Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who is also ruling Liberal Democratic Party president, attends a debate session with other leaders of Japan's main political parties ahead of Oct 31, 2021 lower house election, at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on October 18, 2021. (ISSEI KATO / POOL / AFP) Japanese Prime Minister Fumio […]
In this file photo taken on July 1, 2021, an international passenger reacts after a medical worker gave him a COVID-19 swab test following his arrival for the “Phuket Sandbox” tourism scheme that allows the entry of vaccinated visitors, at Phuket International Airport in Phuket, Thailand. (LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA / AFP) MUMBAI / YANGON – Thailand’s […]
In this photograph taken on Oct 20, 2021, burqa-clad women wait in front of a bakery to get bread donations in Kabul. (BULENT KILIC / AFP) DUBAI – Afghanistan will shortly collapse into chaos unless the international community acts rapidly, Swedish and Pakistani ministers warned on Saturday. Afghanistan plunged into crisis after the Taliban movement […]
The Marina Bay Sands beyond Merlion Park in the central business district of Singapore. (BLOOMBERG) MELBOURNE – Singapore said only fully-vaccinated people and those who had recently recovered from the coronavirus will be allowed to enter workplaces from January, while those who haven’t taken the shots must test negative daily before they are granted access. […]
Palestinian students inspect a classroom at a school destroyed during the recent 11-day war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement, on their first day of the new academic year in Gaza City, on Aug 16, 2021. (MAHMUD HAMS / AFP) TEL AVIV – Israel on Friday designated six Palestinian civil society groups as terrorist […]
Island of Langkawi (MOHD RASFAN / AFP / GETTY IMAGES) WELLINGTON / MELBOURNE / TOKYO / KUALA LUMPUR / JERUSALEM / TEHRAN / BANGKOK / PHNOM PENH / MANILA / SEOUL / SINGAPORE / NEW DELHI – Malaysia will reopen the tourist haven of Langkawi islands to overseas visitors beginning Nov 15, under a pilot international tourism bubble project that will […]
This handout photo taken on Oct 12, 2021 and released by the presidential Blue House via Yonhap news agency shows Republic of Korean President Moon Jae-in speaking as he takes part in a virtual G20 Extraordinary Summit on Afghanistan, in Seoul. (HO / THE BLUE HOUSE / AFP) SEOUL – The Republic of Korean President […]
In this picture taken on Mar 17, 2021, visitors pose for pictures at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka. (PHILIP FONG / AFP) TOKYO – A total of 35 people were temporarily stranded on the top of a roller coaster at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka on Friday afternoon due to a power outage, but no […]
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announces an ambitious target of fully vaccinating 90% of eligible people to end coronavirus lockdowns, in Wellington on Oct 22, 2021. (ROBERT KITCHIN / POOL PHOTO VIA AP) WELLINGTON – New Zealand's Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, paused briefly as an earthquake rattled the capital Wellington on Friday while she […]
A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on Oct 10, 2020 shows a fire devouring a forest in Syria's Latakia province the previous day. (SANA / AFP) AMMAN – Syria executed 24 people it said had set fires that swept swathes of forests mainly in the coastal province of Latakia, […]
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan addresses the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly on Sept 21, 2021 at UN headquarters. (EDUARDO MUNOZ / POOL PHOTO VIA AP) ANKARA – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday threatened to expel the ambassadors of ten western countries over their statement for the release of a detained […]
The NURI rocket, the first domestically produced space rocket, lifts off from a launch pad at the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Korea on Oct 21, 2021. (KOREA POOL / YONHAP VIA AP) GOHEUNG, South Korea – South Korea's first domestically built space rocket blasted off on Thursday, but failed to fully place a […]
A private meeting of the UN Security Council is held at the UN headquarters in New York on Jun 8, 2021. During the meeting, the council endorsed Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for a second five-year term. (PHOTO / XINHUA) GENEVA – The United Nations said on Thursday it had set up a special trust fund to […]
Prime Minister and governing Liberal Democratic Party President Fumio Kishida (left) speaks during a debate session with other leaders of Japan's main political parties ahead of the Oct 31, 2021 lower house election at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on Oct 18 , 2021. (ISSEI KATO / POOL PHOTO VIA AP) TOKYO – […]
A medic from Israel's Magen David Adom emergency service prepares a booster shot of the coronavirus vaccine in Tel Aviv, Israel on Aug 14, 2021. (TSAFRIR ABAYOV / AP) SYDNEY / YANGON / COLOMBO / KUALA LUMPUR / NEW DELHI / WELLINGTON / TOKYO / NEW DELHI / RAMALLAH / GAZA / SEOUL / JERUSALEM […]
In this file photo taken on Sept 3, 2017, Japan's Princess Mako, right, the elder daughter of Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko, and her fiance Kei Komuro, look at each other during a press conference at Akasaka East Residence in Tokyo. (SHIZUO KAMBAYASHI / POOL / AP) TOKYO – Japan's Princess Mako will marry a […]
A rescue team delivers rations and essential supplies to Chukum village across the flooded Kosi river, with the broken retaining wall of the Lemon Tree hotel seen on right, in Uttarakhand state, India on Oct 20, 2021. (MUSTAFA QURAISHI / AP PHOTO) NEW DELHI – More than 150 people have died in flooding across India […]
The sign of the Commonwealth Bank is seen at one of its branches in Melbourne on Aug 8, 2018. (PHOTO / AFP) SYDNEY – New Zealand has become the first country to pass laws requiring banks, insurers and investment managers to report the impacts of climate change on their business, officials said on Thursday. About […]
This picture taken on Oct 19, 2021 and released from the DPRK's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Oct 20, 2021 shows the test-fire of a new type submarine-launched ballistic missile in an undisclosed location in the DPRK. (STR / AFP / KCNA VIA KNS) SEOUL – The Democratic People's Republic of Korea said […]
In this file photo taken on Sept 3, 2021, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks during a press conference in Wellington. (ROBERT KITCHIN / POOL / AFP) WELLINGTON – New Zealand and Britain have agreed in principle the details of a historic Free Trade Agreement, which will see a boost of almost 1 billion […]
TEHRAN – Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations Majid Takht Ravanchi has called for an action by the UN Security Council (UNSC) to tackle rising Israeli threats to Tehran's nuclear program, Tasnim news agency reported Wednesday. In a letter to the UNSC on Tuesday, Takht Ravanchi said over the past months, the number and intensity […]
A health worker prepares a booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at Ichilov medical center in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Aug 2, 2021. (PHOTO / BLOOMBERG) As COVID-19 cases soar again in the United Kingdom, officials could look to a country that’s moved past a similar crisis for a possible roadmap. The search for […]
Palestinians wait for their turn outside al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on April 7, 2021. (MAHMUD HAMS / AFP) A funding deal between the United States and a United Nations agency working for Palestinian refugees is “immoral” and will put Palestinians at a disadvantage, analysts said, lamenting the absence of consultation with stakeholders. Palestinian factions […]
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina addresses the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters on Sept 24, 2021 in New York. (JOHN ANGELILLO / POOL / AFP) DHAKA – Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina have come down heavily on the developed nations for climate "empty pledges" in the past decades. She […]
Onlookers gather around the scene of a blast as Syrian municipal workers clean the site of the early morning attack on an army bus, that was targeted with explosive devices, in the capital Damascus on Oct 20, 2021. (LOUAI BESHARA / AFP) DAMASCUS/AMMAN – A bomb attack on an army bus in Damascus on Wednesday […]
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov gives a speech at the opening of an international conference on Afghanistan with Taliban representatives in Moscow on Oct 20, 2021. (HANDOUT / RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY / AFP) Russia called for major international aid to help the Taliban control the situation in Afghanistan on Wednesday as it hosted the Islamic […]
A Republic of Korea Army soldier stands on a K21 tank on display at the Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition (ADEX) in Seongnam, south of Seoul, on Oct 18, 2021. (ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP) SEONGNAM – The Republic of Korea should redouble its efforts to become a global defense industry leader, President Moon Jae-in […]
A member of the Philippine National Police stands on a road in San Juan City, Metro Manila, the Philippines, Aug 6, 2021. (VEEJAY VILLAFRANCE/BLOOMBERG) MANILA – The Philippines justice ministry will review thousands of killings in President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs, its chief said, after releasing details of a first batch of cases that […]
This photograph provided by India's National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) shows NDRF personnel rescuing civilians stranded following heavy rains at Chhara village near Nainital, Uttarakhand on Oct 20, 2021. At least 43 people have died and another 30 are missing after three days of heavy rainfall triggered landslides and flash floods in Nepal, police said on Wednesday. […]
Submerged cars are seen at a flooded hotel resort as extreme rainfall caused the Kosi River to overflow at the Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand, India, on Oct 19, 2021. (MUSTAFA QURAISHI / AP) NEW DELHI – Authorities in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand Wednesday said that heavy rains triggering floods have killed […]