SEOUL – The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s state media accused the United States on Friday of double standards over military activities and pursuing a hostile policy towards Pyongyang that was hampering the restart of talks on the country's nuclear weapons and missile programs. The commentary comes after DPRK and the Republic of Korea […]
Candidates for the presidential election of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party pose prior to a joint news conference at the party's headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, Sept 17, 2021. The contenders are (from left) Taro Kono, the cabinet minister in charge of vaccinations; Fumio Kishida, former foreign minister; Sanae Takaichi, former internal affairs minister; and Seiko […]
In this Aug 13, 2021 photo, Muslims attend congregational Friday prayers with social distancing measures in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic at a mosque in Surabaya. (JUNI KRISWANTO / AFP) Halal industries such as food manufacturing and fashion retail are seen to help Southeast Asian economies recover from the pandemic, with a growing number […]
This aerial photo taken on June 13, 2021, shows buildings amid smog in Jakarta. (BAY ISMOYO / AFP) JAKARTA – Indonesia's environment ministry said on Friday it would appeal a Jakarta court ruling that found President Joko Widodo, several ministries and top local officials guilty of environmental negligence over chronic air pollution. Rapid urbanisation and […]
With tourism on the ropes, long-term visas can pep up economy, experts say A mobile phone case vendor wearing a protective mask to help curb the spread of the coronavirus waits for customers in Bangkok, Thailand, Sept 14, 2021. (SAKCHAI LALIT / AP) Moves by Thailand to offer long-term visas to wealthy foreigners as part […]
WASHINGTON – The US State Department has approved a potential agreement covering up to US$500 million in military support services for Saudi Arabia, and has sent the agreement to Congress for review, the Pentagon said on Thursday. It was the first major defense agreement for Saudi Arabia sent to Congress since President Joe Biden took […]
Japan's former women's empowerment minister Seiko Noda announces her run for leadership of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party at its headquarters in Tokyo on September 16, 2021. (PHOTO / BLOOMBERG) Former Japanese communications minister Seiko Noda said she plans to run to in a vote this month to succeed outgoing Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, as […]
Travelers push their luggage on trolleys across a pedestrian crossing to enter the departure hall of Changi International Airport in Singapore on Aug 19, 2021. (ROSLAN RAHMAN / AFP) JAKARTA / SYDNEY / PHNOM PENH / YANGON / SINGAPORE / TEHRAN / ANKARA / WELLINGTON / SEOUL / KUALA LUMPUR / VIENTIANE / ISLAMABAD / MANILA / BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN- Singapore […]
A convoy of tanker trucks carrying Iranian diesel arrives at the eastern town of el-Ain, Lebanon on Sept 16, 2021. (BILAL HUSSEIN / AP) TEHRAN – Iran is ready to meet the demands of Lebanon in different areas, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said, the Tasnim news agency reported on Thursday. Iranian Foreign Minister […]
This photo taken on Jan 6, 2021 shows the packing line for inactivated COVID-19 vaccines of Sinovac Biotech, a Chinese biopharmaceutical company, in Beijing, capital of China. (ZHANG YUWEI / XINHUA) Thousands of Australians have signed a petition calling on their government to consider importing Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccines to boost the country’s vaccination program. As […]
This photo taken on Oct 17, 2018 shows an Indian farmer burning straw stubble after harvesting the paddy crops in a field on the outskirts of Amritsar. Every November, air pollution in northern India reaches levels unimaginable in most parts of the world, forcing schools shut and filling hospital wards with wheezing patients. As winter […]
The Royal Australian Navy's HMAS Waller (SSG 75), a Collins-class diesel-electric submarine, is seen in Sydney Harbour on November 2, 2016. (PETER PARKS / AFP) WASHINGTON – The United States, Britain, and Australia announced on Wednesday the creation of a new trilateral security partnership. US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and Australian […]
PYONGYANG – The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) launched a railway-borne missile Wednesday with a mission to strike the target area 800 km away, the official Korean Central News Agency reported Thursday. "The test firing drill took place for the purpose of confirming the practicality of the railway-borne missile system deployed for action for […]
An alleged drug dealer is handcuffed after a drug buy bust operation conducted by policemen where they caught this 18 year old boy selling marijuana in Manila on May 12, 2018. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's "war on drugs" has left thousands of drug suspects dead and seen human rights groups claim he was responsible for […]
Travelers are seen at Sydney International airport on June 23, 2021 in Sydney, Australia. (PHOTO / BLOOMBERG) Hundreds of overseas workers could be welcomed to Australia in the next 10 months, under a new class of visa the government is creating to aid the post-pandemic recovery – even as tens of thousands of its own […]
A housekeeping worker sanitizes a bedroom at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Langkawi on Sept 15, 2021, as the Malaysian holiday island is set to reopen to domestic tourists on Sept 16 following closures due to restrictions to halt the spread of the coronavirus. (MOHD RASFAN / AFP) JAKARTA / SEOUL / KUALA LUMPUR / BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN / JERUSALEM […]
Japan's Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election candidate and former Japan's defense minister Shigeru Ishiba attends a debate ahead of the Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) leadership election, in Tokyo on Sept 12, 2020. (Charly TRIBALLEAU / POOL / AFP) TOKYO – Shigeru Ishiba, a heavyweight politician of Japan's ruling party, formally announced on Wednesday that he […]
This handout photo taken on Aug 13, 2021 and provided by the Republic of Korea (ROK)'s Defense Ministry on Sept 7, 2021 shows the locally-developed, diesel-powered 3,000-tonne Dosan Ahn Chang-ho submarine during its commissioning ceremony on the southern island of Geoje, ROK. (HANDOUT / SOUTH KOREAN DEFENSE MINISTRY / AFP) The Republic of Korea (ROK) […]
Taliban fighters patrol along a street in Kabul on Sept 13, 2021. (HOSHANG HASHIMI / AFP) KUNDUZ, Afghanistan – The Taliban intelligence chief in Afghanistan's northern Kunduz province has rejected reports of the local presence of militants affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) group as baseless and fabricated. "Lasting peace has returned to Kunduz province […]
In this photo released by Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS), the wreckage of a small Rimbun Air cargo airplane is seen from a rescue helicopter in the mountain near Intan Jaya, Papua province, Indonesia on Sept 15, 2021. The plane was reported missing 50 minutes after it took off Wednesday in the country's […]
A man watches a television news broadcast showing file footage of a missile test conducted by the DPRK, at a railway station in Seoul on Sept 15, 2021, after the DPRK fired two short-term ballistic missiles into the East Sea according to the ROK's military. (JUNG YEON-JE / AFP) SEOUL – The Democratic People's Republic of […]
JERUSALEM – Bahrain's first ambassador to Israel, Khaled Yusuf Al Jalahma, presented his credentials to Israeli president Isaac Herzog on Tuesday, a year after the two countries signed a normalization deal. The UAE and Bahrain signed the US-brokered agreements to normalize their ties with Israel in September 2020 The Israeli president received the credentials from […]
Taro Kono, Japan's regulatory reform and vaccine minister, attends a news conference announcing to run for leader of the Liberal Democratic Party in Tokyo, Japan, on Sept 10, 2021. (TURO HANAI / BLOOMBERG) Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party has kept a lock on power for most of the past 66 years in part because its seen […]
In this file photo on Oct 22, 2013, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi speaks during United Nations day in Tehran. (PHOTO / AFP) Iran on Tuesday named senior diplomat Ali Bagheri Kani to replace Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, a seasoned diplomat and chief negotiator in talks on Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world […]
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad at the Kremlin in Moscow on Sept 13, 2021. (MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV / SPUTNIK / AFP) Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad in the Kremlin Monday, backing the Syrian leader’s efforts to eliminate the last enclaves of rebels backed by the US […]
A monk at the deserted viewing platform at Wat Suthep in Chiang Mai, Thailand. (LUKE DUGGLEBY/BLOOMBERG) SYDNEY / TEHRAN / JERUSALEM / KUALA LUMPUR / YANGON / WELLINGTON / SEOUL / ANKARA / ISLAMABAD / KUTA / ULAN BATOR – Thailand aims to attract 1 million “high-potential” foreigners through an overhaul of visa rules that […]
In this photo released by Malaysia's Department of Information, Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, (center) and opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim (left) sign documents during a ceremony at Parliament at the parliament house in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Sept. 13, 2021. (ZARITH ZULKIFLI / MALAYSIA'S DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION VIA AP) KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia's government […]
Special Representative for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Sung Kim (left), Director-General of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan Takehiro Funakoshi (center) and the Republic of Korea's Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Noh Kyu-duk pose for photos ahead of the Japan-US-ROK […]
Lee Jae-myung, governor of South Korea's most populous province Gyeonggi, speaks during an interview in Suwon on Sept 29, 2020. (PHOTO / BLOOMBERG) SEOUL – A South Korean politician who once said he aspired to be a "successful Bernie Sanders" is leading the field to replace Moon Jae-in as president after rising to prominence with […]
Sri Lanka, Pakistan among nations stressing role of science in studies A Sri Lankan Heath worker takes swab sample from a man to test for COVID-19 in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Aug 11, 2021. (ERANGA JAYAWARDENA / AP) More Asian countries are voicing their opposition to efforts by some outside the region to politicize studies into […]