New Delhi resident Shivansh Rajeev, a web developer, believes India was right to abstain from a United Nations General Assembly resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.As India’s biggest supplier of arms, the country cannot afford to s...

Hong Kong’s finance chief has doubled down on a rent deferral scheme to help struggling commercial tenants, rejecting other options such as dipping into public coffers to subsidise such businesses.The unprecedented proposal put forward by Financial...

In the annual legislative session held over the past week in Beijing, none of the reports were delivered by President Xi Jinping himself, and the top leader did not chair any press conferences. But no one has any doubt whose show it was.Xi’s name w...

Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Sunday that Russia might use chemical weapons following its invasion of Ukraine and that such a move would be a war crime, according to an interview in German newspaper Welt am Sonntag.“In recent days...

Some 300,000 Covid-19 patients and their close contacts in Hong Kong are now under home quarantine, according to Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, who has conceded authorities cannot keep up with the number of infections as they reported mo...

The most urgent thing Hongkongers need right now is a boost to their morale and confidence. That will only come when they feel the authorities have a clear strategy for dealing with the pandemic and a coherent, logical plan to implement it.They want ...

China is scrambling to address its most severe domestic Covid-19 outbreak in nearly two years, reporting soaring cases in a fresh wave that has seen the country tweak its zero-Covid policy by allowing rapid antigen tests (RATs) for public use.After t...

A scandal-plagued Malaysian political coalition won a sweeping victory in local polls in Johor state on Saturday, giving it a boost ahead of expected national elections due next year.The Barisan Nasional (BN) took 40 of 56 seats, claiming a two-third...

“Common prosperity” may be on the lips of officials across China, but many local authorities are struggling to put the plan into action.After Beijing announced last year it had eliminated extreme poverty, it turned its attention to addressing soc...

As many as 12 missiles were fired on Sunday toward the United States consulate in Iraq’s northern city of Arbil, Iraqi security officials said. A US defence official said missiles had been launched at the city from neighbouring Iran.Officials in Ir...

More women are needed in top leadership and policymaking positions across the Asia-Pacific to help combat the threat posed by climate change, according to a senior United Nations representative for the region.Asia’s women often work on the front li...

Ethiopian authorities say they will prosecute individuals seen in a gruesome video in which armed men appear to burn at least three people alive.The video, shared widely on social media since Friday, has sparked anger among many in this country facin...

Bali is gearing up for an influx of foreign travellers now that the Indonesian government has reduced quarantine requirements for international tourists.Now, all foreigners and Indonesians returning from abroad who have received at least three shots ...

The historic surge in oil is reshaping the outlook for Asian equity and currency markets, as the spectre of prolonged high prices exposes the vulnerability of energy-dependent countries.Risks of a rise in consumer prices and disruption to current-acc...

Struggling Hong Kong businesses are stuck in limbo and cannot make plans for the future amid rising fears of shutdowns or bankruptcy after government proposals for mass Covid-19 testing were left hanging in the balance.Various industry leaders told t...

After close to two years of being shut to international tourists, Indonesia last Monday began quarantine-free entry to its most popular resort island of Bali for vaccinated foreigners – with some strings attached. Eligible travellers must have had ...

A Hong Kong government plan to recruit mainland Chinese workers to care for infected elderly and disabled residents is facing challenges, as some candidates are concerned about the risk of catching Covid-19 amid the city’s raging epidemic.The decis...

Russian forces fired eight missiles at a Ukrainian military facility near the Polish border on Sunday, officials said, in what appeared to be the westernmost attack of the war, and air raid sirens again woke residents in the capital Kyiv.“The occup...

Cristiano Ronaldo became the all-time leading men’s goalscorer in football history as his brilliant hat-trick inspired Manchester United’s 3-2 win against Tottenham, while Liverpool closed the gap on Premier League leaders Manchester City with a ...

Australia’s decision to build a nuclear submarine base will pose a threat to China, an analyst has warned, while another said it is a sign for Beijing to rethink its approach to foreign relations.This comes after Australia announced it would build ...

France is offering a fourth dose of a coronavirus vaccine to people older than 80 who had their booster more than three months ago, the prime minister said on Saturday.Jean Castex told Le Parisian newspaper that they were nevertheless recommended to ...

Italian authorities have seized another megayacht apparently owned by a Russian billionaire on the EU sanctions list.The almost 143-metre-long three-master is estimated to be worth around €530 million (US$578 million) and is considered the largest ...

US President Joe Biden on Saturday authorised an additional US$200 million in weapons and other help for Ukraine, the White House said, as Ukrainian officials said heavy shelling by Russian forces were endangering attempted evacuations of civilians.T...

Finland’s long-delayed and costly new nuclear reactor went online on Saturday amid expectations that it will boost the Nordic country’s electricity self-sufficiency and help to achieve its carbon neutrality targets.Finnish operator Teollisuuden V...

Thousands of people packed into one of Florence’s biggest squares on Saturday to show their support for Ukraine and listen to a videoed speech from its President Volodymyr Zelensky.Florence has been twinned with Kyiv since the 1960s, when Ukraine�...

A pensioner attacked French far-right presidential candidate Eric Zemmour with a raw egg on Saturday.The 70-year-old man smacked the egg down on Zemmour’s head in the southern commune of Moissac, the local prosecutor’s office said.It added that t...

Saudi Arabia on Saturday executed 81 people convicted of crimes ranging from killings to belonging to militant groups, the largest known mass execution carried out in the kingdom in its modern history.The number of executed surpassed even the toll of...

Pakistan on Saturday demanded a joint probe into a missile India said it accidentally fired into its territory, rejecting New Delhi’s decision to hold an internal inquiry into the incident and calling on the international community to play a role.�...

The number of refugees fleeing Ukraine since the Russian invasion two weeks ago is now nearly 2.6 million, the UN said Saturday.The UN High Commissioner for Refugees said there were 2,597,543 refugees who had fled Ukraine so far, in the latest update...

Russian forces upped pressure on Kyiv Saturday, pummelling civilian areas in other Ukrainian cities, amid fresh efforts to get aid to the devastated port city of Mariupol.Russian strikes destroyed the airport in the town of Vasylkiv on Saturday morni...

China has urged the United Nations to “properly address” Russian claims that the US is building a military biological programme in Ukraine – allegations that the United States has dismissed as misinformation.At a UN Security Council meeting on ...

China overtook the United States in top scientific studies in 2019, four years after it reached the same milestone against the European Union, according to a study by researchers from the US, China and Europe.The study, published in the journal Scien...

A former anti-corruption chief of China’s Ministry of State Security is under investigation as the Communist Party seeks to “purify” its ranks in the countdown to its national congress this autumn.Liu Yanping, 66, was under investigation for �...

Most business owners have shut up shop and fled Ukraine’s Mikolaiv, but florist Angela Kalisnik continues to sell tulips and roses just a short drive away from the frontline.“We didn’t know the war was coming,” the 25-year-old said. “Flower...

Prince Harry was accused Saturday of snubbing Queen Elizabeth after announcing he will miss her late husband’s memorial service, amid a legal dispute over his security protection in Britain.While a spokesperson confirmed that Harry will skip the se...

The fighting between Ukraine and Russia is being closely watched by both the People’s Liberation Army and Taiwanese military as Ukraine’s forces, using anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles provided by the West, inflict heavy losses on their large...

The son of a prominent Chinese human rights lawyer has been granted asylum by a court in the United States, after surviving years of political persecution as a minor by association with his activist parents in China. Friday’s ruling by an immigrat...

Like the rest of the world, China is watching closely as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine unfolds, while also bracing for the impact of escalating Western sanctions against Russia.As the largest trading partner of both Russia and Ukraine, China has a l...

A delegate at China’s top political advisory body has urged the authorities to ensure appropriate and “harmless treatment” of companion pets during the Covid-19 pandemic.Chen Wei, a member of the National People’s Congress, said China has leg...

Western sanctions against Russia could cause the International Space Station to crash, the head of Russian space agency Roscosmos warned Saturday, calling for the punitive measures to be lifted.According to Dmitry Rogozin, the sanctions, some of whic...

Any country giving “credibility” to claims by Moscow of US-funded bioweapon labs in Ukraine was effectively aligning itself with Russia’s attack against Ukraine, the United States said on Friday, hours after a top Chinese diplomat said the unpr...

Hong Kong reported a record 198 coronavirus-related deaths on Saturday, although the recent downtrend in cases remained in place, with officials confirming about 27,600 new infections.City leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor cautioned against premature...

The Kashmir valley has been mired in conflict for more than three decades, the prize in a tug of war between India and Pakistan, and the scene of a long-running armed insurgency. Bouts of deadly violence and street protests against Indian rule are co...

China’s first-tier cities, from Shanghai in the east to Shenzhen in the south, are racing to tamp down the country’s latest Covid-19 wave, with more than 1,500 new cases reported nationwide on Saturday.With the surge in case posing new challenges...

When Catholic priest Father Nap Baltazar raised his hands to bless the people attending mass, the sleeves on his white vestment slid back to reveal a pink bracelet inscribed with the words “Let Leni Lead”.Baltazar, 47, belongs to a group of like-...

The 60-year-old City Hall in Hong Kong is set to become its first post-war monument in an unprecedented move by the government that takes into account residents’ shared history and the structure being a beacon for social equality.Experts said it wa...

Public health experts at the World Health Organization have begun discussing how and when to call an end to the global Covid-19 crisis, according to people familiar with the matter.The WHO isn’t currently considering such a declaration, according t...

Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the nation’s political leaders want to move to a new phase of living with Covid-19 as though it were the flu, but would consult health experts.A day after meeting with the national cabinet of state a...

Air raid sirens blared across most cities in Ukraine on Saturday morning urging people to seek shelter, after President Volodymyr Zelensky said the war had reached a “strategic turning point”.Conflict raged northwest of Kyiv on Saturday and other...

Singapore’s gay rights campaigners know full well that their years-long campaign to repeal the country’s colonial-era law that criminalises consensual sex between men is a marathon, not a sprint.That reality came into focus in recent weeks, after...