposed lockdown orders on some virus-prone areas.

South Korea will relax social distancing rules and allow private gatherings of up to six people in the greater Seoul area from the current four starting on Jul 1, the government said on Sunday (Jun 20).

China has now administered more than 1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines, the country's health authority said on Sunday (Jun 20), more than a third of the number given worldwide.

The Philippine government has signed a supply agreement for 40 million doses of the vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE, CNN Philippines said on Sunday, citing the head of the government's COVID-19 vaccine procurement.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong's pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily said on Sunday (Jun 20) the freezing of its assets in a national security probe had left the newspaper with cash for "only a few weeks" of normal operations and it may struggle to pay staff wa...

COLOMBO: The United Nations representative in Sri Lanka said the sinking of a container ship that caught fire while transporting chemicals off the capital Colombo has caused “significant damage to the planet” by releasing hazardous substances in...

While the United States and Europe waged a 17-year trade battle over subsidies to Boeing and Airbus, China poured money into its own commercial aircraft to take on the Western aviation duopoly.

SINGAPORE: Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan will be on an official visit to Hanoi from Sunday (Jun 20) to Wednesday, at the invitation of his Vietnamese counterpart Bui Thanh Son. During the visit, Dr Balakrishnan will meet Mr Son, as we...

A few weeks ago, New Delhi's crematoriums were operating around the clock dealing with Covid-19 victims. Now the Indian capital's shopping malls and markets are buzzing again.

TAIPEI: Taiwanese staff working at the island's representative office in Hong Kong will begin leaving the Chinese-run city from Sunday (Jun 20), a senior official said, after the government there demanded its officials sign a document supporting Bei...

The Financial News, backed by the Peoples Bank of China (PBOC), on Sunday advised against speculating about liquidity tightening and policy direction, saying such action can mislead and roil markets.

TOKYO :Organisers of the Tokyo Olympics opened the athletes' village to the media on Sunday, showing off apartments and a timber-laced shopping plaza where 11,000 athletes would stay and mingle during the sporting extravaganza.

SINGAPORE: An Indonesian fugitive on Interpol's red notice list was repatriated from Singapore to his home country on Saturday (Jun 19). Adelin Lis has been wanted in Indonesia since 2008 over corruption and illegal logging, reported the Antara ne...

China's census showing its population has stopped growing might be a positive development when it could lead to lower costs and a stronger push for automation, says Adair Turner.

Much of the money that pays for the competition is spent to build global brands, say two sports commentators.

JAKARTA: Sebelum ada COVID-19, pekerja migran Indonesia Muhammad Kurdi memiliki kehidupan yang baik di Makkah, Arab Saudi. Ayah tiga anak tersebut sudah tinggal 15 tahun di Makkah dan sebelum pandemi bekerja sebagai mutawif untuk Jemaah Indonesia, ...

JAKARTA: Life was good for Indonesian Muhammad Kurdi who has lived in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, for about 15 years. The father of three used to work as a guide for pilgrims from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, earning up to 200 million rupiah ...

BANGKOK: Myanmar’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday (Jun 19) rejected a UN General Assembly resolution calling for an arms embargo against the Southeast Asian nation and condemning the military's February seizure of power. Myanmar described the resol...

The United States announced Saturday that 2.5 million Covid vaccine doses were on their way to Taiwan in a move likely to draw disapproval from Beijing, which claims the self-ruled island.

JAKARTA: Indonesia will receive 50 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine jointly made by Pfizer and BioNTech, with the first batch expected in August, a senior health ministry official said on Saturday (Jun 19). "Pfizer vaccines will start arriving...

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike on Saturday cancelled all public viewing sites for the summer Olympics, diverting some venues to be COVID-19 vaccinations centres instead.

NEW DELHI: India's central government on Saturday (Jun 19) urged states to be careful in reopening from COVID-19 lockdowns to prevent a resurgence of infections in the hard-hit country. Indian states are easing restrictions as a second wave of coron...