World / Asia

Dozens of whales die on Indonesian beach, rescuers save three 19 Feb 2021 - 03:08 pm

BANGKALAN, Indonesia: Forty-six whales stranded on a beach on the Indonesian island of Madura have died, while rescuers managed to push three back...

India virus infections at 3-wk high, Mumbai hires marshals to enforce mask-wearing 19 Feb 2021 - 01:24 pm

NEW DELHI - India reported on Friday its biggest jump in new coronavirus infections in three weeks, with 13,193 cases, while thousands of...

New Zealand vaccinators receive COVID-19 jab ahead of formal rollout 19 Feb 2021 - 12:54 pm

New Zealand officials injected a small group of medical professionals with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on Friday, in preparation for a wider rollout...

Japan finds new COVID-19 strain, while immigration centre reports infections 19 Feb 2021 - 12:16 pm

TOKYO - Japan confirmed a new variant of COVID-19, and an infection cluster emerged at a Tokyo immigration facility, presenting new challenges as...

Air pollution led to around 54,000 premature deaths in New Delhi in 2020 -study 18 Feb 2021 - 08:48 pm

NEW DELHI - Air pollution caused an estimated 54,000 premature deaths in the Indian capital New Delhi last year, a higher toll than...

Pakistan to receive 2.8 mln doses of AstraZeneca vaccine under COVAX scheme on March 2 18 Feb 2021 - 08:08 pm

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan said on Thursday it expects to receive 2.8 million doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine on March 2, its first batch...

Pakistan officials declare missing K2 mountain climbers dead 18 Feb 2021 - 08:02 pm

ISLAMABAD - Pakistani officials said three climbers missing on the K2 mountain had died, calling off an extraordinary rescue mission that had involved...

S.Korea to double syringe supplies for COVID-19 vaccine campaign 18 Feb 2021 - 06:02 pm

SEOUL: South Korea's President Moon Jae-in on Thursday visited a factory that can make 10 million syringes a month and plans to double...

Philippine leader urges Congress to pass bill to expedite vaccine rollout 18 Feb 2021 - 04:40 pm

MANILA: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has asked Congress to quickly approve a bill granting indemnity to COVID-19 vaccine makers from legal claims stemming...

India issues new guidelines for passengers from Middle East, UK and Europe 18 Feb 2021 - 12:50 pm

Doha: Indian government has issued new guidelines for passengers arriving from/transiting through flights originating in the UK, Europe or the Middle East, which...

India to test travellers from Brazil, S.Africa, UK after detecting new virus strains 18 Feb 2021 - 08:07 am

New Delhi: India will make COVID-19 molecular tests mandatory for people arriving directly or indirectly from the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil...

Facebook news goes dark in Australia as content payment dispute grows 18 Feb 2021 - 07:59 am

Sydney: Australians woke to empty news feeds on their Facebook Inc pages on Thursday after the social media giant blocked all media content...

Facebook restricts publishers, users in Australia from sharing news content 17 Feb 2021 - 10:55 pm

Facebook Inc will block news content from being read and shared in its news feed in Australia, drawing a line in the sand...

S.Korea warns against lax distancing as daily COVID-19 count hits one-month high 17 Feb 2021 - 12:15 pm

SEOUL: South Korea's Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun on Wednesday warned against loosening enforcement of social distancing rules after the number of new coronavirus...

Indonesian firms sign up in droves to take part in proposed private vaccination scheme 17 Feb 2021 - 11:56 am

Jakarta: Nearly 4,000 Indonesian firms, many of them textile companies, have signed up to take part in a proposed scheme that would allow...

Myanmar coup opponents in big show of rejection of military claims 17 Feb 2021 - 10:18 am

Opponents of Myanmar's military coup, including celebrities, veteran activists and students, rejected on Wednesday an army assertion that there was public support for...

Victoria state to end snap lockdown, allow fans at Australian Open 17 Feb 2021 - 10:17 am

SYDNEY: A five-day snap lockdown in Australia's Victoria state will end on Wednesday, officials said as they reported no new cases in a...

Japan begins COVID-19 vaccination in 'first major step' to halt pandemic 17 Feb 2021 - 09:55 am

TOKYO: Japan launched its COVID-19 inoculation drive on Wednesday, administering the Pfizer-BionTech vaccine to Tokyo hospital workers, as Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga attempts...