Flooding in Myanmar has displaced hundreds of people, slowing efforts to battle a fast-growing coronavirus outbreak amid the chaos that followed the nation's military coup, residents told Reuters on Tuesday (Jul 27). Heavy weekend downpours across s...

JAKARTA: As Indonesia grapples with a devastating wave of coronavirus infections, Jakarta government data shows a fall in cases and easing pressure on hospitals in the capital, even as the situation worsens in other parts of the archipelago. The cap...

Kaylee McKeown's mum says she'll have a word with her daughter after the Australian sensation dropped an F-bomb on live TV after scorching to victory in the women's Olympic 100m backstroke on Tuesday.

TOKYO: Tokyo's 2,848 daily coronavirus infections on Tuesday (Jul 27) were the Olympic host city's highest since the pandemic began, officials said, as media reported that authorities had asked hospitals to prepare more beds for patients. Japan has...

HONG KONG: A Hong Kong court will lay down a marker on the city's future legal landscape on Tuesday (Jul 27) when it delivers its verdict in the first trial using a national security law imposed by China to stamp out dissent. One of the key elements...

SEOUL: South Korea on Tuesday (Jul 27) launched COVID-19 vaccinations for workers at key computer chip and electronic businesses to minimise disruptions in the global supply chain amid struggles to keep up with its inoculation schedule. Major tech c...

NEW DELHI: Indian content-sharing platform ShareChat has raised US$145 million in fresh funding from Singapore's Temasek Holdings and two other investors, giving it a valuation of US$2.88 billion, the company told Reuters on Tuesday (Jul 27). The f...

TOKYO: A tropical storm churned towards Japan and the Olympic Games on Tuesday (Jul 27), whipping up welcome waves for surfing medal hopefuls but disrupting other events with rain and strong winds. Olympic organisers have rescheduled rowing and arch...

SEOUL: South Korea and North Korea have restored their once-severed hotlines as part of efforts by the two countries' leaders to rebuild strained ties, Seoul's presidential Blue House said on Tuesday (Jul 27). South Korean President Moon Jae-in and ...

BEIJING: China reported 71 new COVID-19 cases on Monday (Jul 26), the national health authority said on Tuesday, as an outbreak of the highly contagious Delta variant threatens the eastern city of Nanjing. Local infections accounted for 31 of the ne...

TOKYO: Ryusei Ouchi has all the usual trappings of a skateboarder - the baggy T-shirt, the low-slung trousers, the flat-peak baseball hat. But he also skates with something else: A cane. The 21-year-old, who goes by Jido, has lost 95 per cent of his...

French President Emmanuel Macron faced pressure to apologise for the devastating impact of decades of nuclear testing as he kicked off his first official trip to French Polynesia.

The Indian Premier League, the world's richest cricket tournament, will resume in the UAE on September 19, more than four months after it was suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic, officials said Sunday.

Rescuers waded through waist-deep mud in western India Monday to reach injured residents and start a massive clean-up as the death toll from monsoon-triggered landslides and floods climbed to 198.

More than 10 million residents of Ho Chi Minh City will be placed under a strict overnight curfew beginning Monday, an unprecedented move to curb infections as Vietnam battles a rapid Covid-19 surge.

The world needs to be more ambitious and step up efforts to boost global technological cooperation, say Hoe Ee Khor and Suan Yong Foo.

An outbreak on a South Korean ship demonstrates the near-impossibility of containing an outbreak in confined places, says former navy man James Goldrick.

BATANGAS, Philippines: The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology on Friday (Jul 23) night lowered the alert status for Taal volcano from level 3 to 2 (out of 5), effectively shrinking the defined danger zone.   The alert level had been...

As COVID-19 rages in Southeast Asia, regional governments are racing to roll out their national vaccination programmes. In the second part of a series, CNA looks at how Thailand has been hamstrung by an uncertain vaccine delivery schedule.

Shares in China's food delivery giant Meituan plunged 14 percent Monday after new rules were issued to protect hard-pressed drivers, fuelling investor concerns over rising employment costs.

Bhutan has inoculated most of its eligible population with second doses of Covid-19 vaccinations in a week, in a speedy rollout hailed by UNICEF on Monday as a "success story" for international donations.

Triumphant weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz will now forget the years of exile, sacrifice, training and nutrition that took her to the Philippines' first Olympic gold by tucking into her favourite sweet passions, cheesecake and bubble tea.

The Japanese men's gymnastics team, all Olympic novices on a team without "King Kohei" Uchimura for the first time since 2008, lost to Russia by a whisker on Monday and said that while they regretted it, they were already turning their sights on Pari...

YANGON: Myanmar's junta on Monday (Jul 26) cancelled the results of 2020 polls won by Aung San Suu Kyi's party, announcing they were not "free and fair" almost six months after deposing the Nobel laureate in a coup. Investigations had uncovered more...

MANILA: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Monday (Jul 26) the battle against narcotics is far from over, more than five years after he began a brutal war on drugs that has killed thousands and prompted an accusation of possible crimes agai...

KARACHI: Pakistani port authorities plan to remove fuel from a merchant ship that ran aground in rough seas last week before making a salvage attempt in the middle of next month, an official said on Monday (Jul 26). Panama registered MV Heng Tong 77...

BEIJING: Antibodies triggered by Sinovac's COVID-19 vaccine decline below a key threshold from around six months after a second dose for most recipients, although a third shot could have a strong boosting effect, according to a lab study. Chinese re...

BANGKOK: Thailand on Monday (Jul 26) reported 15,376 coronavirus cases, a record number for a second consecutive day, amid public criticism over the pace of the country's vaccination rollout that has fallen behind some neighbours. The Southeast Asia...

SINGAPORE: Badminton player Loh Kean Yew got his Olympic campaign off to a winning start when he beat IOC Refugee Olympic Team’s Aram Mahmoud on Monday (Jul 26).  Loh, ranked 42nd in the world, saw off the challenge 21-15, 21-12 at the Musashin...

TOKYO: Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz made history on Monday (Jul 26) when she became the first athlete from the Philippines to win an Olympic gold medal. The 30-year-old Rio 2016 silver medallist from the southern city of Zamboanga realised her dream i...

NEW DELHI: India is proud of its pluralistic traditions and happy to discuss the issue with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his visit beginning on Tuesday (Jul 27), foreign ministry sources said after Washington said he planned to raise N...

Japan grants health benefits to A-bomb 'black rain' victims

One of Hong Kong's top medal hopes, 23-year-old Siobhan Haughey, is making waves among the top female swimmers with a solid performance in the 200m freestyle heats on Monday, earning her a place in the semi-finals in a hotly contested field.

KUALA LUMPUR: Most Malaysian states are likely to move into phase four or the final phase of the country’s COVID-19 exit strategy by October at the earliest, said Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on Monday (Jul 26).  He was speaking at the speci...

XINXIANG, China: Chinese farmer Cheng wades through knee-deep water, pulling dead pigs behind him one-by-one by a rope tied around their ankles as he lines up the bloated carcasses for disposal. More than 100 of Cheng's pigs drowned in floods that p...

KUALA LUMPUR: Police will investigate a strike staged by contract doctors at Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) on Monday (Jul 26), Malaysian media reported.  Dang Wangi police chief Mohamad Zainal Abdullah was quoted as saying that an investigation paper...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia reported a record 207 deaths from COVID-19 on Monday (Jul 26), with the number of critically ill patients also reaching a new high. The latest fatalities, which come about a week after the country's previous death record, ta...

Indonesia's decision to relax some COVID-19 curbs this week, despite reporting record-high deaths in recent days, is being driven by social and economic concerns rather than epidemiological advice, public health experts said on Monday (Jul 26). As t...

FAIRBANKS, Alaska: United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will become the first member of President Joe Biden's Cabinet to visit Southeast Asia this week, seeking to emphasise the importance Washington places on fortifying ties in the region wh...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will not extend a months-long national state of emergency when it ends on Aug 1, law minister Takiyuddin Hassan said on Monday (Jul 26). Malaysia has been under emergency rule since January, with Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yass...

HONG KONG: One of the Hong Kong democracy activists who was returned from a Chinese jail after being captured at sea last year was ordered detention in a training centre for under-20-year-olds on Monday (Jul 26) for attempted arson and possessing dan...

TOKYO: Home favourite Naomi Osaka stepped up her quest for Olympic gold on Monday (Jul 26) as she eased into the third round of the Tokyo Games tennis tournament with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Switzerland's Viktorija Golubic. The Japanese star was play...

SEOUL: South Korea said on Monday (Jul 26) it has been informed by Moderna of an unspecified production issue involving its COVID-19 vaccine, as the country expands its inoculation campaign for people aged 55 to 59 amid a fourth wave of infections. ...

BEIJING: Beijing urged Washington to stop "demonising" China on Monday (Jul 26) as rancour marked the start of talks with the highest-level US envoy to visit under President Joe Biden's administration. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman's visit...

HONG KONG: China's private education firms are bracing for a "material" hit to their operations after Beijing announced new rules barring for-profit tutoring in core school subjects to ease financial pressures on families. News of the rule changes o...

KUALA LUMPUR: A special meeting for parliamentarians kicked off in Kuala Lumpur on Monday (Jul 26), paving the way for an eventual hybrid parliament sitting. It was the first time that lawmakers gathered in the House of Representatives or Dewan Raky...

BANGKOK: As Thailand’s medical system struggles beneath a surge of COVID-19 cases, ordinary people are helping to plug the gaps, risking their own health to bring care and supplies to often terrified, exhausted patients who have fallen through the ...

MUMBAI: Rescuers waded through waist-deep mud in western India on Monday (Jul 26) to reach injured residents and start a massive clean-up after heavy monsoon rains triggered landslides and floods that killed 159 people. India's western coast was hi...

BEIJING: China reported 76 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday (Jul 25), the highest since the end of January amid a surge of local infections in the eastern city of Nanjing, as it starts a second round of mass testing to contain the outbreak. China has ...

TOKYO: Support for Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga slid nine points to 34 per cent, its lowest since he took office, a survey showed on Monday (Jul 26), as worries about COVID-19 clouded his hopes that the Tokyo Olympics would boost his ratin...

TOKYO: There will be no spectators at the Kasumigaseki Country Club this week, but golf-mad Japan will hang off Hideki Matsuyama's every drive, chip and putt as he attempts to add Tokyo Olympics gold to his Masters green jacket. Asia's first US Mas...

MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan: Pakistan's ruling party of Prime Minister Imran Khan appeared to be winning in a tight race to elect the regional assembly in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, where two poll workers from Khan's party were killed on Sunday (Jul 2...

The financial liberalisation that was supposed to provide emerging markets with more resources for domestic investment has led to exactly the opposite pattern, says Jayati Ghosh.

China's TAL Education Group said on Sunday (Jul 25) that its operations and business prospects could take a hit as a result of Beijing barring for-profit tutoring in core school subjects to ease financial pressures on families.

JAKARTA: Indonesian President Joko Widodo said on Sunday (Jul 25) that the current restrictions put in place to curb COVID-19 will continue until Aug 2, but several adjustments related to community activities and mobility will be made. Under the P...

Japan's Kei Nishikori advanced to the second round of the men's singles at the Tokyo Games on Sunday, triumphing over fifth seed Andrey Rublev 6-3 6-4 on home soil.

The flamboyant Li Fabin pulled off his signature one-legged "flamingo" on his opening clean and jerk lift on Sunday as he made it two out of two Olympic weightlifting gold medals for China.

SEOUL: South Korea said on Sunday (Jul 25) it will tighten social distancing rules across most of the country this week, warning that its worst-ever COVID-19 wave might spread further in the summer holiday season. The curbs will be increased to Leve...

Japanese judoka Uta Abe, 21, won the gold medal in the women's -52 kg category at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics on Sunday, defeating Amandine Buchard of France in the final.

China sends supplies to flooded area, rebuilds barriers

TOKYO: Tokyo, host of the summer Olympics, is bracing for a storm that has begun to disrupt competition schedules this week, though the surfers have taken the predicted rougher weather in their stride. Japan's hot, wet and unstable summer weather pa...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's total COVID-19 cases surpassed 1 million infections on Sunday (Jul 25), after the country's health ministry reported a record 17,045 new cases. The country's total number of infections is now 1,013,438.  The new cases...

113 killed in western India landslides, monsoon flooding

Top-ranked taekwondo champion Lee Dae-hoon lost in the first match of his final Olympics on Sunday, dashing South Korea's best hope for a gold medal in the national sport it once dominated.

HANOI: The United States is considering giving more coronavirus vaccines to Vietnam, its ambassador to the United States said on Sunday (Jul 25), as the Southeast Asian country struggles to control outbreaks of the fast-spreading Delta variant of the...

Intense heat and humidity could force competition schedule changes at the Tokyo Olympics and the International Olympic Committee said on Sunday it would back any such plans if needed.

BEIJING: Chinese commercial hub Shanghai and neighbouring coastal regions cancelled all flights, slowed or suspended subway trains and shuttered businesses as Typhoon In-fa made landfall on Sunday (Jul 25). The typhoon landed in the Putuo district ...

Indonesia is preparing more intensive care units after logging several days of record-high COVID-19 deaths last week, while the country waits to see whether the government will extend or loosen tough restrictions due to expire on Sunday.

There is no relaxation on mask wearing rules, International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams told reporters covering the Tokyo Olympics at a news conference on Sunday.

Thailand on Sunday reported 15,335 coronavirus cases, a daily record, bringing the country's cumulative cases to 497,302.

BEIJING: China reported on Sunday (Jul 25) 32 new COVID-19 cases in the mainland on Jul 24, down from 35 cases a day earlier, the national health authority said. The National Health Commission said in a statement five of the new cases were local in...

World Hepatitis Day is observed on Jul 28 every year and this year’s theme is “Hepatitis Can’t Wait”. Hepatitis C elimination in Malaysia may be possible after it made diagnosis and treatment more affordable and accessible.

Turbocharged by Idul Fitri travel, the Delta variant has cost Indonesia precious healthcare resources, especially in smaller towns and communities, says A’an Suryana.

BANGKOK: China has supplied more than 10,000 COVID-19 vaccines to a Myanmar rebel group operating near its southern border, its spokesman said on Saturday (Jul 24), as Beijing seeks to halt the influx of cases from the coup-wracked country. Myanmar...

WASHINGTON: US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman will make clear to China in upcoming talks that Washington welcomes competition with Beijing, but there needs to be a level playing field and guardrails to prevent that spilling over into confli...

World handball champions Denmark started their bid to capture back-to-back Olympic gold medals by thrashing hosts Japan 47-30 in their opener at the Yoyogi National Stadium on Saturday.

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia may ease some restrictions for people who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, including allowing them to dine in at restaurants, said Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on Saturday (Jul 24). Fully vaccinated residents may a...

BEIJING: China is forcing after-school tutoring companies to register as non-profits and banning classes on weekends and holidays, according to government documents published by state media Saturday (Jul 24). The new rules, aimed at reducing pressur...

HANOI: Vietnam's health ministry reported 7,968 new COVID-19 infections on Saturday (Jul 24), a second record daily increase in a row after the 7,307 cases reported on Friday. More than two-thirds of the cases are in Ho Chi Minh City, the ministry...

Thailand's Panipak Wongpattanakit, the bronze medallist in Rio five years ago, beat Spanish teenager Adriana Cerezo Iglesias to win the women's 49kg taekwondo gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday (Jul 24).

China's Sun Yiwen won the women's individual epee fencing gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Wherever there is a bow and arrow at the Tokyo Olympics, a South Korean won't be far away.

TOKYO: French President Emmanuel Macron met his Japanese counterpart on Saturday (Jul 24) and took in some Olympic judo action after watching Tokyo 2020's opening ceremony in a nearly empty stadium. Macron is in Tokyo for the virus-postponed summer ...

China's butterfly prospect Zhang Yufei is one of their top gold medal hopes at the Tokyo Games, with the 23-year old likely to mark a new era for Chinese swimmers after Olympic champion Sun Yang was banned for four years over doping violations.

China shut down ports and railways on Saturday as it braced for Typhoon In-Fa as parts of the country struggled to recover from devastating floods earlier this week.

Japan's gold medal hope Daiya Seto failed to qualify for the men's 400 metres medley final after finishing ninth in the heats.

Judoka Naohisa Takato won Japan's first gold medal of the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday (Jul 24) with victory in the men's 60kg final at the iconic Nippon Budokan.

China's Wang Shuang scored four goals including a late penalty as the Asian side grabbed a 4-4 draw with Zambia in the Olympics women's soccer tournament at Rifu's Miyagi Stadium on Saturday after Babra Banda netted her second hat-trick in as many ga...

Hosts Japan began their men's volleyball campaign with their first victory at the Olympics in 29 years while Iran edged Poland in a five-set epic in their Pool A openers at an empty Ariake Arena on Saturday.

AstraZeneca is "scouring" its global supply chain to try and boost COVID-19 vaccine supplies to Southeast Asian, its representative for Thailand said on Saturday (Jul 24), amid speculation of local production shortfalls.

MANILA: Philippine authorities moved thousands of residents of the capital, Manila, out of their low-lying communities on Saturday (Jul 24) as heavy monsoon rain, compounded by a tropical storm, flooded the city and nearby provinces.  The national ...

The Indonesian island of Bali is running out of oxygen for its COVID-19 patients as infections surge, the chief of its health agency said, as Southeast Asia's biggest country struggles with the region's worst COVID epidemic.

MUMBAI: Rescue teams in India struggled through thick sludge and debris on Saturday (Jul 24) to reach dozens of submerged homes as the death toll from landslides and accidents caused by torrential monsoon rain rose to 125. Maharashtra state is being...

Malaysia's health ministry reported 15,902 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday (Jul 24), the highest number of daily infections since the beginning of the pandemic.

Toa, the baby orca who captured hearts after he was found stranded in New Zealand waters, has lost his fight for survival, conservationists confirmed Saturday.

SHANGHAI: China criticised NBC Universal for showing an "incomplete map" of the country in its broadcast of the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics, after a map displayed during the arrival of Chinese athletes included neither Taiwan nor the S...

SHANGHAI: China reported 35 new COVID-19 cases on Friday (Jul 23), down from 48 cases a day earlier, the country's national health authority said on Saturday. Local infections accounted for 13 of the new cases, up slightly from 12 a day earlier, the...

HANOI: Vietnam announced a 15-day lockdown in the capital Hanoi starting Saturday (Jul 24) as a coronavirus surge spread from the southern Mekong Delta region. The lockdown order, issued late Friday night, bans the gathering of more than two people ...

Sport stretched out over Tokyo on Saturday as the Olympic Games finally got underway, but the shadow of COVID-19 and controversy was never far away on the opening day.

BEIJING: Internet giant Tencent was ordered by regulators to end exclusive contracts with music copyright holders, adding to increased enforcement of anti-monopoly and other rules as Beijing tightens control over booming online industries. Tencent c...