A plan to downgrade the Covid-19 status from a pandemic to an endemic disease faces a deferral for another week, as health authorities are keeping a close watch on new subvariants and the consequences of lifting restrictions.

NEW YORK: Starting with the lofty goal of competing with traditional banks, cryptocurrency lending giants and their clients now face financial ruin due to their appetite for risk and a paucity of regulatory guardrails.

The Commerce Ministry is trying to maintain consumer product prices for as long as possible but has admitted to production cost hikes.

Freedom and democracy have disappeared in Hong Kong, Taiwan's premier said Friday, as Chinese leader Xi Jinping visited the business hub to celebrate the 25th anniversary of its handover from Britain.

Industrial conglomerate 3M Co said on Friday it will exit its Neoplast and Neobun brands in Thailand and some other Southeast Asian countries, and sell manufacturing assets at its Lat Lum Kaeo plant, as part of its strategic portfolio management.

Boy and girl scouts, Red Cross Youth members, marine scouts and air scouts from schools across Bangkok attended the annual oath-taking ceremony and parade to mark the 111th anniversary of the National Scout Day on Friday.

SONGKHLA: Tourism surged back to life at the Sadao immigration checkpoint, as visitors from Malaysia and Singapore thronged to this southern border province on Friday, the first day the Thailand Pass requirement for international visitors was scrappe...

This week: mask rule end, Singapore TB, post-pandemic era and OnlyFans sex couple surrender

NEW DELHI - India imposed a ban on many single-use plastics on Friday in a bid to tackle waste choking rivers and poisoning wildlife, but experts say it faces severe headwinds from unprepared manufacturers and consumers unwilling to pay more.

SAN PEDRO HUAMELULA, Mexico: A small town Mexican mayor married his alligator bride in a colourful ceremony as traditional music rang out and revellers danced while imploring the indigenous leader to seal the nuptials with a kiss.