Tag Archives: Asia

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has agreed to place the capital and outlying provinces back under lockdown after medical groups warned that the country was waging “a losing battle” against the coronavirus. The move also comes amid an alarming surge in infections. Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said on Monday that metropolitan …

An Islamic State terrorist group attack on a prison in eastern Afghanistan holding hundreds of its members raged on Monday after killing at least 21 people in fighting overnight, a local official said. Another 43 people have been wounded in the attack that began late Sunday when an Islamic State …

At least three bombs exploded outside a jail compound in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad on Sunday, officials said. Sohrab Qaderi, a provincial council member in Jalalabad, said a huge car bomb explosion was followed by at least two smaller bomb blasts outside a government-run prison, and that police …

Thailand has suspended plans for its army to undertake joint training with the U.S. military after nine Thai soldiers tested positive for coronavirus upon returning from Hawaii, the defence ministry said on Sunday. The Thai Army said the infected soldiers were among 151 Thai officers who had returned from Lightning …

At least eleven people were killed after a large industrial crane toppled over at a shipyard in India. Rescue workers are still trying to save those trapped in the wreckage, according to reports. A short video shows the heavy-duty yellow crane at the Hindustan Shipyard in Visakhapatnam falling over on …

An earthquake of magnitude 6.4 struck Mindanao, Philippines, on Saturday, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said. The quake had a depth of 473 kilometers, EMSC said. An initial report on the quake, later revised, gave a magnitude of 6.3.

India reported another record surge in daily COVID-19 cases on Friday, taking the total to 1.64 million, as the government further eases virus curbs in a bid to resuscitate the economy, while also trying to increase testing. Infections jumped by 55,078 in the past 24 hours, while the death toll …

Cross-border artillery fire by Pakistan killed at least 15 civilians in Afghanistan on Thursday, Afghan officials said, prompting Kabul to put its ground and air forces on alert. The artillery fire came after clashes between Pakistani and Afghan security forces at the closed Chaman-Spin Boldak border crossing, where crowds on …

For 99 days, Vietnam seemed to have defeated the coronavirus. There wasn’t a single reported case of community transmission. Not a single death. A handful of cases were caught and isolated at the border, but otherwise, people were returning to their normal lives. The country of 96 million people was …

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was found guilty Tuesday in his first corruption trial linked to one of the world’s biggest financial scandals — the billion-dollar looting of the 1MDB state investment fund. The British-educated Najib, who faces a total of 42 charges in five separate trials linked to …

Antagonisms between the U.S. and China are rattling governments around the world, prompting a German official to warn of “Cold War 2.0” and Kenya’s president to appeal for unity to fight the coronavirus pandemic. Global trade already was depressed by two years of tariff warring between the world’s two biggest …

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has visited a national cemetery and handed out commemorative pistols to army officers, state media reported Monday, as he pushes to muster public support for efforts to contain a potential coronavirus outbreak. On Sunday, North Korea said that Kim had put a city near …

Hundreds of protesters in the Philippine capital marched and staged motorcades Monday against a new anti-terror law and other issues despite police threats of arrests ahead of President Rodrigo Duterte’s annual state of the nation speech. Four suspected protesters in a passenger jeep were taken into police custody in suburban …

South Africa has announced more than 12,000 new confirmed coronavirus cases as the total in one of the world’s worst affected countries reaches 434,200 with 6,655 deaths. South Africa makes up well over half the confirmed cases on the African continent, where experts say the virus could smoulder in areas …

China has evacuated thousands of residents after a landslide blocked a river and created a barrier lake that threatened to submerge neighbouring villages, as large parts of the country reeled under some of the heaviest rainfall in decades. The landslide occurred on Tuesday when 1.5 million cubic metres of earth …

Private operator Space X has launched South Korea’s first military communications satellite into space as Seoul looks to build up its defence capabilities against its nuclear-armed neighbour, North Korea. South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), in a statement on Tuesday, said the ANASIS-II satellite lifted off from the Cape …

Nearly four million people in India’s northeastern state of Assam and neighbouring Nepal have been displaced by heavy flooding from monsoon rains, with dozens missing as deaths rose reaching at least 189. The overflowing Brahmaputra River, which flows through China’s Tibet, India and Bangladesh, has damaged crops and triggered mudslides, …

The leader of the Taliban has reshuffled his team of negotiators ahead of peace talks with the Afghan government, adding four close aides to the group, sources in the movement said Saturday. Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada made the appointments to strengthen his control over the team, a Taliban commander, based at …

As violence surges across the country, Afghan security forces on Friday said at least 72 Taliban militants, including four top commanders, have been killed in operations in three provinces. In a statement, the Afghan National Army said 32 more insurgents were also injured in ground and air offensives in northern …

Tuk-tuks are three-wheeled motor vehicles widely used in Sri Lanka and southern Asia. The vehicle has also gained popularity worldwide, including Africa and the Middle-East. But these three-wheelers can race — as Sri Lankan tuk-tuk drivers showed at the Red Bull Tuk It earlier this year. The fourth edition of …