Myanmar revokes Arakan Army’s terrorist designation

Riot police approach protesters' barricade in an attempt to disperse demonstration against the military coup in Naypyidaw, Myanmar on March 4, 2021. (STR / AFP) YANGON – Myanmar's Anti-Terrorism Central Committee Thursday issued an order of withdrawing the terrorist designation of Arakan Army (AA) under the approval of the State Administration Council. Last year, the […]

Japan mourns victims of 2011 quake, Fukushima nuke disaster

Japan's Emperor Naruhito (right) and Empress Masako bow in front of an altar for victims of the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, at the national memorial service in Tokyo, Japan, March 11, 2021. (BEHROUZ MEHRI / POOL PHOTO VIA AP) IWAKI – With a moment of silence, prayers and anti-nuclear protests, Japan on Thursday […]

Turkey jails 5 to life over envoy’s killing

In this, Dec 19, 2016 photo, Andrei Karlov, then Russian Ambassador to Turkey, pauses during a speech at a photo exhibition in Ankara, moments before Mevlut Mert Altintas, seen background left, opened fire on him and killed him. (BURHAN OZBILICI / AP) A Turkish court on Tuesday sentenced five people to life in jail over […]

Saudi Arabia vows to protect oil facilities after drone attack

Saudi Arabia said it would guarantee global energy security and deter further attacks on its infrastructure, days after a missile and drone assault on the world’s largest oil-export terminal. The attack on the kingdom’s Ras Tanura port on Sunday caused a brief spike in oil prices and was claimed by Iran-backed Houthi fighters in neighboring […]

Fukushima casts long shadow

The Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is seen from the coast of Futaba town in Fukushima prefecture on March 10, 2021, on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the 9.0-magnitude earthquake which triggered a tsunami and nuclear disaster which killed over 18,000 people. (KAZUHIRO NOGI / AFP TOKYO-When […]

Japanese see high anaphylaxis rate after receiving Pfizer jab

A woman looks at her phone while commuting on a train in Tokyo on March 5, 2021. (CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP) SEOUL / ANKARA / AMMAN / TOKYO – Japan's health ministry reported nine new incidents of people experiencing severe allergic reactions after receiving a coronavirus vaccine, with the minister in charge of vaccination efforts […]

Saudi Arabia vows steps to ensure oil supply, deter attacks

Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal Bin Farhan holds a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov (unseen) after their meeting in the capital Riyadh, on March 10, 2021. (FAYEZ NURELDINE / AFP) CAIRO – Saudi Arabia will take measures to ensure global energy security and deter attacks on its oil infrastructure, Foreign Minister Prince […]

Iran seeks neither nuke weapons nor weapons of mass destruction

A handout picture provided by Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation shows the head of the country's atomic agency Ali Akbar Salehi looking at Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) during a joint press conference in Tehran on Aug 25 2020. (PHOTO / AFP) TEHRAN – Iran does not seek nuclear weapons and is […]

Israel’s Netanyahu to visit UAE on Thursday, Army Radio reports

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference with US Presidential Adviser (not in frame) in Jerusalem on Dec 21, 2020. (RONEN ZVULUN / X90084 / AFP) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will fly to the United Arab Emirates on Thursday, Army Radio reported, without saying where it got the information. It would […]

Sources: India to buy first US armed drones

People look at a "Predator MQ-9" drone at the International Aerospace Exhibition (ILA) in Schoenefeld on May 30, 2016. (TOBIAS SCHWARZ / AFP) India plans to buy 30 armed drones from the US to boost its sea and land defenses, according to officials with knowledge of the matter. The South Asian nation will approve next […]

S. Korean hospitals extract extra virus vaccine doses from vials

South Korean President Moon Jae-in, top right, watches a doctor receives a shot of AstraZeneca vaccine at a public health center in Seoul, South Korea, Feb 26, 2021. (PHOTO / AP) SEOUL – In a handful of South Korean hospitals, designated nurses are using specially designed syringes to squeeze extra doses of coronavirus vaccine out […]

Armenia govt says decree sacking top general comes into force

Armenian opposition supporters rally to demand the resignation of the prime minister over his handling of last year's war with Azerbaijan, in Yerevan on March 9, 2021. (KAREN MINASYAN / AFP) MOSCOW – The Armenian government said the dismissal of a top army general at the centre of a political crisis had come into force on […]

Lebanese army starts clearing roadblocks after week of protests

Lebanese army personnel stand on one side while anti-government demonstrators and journalists stand on the other at a make-shift roadblock erected in the area of Jal el-Dib east of the Lebanese capital Beirut on March 8, 2021 during a protest against the dire economic and social conditions. (ANWAR AMRO / AFP) BEIRUT – The Lebanese […]

Official: Iran ready for prisoner swap with US

Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei speaks during a news conference in the capital Tehran on July 22, 2019. (PHOTO / AFP) TEHRAN – Iran remains ready for exchanging all the prisoners with the United States, the Iranian government's spokesman said on Tuesday. The spokesman stressed that Iran's position has not changed, reiterating the fact that […]

Kyodo: No overseas fans at 2020 Tokyo Olympics

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during his visit to the Israeli city of Beit Shemesh, near Jerusalem on Sept 8, 2020. (ALEX KOLOMOISKY / POOL PHOTO VIA AP) DAMASCUS / ANKARA / JERUSALEM – The Japanese government decided to exclude overseas spectators from attending the Tokyo Olympics, Kyodo reported, citing officials with knowledge of the […]

Lebanon’s collapse piles strain on army, security forces

Lebanese army soldiers stand next to a freight truck loaded with concrete slabs parked across the highway by anti-govt demonstrators to block the road in the town of Jiyeh, south of the Lebanese capital on March 8, 2021, during a protest against the deteriorating value of the local currency and dire economic and social conditions. […]

Ten years after Fukushima, Japan remembers ‘man-made’ disaster

This file handout picture taken by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) from the Air Photo Service on March 20, 2011 shows the stricken Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi No.1 nuclear power plant reactor number three (left) and four (right), with smoke rising from number three, in the town of Okuma in Fukushima prefecture. […]

Sources: UN envoy in Doha to push on Afghan peace process

Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Afghanistan Deborah Lyons delivers a statement during the 2020 Afghanistan donor conference hosted by the United Nations in Geneva on Nov 24, 2020. (FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP) DUBAI – The United Nation’s envoy for Afghanistan is due to arrive in Qatar on Tuesday to meet with Afghan government […]

S. Korea urged to do more to boost fertility

A general view shows apartment buildings and the Seoul city skyline early on Dec 16, 2020. (ED JONES / AFP) South Korea must act to sharpen its demographic and economic policies in the face of a stubbornly low fertility rate if the country is to stave off a crippling long-term trend of population shrinkage, analysts […]

Philippines raises Taal volcano alert on increasing unrest

Men watch from Tagaytay, Cavite province, south of Manila, as Taal Volcano continues to spew ash on Jan 14, 2020. Thousands of people fled the area through heavy ash as experts warned that the eruption could get worse and plans were being made to evacuate more.(AARON FAVILA / AP) The Philippines increased its alert level […]

Aussies condemn violence against women amid rape claims

This file photo taken in Canberra on March 22, 2020, captures the front entrance of Australia's Parliament House. (DAVID GRAY / AFP) SYDNEY – Hundreds of mostly female workers gathered outside government buildings in Sydney to condemn violence against women and call for greater gender equality in workplaces, amid growing scrutiny over the treatment of […]

Thailand backs vaccine passport ahead of wider reopening

A nurse fills a syringe with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination centre in Seoul on Feb 27, 2021. (PHOTO / AFP) BEIRUT / BAGHDAD / DOHA – Thailand moved a step closer to issuing vaccine certificates, with a panel of officials backing the proposal seen as a major milestone toward allowing the tourism-reliant […]

Iran urges Saudi Arabia to end war on Yemen

In this Dec 9, 2020 photo, security forces loyal to the Houthi group walk while on duty during a mass wedding for thousands of couples including the poor, handicapped, and wounded, in Yemen's capital Sanaa. (MOHAMMED HUWAIS / AFP) TEHRAN – Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday called for the cessation of war and […]