Vendors wearing protective face masks prepare noddle at a food stall in Mangwon Market in Seoul, South Korea, Feb 9, 2021. (PHOTO / BLOOMBERG) MELBOURNE / TOKYO / PHNOM PENH / NEW DELHI / JAKARTA / DUBAI / BAGHDAD / JERUSALEM / KUWAIT CITY / BEIRUT / ULAN BATOR / YANGON / WELLINGTON / ISLAMABAD […]
This handout satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies on Jan 8, 2020 shows an overview of Iran's Arak Heavy Water Reactor Facility, south of the capital Tehran. (PHOTO / SATELLITE IMAGE 2021 MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES / AFP) PARIS – France, Germany and Britain on Friday urged Iran to stop producing uranium metal in violation of the […]
This handout photo taken and released on July 27, 2020 by the Philippines' Presidential Photo Division (PPD) shows Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte delivering his annual State of the Nation Address in congress in Manila. (HANDOUT / PHILIPPINES' PRESIDENTIAL PHOTOGRAPHERS DIVISION / AFP) Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said he wants the US to pay to keep […]
In this June 12, 2019 photo, ROK Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong (center) speaks to the media after returning from Panmunjom at the Inter-Korean Transit Office in Paju. (LEE JIN-MAN / POOL / AFP) SEOUL – Top diplomats of the Republic of Korea and the United States held phone talks over issues on the Korean Peninsula […]
Police stand guard along a road during demontrations in Naypyidaw, Myanmar on Feb 11, 2021. (PHOTO / AFP) WASHINGTON / YANGON – The United States on Thursday announced a series of sanctions against multiple Myanmar's military leaders and entities. The US designated 10 current and former military officials and blacklisted three entities related to military […]
People cross a street in Melbourne on Feb 12, 2021. (CON CHRONIS / AFP) SYDNEY / KABUL / NEW DELHI / KUWAIT CITY / BEIRUT / ULAN BATOR / WELLINGTON / MANILA / ANKARA / TASHKENT – Australia’s second-most populous city will enter a five-day snap coronavirus lockdown, authorities said on Friday, barring spectators for much of the Australian […]
A search for 'Australia News' on the Google homepage, arranged on a desktop computer in Sydney, Australia, Jan 22, 2021. (PHOTO / BLOOMBERG) Imagine a world without Google, the search engine so pervasive it’s the starting point for more than five billion queries a day. That’s the reality facing Australia, where the tech giant is […]
In this file photograph dated Oct 5, 2018, Ri Son-gwon, then Chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification and the current foreign minister of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, speaks during a joint DPRK and Republic of Korea event marking the 11th anniversary of a 2007 inter-Korean summit, at the People's Palace of […]
In this Sept 22, 2020 photo, a rocket launches from a S-400 missile system at the Ashuluk military base in Southern Russia. (Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP) ANKARA – Turkey will not turn back from its acquisition of Russian S-400 defense systems despite US sanctions, it said on Thursday, but added it would seek to resolve […]
Asylum seekers and foreign workers wait in line to receive their first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine at a vaccination center in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb 9, 2021. (ARIEL SCHALIT / AP) TEHRAN / CANBERRA / BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN / NEW DELHI / BAGHDAD / JERUSALEM / KUWAIT CITY / BEIRUT / YANGON / WELLINGTON / MUSCAT / RAMALLAH / DOHA […]
In this picture taken on February 8, 2021 an Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel interacts with a stray dog called Blackie near the entrance of Tapovan tunnel, where dozens are still feared to be trapped following a flash flood thought to have been caused when a glacier broke off on February 7. (JALEES ANDRABI / […]
This March 23, 2007 file photo shows a Pakistani millitary vehicle carrying a Hatf II Abdali missile during the National Day parade in Islamabad. (AAMIR QURESHI / AFP FILES / AFP) ISLAMABAD – Pakistan on Thursday conducted a successful training launch of a cruise missile with a range of 450 km, the Pakistani military said. […]
In this Feb 9, 2021 photo, Qatar's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani gives a press conference after his meeting with Lebanese President Michel Aoun (not in frame) at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon. (HASSAN AMMAR / AP) DUBAI – Qatar is working to […]
This undated photo shows a view of the Petronas Twin Towers (rear, center) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (PHOTO / BLOOMBERG) Malaysia’s economic contraction quickened again in the fourth quarter, as a fresh virus wave late in 2020 helped drive the economy to its worst annual showing since the Asian financial crisis. Malaysia's economy contracted 5.6% […]
The Australian and Aboriginal flags fly on Sydney Harbour Bridge as part of Australia Day celebrations in Sydney on Jan 26, 2021. (WENDELL TEODORO / AFP) CANBERRA – The European Union's ambassador to Australia has called for the country to be "more ambitious" on climate change as part of trade negotiations. Michael Pulch, the EU […]
This television frame grab taken from TVNZ television on Feb 9, 2021 shows co-leader of New Zealand's Maori party Rawiri Waititi speaking to the media in Wellington after being ejected from parliament for refusing to wear a necktie, but instead a traditional gemstone pendant. (TVNZ / AFP) WELLINGTON – New Zealand male lawmakers are no […]
This handout image provided by Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Media on Feb 10, 2021 reportedly shows a view of the damaged hull of a Flyadeal Airbus A320-214 aircraft on the tarmac at Abha International Airport in Saudi Arabia. A civilian plane was engulfed in flames on Feb 10 after Yemen's Houthi rebels launched a drone […]
This picture taken on February 10, 2021 and released from the DPRK's official Korean Central News Agency on February 11, 2021 shows the third-day of the 2nd plenary meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea in the DPRK. (STR / KCNA VIA KNS / AFP) PYONGYANG – Kim Jong-un, top […]
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri (Left) shakes hands with French President Emmanuel Macron following talks at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Sept 20, 2019. (LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP PARIS – Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri on Wednesday dined with French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss the crisis in Lebanon and the difficulties in forming […]
A handout picture provided by Iranian presidential office on Feb 10, 2021 shows Iranian President Hassan Rouhani speaking in a live TV speech marking the 42nd anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, in Tehran. (IRANIAN PRESIDENCY / AFP) TEHRAN – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday said that Iran will honor its nuclear commitments in […]
A marine police search and rescue team hold a briefing while conducting search operations at sea near Lancang island on Jan 10, 2021, where a Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737-500 is suspected to have crashed shortly after the jet took off from Jakarta airport on Jan 9. （ADEK BERRY / AFP） JAKARTA – The Sriwijaya Air plane […]
An armed policeman stands guard on a cordoned-off road with police trucks and water cannons in Mandalay, Myanmar, on Feb 10, 2021. (PHOTO / AP) BANGKOK – Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said Wednesday he has received a letter from Myanmar's military leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, asking for his support for the country's […]
People wait to be tested for COVID-19 at the Urban Institute for Disease Prevention and Control in Bangkok, Thailand, on Jan 11, 2021. (JACK TAYLOR / AFP) KABUL / JAKARTA / PHNOM PENH / NEW DELHI / BAGHDAD / JERUSALEM / BISHKEK / BEIRUT / WELLINGTON / ULAN BATOR / MUSCAT / DOHA / SINGAPORE […]
NEW DELHI – US social media giant Twitter locked horns with India on Wednesday, saying a government order to remove some accounts was not consistent with Indian law while politicians urged followers to switch to rival local app Koo. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has ordered Twitter to remove more than 1,100 accounts and posts […]
Protesters shout slogans during a roadblock-protest called by farmers as part of their continuing demonstration against the central government's recent agricultural reforms, in Chennai on Feb 6, 2021. (ARUN SANKAR / AFP) NEW DELHI – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday invited protesting farmers for talks to address growers’ concerns about three new agricultural […]
Rescuers stand outside as their colleagues use machinery to remove muck and debris from a tunnel days after a part of a Himalayan glacier broke off, sending a devastating flood downriver in Tapovan area of the northern state of Uttarakhand, India. On Feb 10, 2021. (RISHABH R. JAIN / AP) JOSHIMATH/TAPOVAN – Rescuers in northern India […]
In this file photo taken on Jan 24, 2012, a guard stands next to a logo of the World Economic Forum (WEF) at the Congress Center in the Swiss resort of Davos. (FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP) SINGAPORE – Having delayed its "Davos" summit in Singapore twice already, the World Economic Forum is pressing on with […]
A man on a quad bike rides past the Grand Palace as it remains devoid of tourists due to the Covid-19 pandemic, in Bangkok on Jan 19, 2021. (LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA / AFP) BANGKOK – A Thai opposition party on Wednesday submitted a proposal to amend the country’s strict royal insult law, a potentially groundbreaking move […]
In this Feb 26, 2019 photo, Cardinal George Pell arrives at the County Court in Melbourne, Australia. (ANDY BROWNBILL / AP) MELBOURNE – Australian media companies apologized in court on Wednesday for breaching a suppression order on reporting a child sex assault conviction, since overturned, of former Vatican treasurer George Pell in 2018. A dozen […]
Iran's Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi (center) attends a parliament session in the capital Tehran on Feb 4, 2019. (ATTA KENARE / AFP) DUBAI – Iran’s intelligence minister said persistent Western pressure could push Tehran to fight back like a “cornered cat” and seek nuclear weapons, which the Islamic Republic has for years insisted it has […]