KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will examine recruitment fees charged to workers and review its agreements with the home countries of migrant workers, the Human Resources Ministry said, after the country was downgraded in a United States human trafficking rep...

KUALA LUMPUR: A special parliament meeting will be held from Jul 26 to pave the way for a hybrid parliament sitting, Malaysia's Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said.  In a statement uploaded on Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's Facebook page on Monda...

TAIPEI: Taiwan's Cabinet said on Monday (Jul 5) that with COVID-19 cases abating there is room to ease restrictions and ministries and officials should make preparations for doing so, as the island begins emerging from the worst of its pandemic. Tai...

JOHOR BAHRU: The Johor state government is adopting a "strategy shift" in managing the COVID-19 pandemic and aiming to "test, trace and vaccinate better", said Johor Chief Minister Hasni Mohammad.  He said this in response to calls from Johor Cr...

JAKARTA: Indonesia will provide free telemedicine services to coronavirus patients with mild symptoms, its health minister said on Monday (Jul 5), in an effort to reduce pressure on a healthcare sector inundated by record numbers of COVID-19 cases. ...

NBA star Rui Hachimura will carry Japan's flag at the Tokyo Games, Japanese Olympic chiefs said on Monday (Jul 5), although fans might not be allowed into the stadium to watch the opening ceremony.

JAKARTA: Parts of Indonesia lack oxygen supplies as the number of critically ill COVID-19 patients who need it increases, the nation's pandemic response leader said on Monday (Jul 5), after dozens of sick people died at a public hospital that ran out...

Blast at Thai factory shakes Bangkok airport, area evacuated

HONG KONG: Shares of Vitasoy had their biggest ever drop on Monday (Jul 5) after a worker sent around a memo offering condolences to the family of a colleague who stabbed a Hong Kong policeman, triggering online calls in China for a boycott of the co...

Senior foreign executives of major telecommunications firms in Myanmar have been told by the junta that they must not leave the country without permission, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said. A confidential order from Myanmar’s Post...

BEIJING: A Chinese city near the border with Myanmar has imposed a lockdown and started mass testing after three coronavirus cases were reported on Monday (Jul 5), with officials rushing to curb another outbreak. It is the second time in four months...

TOKYO: Rescuers in Japan searched desperately on Monday (Jul 5) for survivors among 80 people believed to be still missing two days after landslides tore through the seaside city of Atami, destroying houses and burying roads under mud and rock. The ...

MANILA: All 96 passengers of the Philippine Air Force plane that crashed on Sunday (Jul 4) have been accounted for, military chief Cirilito Sobejana said on Monday. The crash happened when the Hercules C-130 transport plane, which was carrying most...

OTTAWA: Hong Kongers in Canada are banding together to help the latest wave of immigrants fleeing Beijing's tightening grip on their city. Networks across the country, some descended from groups set up after the Tiananmen Square incident in China i...

BANGKOK: Countries in Southeast Asia will need to harness new technologies to capture and store carbon emitted by fossil fuel industries if they want to reach their future climate change goals, according to experts. A report published by the Intern...

Myanmar's health ministry reported a daily record of 2,318 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday (Jul 4), as well as 35 deaths.

MANILA: Philippine scientists warned on Sunday (Jul 4) a volcano south of Manila could erupt again "anytime soon" as toxic gas emissions hit a record high and thousands more people in vulnerable communities left their homes. Taal volcano, which sit...

LUCKNOW: More than a million people on Sunday )Jul 4) began planting 250 million saplings in India’s most populous state, part of an annual mass tree planting campaign to reduce carbon emissions and mitigate the effects of global climate change. L...

YANGON: Myanmar security forces killed at least 25 people on Friday in a confrontation with opponents of the military government at a town in the centre of the Southeast Asian nation, two residents and Myanmar media said on Sunday (Jul 4). A spokesm...

JAKARTA: Indonesia has ordered oxygen makers to prioritise medical needs amid growing demand from COVID-19 patients, the government said on Sunday (Jul 4), following more than 60 deaths in a hospital where supply of the life-saving gas was almost exh...

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's central bank on Sunday (Jul 4) further tightened controls on the outflow of foreign currency to combat a growing cash crunch triggered by the coronavirus pandemic. Foreign exchange reserves have almost halved since late 2019 to...

PHNOM PENH: Eleven Cambodian villagers died after drinking rice wine suspected to be toxic during a funeral, a police officer said on Sunday (Jul 4), adding to the kingdom's growing recent death toll from unsafe homemade alcohol. In the past two mon...

HONG KONG: Hong Kong authorities on Sunday (Jul 2) warned residents against mourning a man who killed himself after stabbing a policeman, saying that encouraging such memorials was the same as "supporting terrorism". Police had described the attacke...

KHULNA, Bangladesh: Empty oxygen cylinders are piling up almost as fast as bodies in the city of Khulna, which has become Bangladesh's coronavirus hotspot in a dire new surge. The government has ordered a strict week-long nationwide lockdown in a bi...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin is in stable condition and is expected to be discharged from hospital soon after receiving treatment for a digestive system infection, his office said on Sunday (Jul 4). Following advice from a...

COTABATO, Philippines: At least 45 people were killed on Sunday (Jul 4) when a Philippine military aircraft carrying troops crashed and burst into flames after missing the runway in the country's south, officials said. Ninety-six people, most of t...

BEIJING: Chinese astronauts successfully performed the country's first tandem spacewalk on Sunday (Jul 4), working for seven hours on the outside of the new Tiangong station in orbit around Earth. Tiangong's construction is a major step in China's a...

BEIJING: Fed up with work stress, Guo Jianlong quit a newspaper job in Beijing and moved to China’s mountainous southwest to “lie flat”. Guo joined a small but visible handful of Chinese urban professionals who are rattling the ruling Communi...

HONG KONG: Beverage maker Vitasoy has become the latest target of Chinese netizens' calls for a boycott after an employee circulated a memo online offering condolences to the family of a worker who had stabbed a Hong Kong police officer. In a statem...

ATAMI, Japan: Rescuers in a Japanese holiday town hit by a deadly landslide were forced to suspend their search for survivors several times on Sunday (Jul 4) as more rain lashed the devastated area. Two women were confirmed dead after torrents of mu...

From 1980 to 2015, the Chinese government limited couples to having just one child but many have since lost their only child – to illness, accident, suicide or murder, says anthropologist Lihong Shi.

By all accounts, China has beaten COVID-19 but there are still doubts, especially over its vaccines. NUS' East Asian Institute's Ryan Ho gives his take.

KUALA LUMPUR: At the gate of a wooden and brick house in Sungai Way New Village, Petaling Jaya, a white flag hung limply on a long stick.  Mr Jambu Nathan Kanagasabai, 64, put up the flag on Thursday (Jul 1) morning after seeing a post by a local ...

SINGAPORE: A Singapore table tennis player and team manager were involved in a pre-Olympics interview attended by a Japanese cameraman who later tested positive for COVID-19. The national team left for Japan on Jun 27 and has been based in Shimada C...

An unfinished tombstone, a large ceramic vase painted with beeswax, human representations and ancient tools to process corn are artifacts of a collection of 1,305 pieces that have been returned to Costa Rica.

WASHINGTON: One million donated doses of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech will arrive in Malaysia on Monday (Jul 5), White House officials said, with plans for more shipments to Southeast Asia soon. The shipment is from an initi...

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has suspended flights to three countries, including the neighbouring United Arab Emirates, to protect against a coronavirus variant, the interior ministry said Saturday (Jul 3). The move comes seven weeks after the oil-rich king...

Tokyo reported 716 new COVID-19 infections on Saturday, its highest in more than five weeks, as the nation considers extending pandemic restrictions in the capital just weeks before it is to host the Olympics.

SEOUL: Thousands of South Korean workers staged a rally in downtown Seoul to demand better conditions, video images showed on Saturday (Jul 3), defying a government ban and shrugging off warnings that their protest could ignite a new wave of the coro...

Protesters in coup-hit Myanmar marked the birthday of junta leader Min Aung Hlaing Saturday by burning his portrait and staging fake funerals.

Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan announced on Saturday (Jul 3) that he is splitting with his wife of 15 years, film-maker Kiran Rao.

KUALA LUMPUR: COVID-19 restrictions will be eased in five Malaysian states on Jul 5, as they transition into phase 2 of the national recovery plan, said Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob on Saturday (Jul 3).  These states are Kelantan, Terenggan...

More than 2,000 people have fled from a volcano eruption that has filled the air near the Philippine capital with toxic gas, officials said Saturday.

TikTok was running again in Pakistan Saturday after a provincial court lifted suspension of the popular social media service but ordered it to address complaints that it hosted objectionable content.

TOKYO: Two bodies were found after a huge landslide at a resort town in central Japan swept away homes on Saturday (Jul 3) following days of heavy rain, with around 20 people still missing, officials said. Television footage showed a torrent of mud ...

FAIRFAX: Journalist Nathan Maung turned to meditation when he was jailed for reporting on Myanmar's bloody coup, but even back home in sleepy Virginia, he can't forget those left behind, including a colleague still at the mercy of their jailers. In ...

The Indonesian unit of AirAsia Group Bhd will temporarily stop all flights for a month from July 6 to support the government's effort to limit a spike in COVID-19 cases, the company said on Saturday.

JAKARTA: Indonesia imposed a partial lockdown on Saturday (Jul 3) in the capital Jakarta, across the main island of Java and on Bali as the Southeast Asian nation grapples with an unprecedented wave of coronavirus infections.  Mosques, restaurants ...

NEW YORK: A US judge on Friday (Jul 2) said a South Korean man wanted on embezzlement charges related to a 2014 ferry sinking that killed 304 people, mainly high school students, is subject to extradition to his home country. US Magistrate Judge J...

WASHINGTON: The United States will ship 4 million doses of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine to Indonesia as it battles a coronavirus outbreak, the US national security adviser told the Indonesian foreign minister on Friday (Jul 2). In a call with Retno M...

It emerged as a party tapping into youthful idealism but can it keep the current generation of young Chinese plugged into its revolutionary genes, asks an observer.

With pressures mounting on the northern frontier, India knows it cannot afford escalating tensions to its west, says Shashi Tharoor.

Louis Lee distributed a few hundred packets of nasi lemak and chicken rice for Malaysians based in Singapore as well as cabbies from his stall at Owen Road.

WASHINGTON: The US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee will resume work later this month on Democratic-led legislation intended to boost competitiveness with China and push Beijing on human rights, after two days of debate on the meas...

WASHINGTON: The Biden administration on Friday (Jul 3) hit 22 senior Myanmar officials and family members with sanctions over the government’s crackdown on democracy protests after the coup.  The action was accompanied by the removal of sanctions...

Terry Gou, the billionaire founder of Taiwan's Foxconn, and TSMC reached initial agreements to buy 5 million doses each of BioNTech SE's COVID-19 vaccine on Friday, three sources with knowledge of the situation told Reuters.

GENEVA: The World Health Organization (WHO), which is advising the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in the run-up to the Tokyo Games opening later this month, is urging caution so as to stem the spread of the coronavirus, a senior WHO official s...

TOKYO: Tokyo Olympics organisers will not insist on allowing spectators "at all costs", the head of the Games organising committee said on Friday (Jul 2), amid concerns about a fresh wave of COVID-19 infections three weeks before the sports extravaga...

SRINAGAR, India: Five suspected rebels and a soldier were killed on Friday (Jul 2) in the latest of a series of clashes in Indian Kashmir that have left 17 dead in two weeks, police said. The six died in a gunfight in the Rajpora area of the Kashmi...

Indonesia will increase social assistance and healthcare spending in response to a spike in COVID-19 cases and to soften the economic blow of tougher restrictions taking effect this week, its finance minister said on Friday (Jul 2).

HONG KONG: A Hong Kong police officer who was stabbed in the back has been moved from critical to serious condition, officials said on Friday (Jul 2), indicating a likely recovery from the incident in which the assailant later stabbed himself and die...

Malaysian palm oil giant IOI Corp will undergo an audit to assess the compliance of its labour policies and working conditions at its plantations, the firm said on Friday, following a report by a human rights group alleging violations.

BANGKOK: Thailand will speed up inoculations of elderly and medically vulnerable people to reduce the number of coronavirus patients in critical condition, officials said on Friday (Jul 2), as the country reported a third successive day of record dea...

TOKYO: Japanese prosecutors said on Friday (Jul 2) they are seeking jail sentences of nearly three years for an American father-son duo who admit helping former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn jump bail and flee Japan. Former special forces operative Micha...

TAIPEI: Hundreds of people from Taiwan eager to get the COVID-19 vaccine have booked tours to Guam after the US Pacific territory offered jabs to foreign visitors, a travel agency said on Friday (Jul 2).  Guam, for which tourism is a major economic...

NEW DELHI: Tens of millions of people in India were suffering on Friday (Jul 2) as a severe heatwave pushed the temperature to a nine-year high in Delhi as monsoon rains run behind schedule.  Heatwaves have killed more than 6,500 people in the worl...

TAIPEI: Taiwan will postpone four referendums due late next month because of fears about the spread of COVID-19, the election commission said on Friday (Jul 2), as the government raced to contain a new outbreak at a Taipei wholesale food market. Tai...

HONG KONG: A Hong Kong court denied bail on Friday (Jul 2) to pro-democracy activist Chow Hang-tung, who was re-arrested on the eve of the anniversary of the former British colony's handover to Beijing and the centenary of the Chinese Communist Party...

YANGON: Myanmar authorities imposed stay-at-home-measures on the country's second city on Friday (Jul 2) as coronavirus cases in the coup-wracked country surge, with many health workers striking to protest against the junta. Inhabitants of Mandalay...

HONG KONG: A Philippine domestic worker who was sexually abused by her Hong Kong employer will take the city's police to court over their decision not to classify her as a victim of human trafficking, her lawyers said on Friday (Jul 2). Activists ha...

China's market regulator issued draft rules on Friday to punish illegal pricing activities, including heavy subsidies and the practice by online platforms of charging different prices based on a customers' purchasing behaviour.

HANOI: Netflix has removed Australian spy drama Pine Gap from its services in Vietnam after a complaint from broadcast authorities in the Southeast Asian country about the appearance of a map which depicts Chinese claims in the South China Sea. The...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's highest court on Friday (Jul 2) ordered news portal Malaysiakini to pay RM550,000 (US$132,180) in damages for a defamation case filed by a now-defunct Australian mining firm. The ruling comes amid concern among activists abo...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Takiyuddin Hassan said on Friday (Jul 2) that parliament will be reconvened before Aug 1.  In a statement, he said: "The federal government has always upheld the views of the k...

SHANGHAI: China will provide funding to build new institutions and infrastructure to fight infectious diseases and improve healthcare, the state planning body said in a "five-year plan" for the sector. The central government will subsidise the const...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia on Friday (Jul 2) said it had received the first payment of RM1.8 billion (US$432.38 million) from banking group AMMB Holdings (AmBank), as part of a settlement deal related to multi-billion dollar scandal at state fund 1Malays...

Cambodia reported 32 deaths from COVID-19 on Friday (Jul 2), a record daily increase, as authorities warned of the risk of a new wave of infections driven by the Delta variant.

Malaysia's predominant human trafficking crime is forced labour, the U.S State Department said on Friday, after downgrading the Southeast Asian country to the worst tier in its annual report on human trafficking.

SEOUL: South Korean President Moon Jae-in exchanged letters exploring prospects for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ahead of his own meeting in May with US President Joe Biden, the South's JoongAng Ilbo newspaper said on Friday (Jul 2)....

MUMBAI: India's official death toll from the coronavirus topped 400,000 on Friday (Jul 2), though experts say the actual number of dead could have reached 1 million or even higher, with a possible third wave of infections looming. India added 100,00...

TOKYO: It might not make the cut for Olympians at Tokyo 2020, but each day in Japan's parks, schools and offices millions perform the country's most popular stretching routine: Radio taiso. The three-minute drills, usually done to piano music with e...

SYDNEY: Australia announced a dramatic cut in the number of people who will be allowed to enter the country on Friday (Jul 2), as it struggles to contain coronavirus clusters that plunged major cities into lockdown. With almost half of the nation's ...

TOKYO: Japan's prime minister has warned that the Tokyo Olympics could be held behind closed doors, as COVID-19 cases rise in the city just three weeks before the Games begin. Organisers decided last month to set a limit of 10,000 spectators or half...

BANGKOK: A court in Myanmar on Thursday (Jul 1) extended the pretrial detention of Danny Fenster, a US journalist employed by an online news magazine who was arrested in May on an incitement charge that carries a penalty of up to three years’ impr...

HONG KONG: The 50-year-old man who stabbed a Hong Kong policeman on the anniversary of the city's return to Chinese rule on Thursday (Jul 1) was a "lone wolf" who committed a terrorist act, Secretary for Security Chris Tang said. Police said late on...

TAIPEI: Taiwan has chosen to get the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine via the COVAX global sharing scheme for lower income countries, the company said on Friday (Jul 2), which would add much needed shots to the island's immunisation programme. Taiwan's vacc...

SEOUL: South Korea's daily count of coronavirus cases topped 800 on Thursday (Jul 1), the highest since Jan 7 due to new cluster infections and the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant, officials said on Friday. The government had relaxed...

South Korea's central bank will need to adjust the extent of loose monetary policy to better tackle the growing financial imbalances, a joint statement from the Bank of Korea and the finance ministry showed on Friday.

The notion of pop music-loving teenagers challenging the state is rather fanciful, but the hope for change still lies in them, says Robert Kelly.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged Myanmar's military on Thursday to release Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint now, a UN spokesperson said on Thursday, a day after thousands of other detainees were freed.

WASHINGTON: The United States said on Thursday (Jul 1) that the coronavirus pandemic has created an "ideal environment" for human trafficking to thrive as governments divert resources to the health crisis and traffickers take advantage of vulnerable...

French magistrates have opened an inquiry into allegations four fashion groups including Uniqlo and the owner of Zara profited from forced labour of the Uyghur minority in China, a judicial source said on Thursday (Jul 1).

WASHINGTON: The United States said on Thursday (Jul 1) China's rapid build-up of its nuclear forces was concerning and called on Beijing to engage with it "on practical measures to reduce the risks of destabilising arms races". The build-up had b...

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday landed an insulting verbal blow on boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao, seen as a possible successor in next year's presidential election.

YANGON: Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Myanmar's biggest city Yangon on Thursday (Jul 1), setting fire to an army uniform and chanting calls for democracy five months after a military coup ousted elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The p...

KUALA LUMPUR: The U.S. State Department will downgrade Malaysia to the worst ranking in its closely watched annual report on human trafficking to be released later on Thursday, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The downgrade com...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian budget airline AirAsia Group said on Thursday (Jul 1) its fintech unit has bid for a digital banking licence in the country as part of a consortium. BigPay, the unit, has partnered with Malaysian Industrial Development Financ...

PHNOM PENH: The United States has ended its programme with Cambodia to send students to top American military academies, a US embassy official said on Thursday (Jul 1), marking the latest sign of strains in the relations between the two countries. ...

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian government will implement an enhanced movement control order (EMCO) in many parts of Selangor and Kuala Lumpur for a period of 14 days, said Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob on Thursday (Jul 1). The curbs will b...

South Korean military prosecution demanded a five-year prison term for disgraced former K-pop star Seungri over charges stemming from a sex and drug scandal, reports said on Thursday (Jul 1).