A man rides a bicycle before Keihin industrial zone in Kawasaki, Japan on April 23, 2021. (PHILIP FONG / AFP) TOKYO – Japan's factory output posted the biggest monthly drop in two years in May as semiconductor and other parts shortages hit manufacturers, adding more pressure on an economy struggling to mount a strong recovery. […]
A customer shops for vegetables in Colombo. Sri Lanka's economic crisis has made many families think twice about buying fuel or food. (ERANGA JAYAWARDENA / AP) HONG KONG – Hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and rising oil and food prices, Asia is experiencing a wave of inflation that will hurt livelihoods and the economy, […]
Travelers are processed at the international arrivals hall at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Tuban near Denpasar on Indonesia's resort island of Bali on Feb 16, 2022, after a Singapore Airlines flight arrived following a nearly two-year break due to COVID-19. (SONNY TUMBELAKA / AFP) DHAKA / HANOI / JAKARTA / SINGAPORE / YANGON – Indonesia has seen […]
Policemen carry out a flag march through a street in Ajmer on June 29, 2022. (HIMANSHU SHARMA / AFP) MUMBAI – Fearing outbreaks of religious violence, police in the Indian state of Rajasthan banned public gatherings and suspended internet services a day after two Muslims posted a video claiming responsibility for slaying a Hindu man. […]
A nurse fills a syringe with the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine at a vaccination center in Seoul on March 20, 2021. (JUNG YEON-JE / POOL / AFP) TOKYO / DHAKA / BANGKOK / NEW DELHI / SEOUL / WELLINGTON / VIENTIANE- South Korea approved its first domestically developed COVID-19 vaccine, manufactured by SK bioscience Co […]
Army soldiers and a police officer secure a fuel station as people register themselves to purchase fuel in Colombo, Sri Lanka, June 27, 2022. (ERANGA JAYAWARDENA / AP) COLOMBO – Doctors and other medical staff as well as teachers in Sri Lanka will take to the streets on Wednesday to demand that the government solve […]
A pedestrian walks with an umbrella to shield from the sun amid a heatwave in Tokyo's Shinjuku district on June 28, 2022. (Philip FONG / AFP) TOKYO – Japan braced on Wednesday for its hottest day yet of a record-breaking June heatwave as fears grew about a shortage of electricity to keep air conditioners whirring […]
United Nations special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in DPRK, Tomas Ojea Quintana, speaks during a press conference wrapping up his visit to ROK, in Seoul on June 29, 2022. (JUNG YEON-JE / AFP) SEOUL – The Republic of Korea's 2019 decision to deport without legal process two Democratic People’s Republic of Korea […]
This handout photograph taken and released on June 28, 2022 in Madrid by Turkish Presidential press office, shows (back, from left) NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Finland's President Sauli Niinisto and Sweden's Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and (front, from left) Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, Swedish […]
Pedestrians wearing protective face masks cross a road in the Roppongi district of Tokyo, Japan, July 30, 2020. (SHOKO TAKAYASU / BLOOMBERG) TOKYO / DHAKA / BANGKOK- Japan's minister in charge of coronavirus measures on Tuesday said the government is "closely monitoring" the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the country. Daishiro Yamagiwa, following the […]
A Taliban fighter stands guard as people receive food rations distributed by a Chinese humanitarian aid group, during the holy month of Ramadan, in Kabul, Afghanistan on April 30, 2022. (EBRAHIM NOROOZI / AP PHOTO) The international community is being called upon to give assistance to Afghanistan as recent drought, a conflict-induced economic crisis, and […]
People wait to buy fuel at a fuel station in Colombo, Sri Lanka on June 27, 2022. (ERANGA JAYAWARDENA / AP PHOTO) COLOMBO – Sri Lanka will allow companies from oil-producing countries to import and sell fuel, the power and energy minister said on Tuesday, ending a duopoly as it tries to overcome a shortage […]
The World Digital Economy and Technology Summit 2022 opened on June 28 in Kuala Lumpur with over 600 participants sharing their insights and views on the growth of digital technology and shaping the global digital future. WDET has been organized by the KSI Strategic Institute for Asia Pacific, the Economic Club of Kuala Lumpur and […]
People sit under the Cheongdam Bridge near the waters of the Han River in Seoul on June 10, 2022. (ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP) SEOUL – South Korea's one-person households are estimated to reach nearly 40 percent of the total households in 2050 due to low births and an aging population, government data showed on Tuesday. […]
A man with his handkerchief on his head walks across an intersection in Tokyo, June 27, 2022. The Japanese government warned of possible power shortages Monday in the Tokyo region, asking people to conserve energy as the country endures an unusually intense heat wave. (HIRO KOMAE / AP) TOKYO – Japan baked under scorching temperatures […]
This picture taken on June 27, 2022 and released from DPRK's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on June 28 shows DPRK top leader Kim Jong-un (right) attending an enlarged meeting of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) at the office building of the WPK Central Committee in […]
This undated photo shows the national flags of the BRICS countries member – (from left) Brazil, India, Russia, China and South Africa. (PHOTO / AFP) DUBAI – Iran has submitted an application to become a member in the group of emerging economies known as the BRICS, an Iranian official said on Monday. Iran's membership in […]
An Israeli paramedic collects a swab sample from a child at the Magen David Adom (Red Shield of David) COVID-19 coronavirus testing center in Jerusalem on Jan 11, 2022. (MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP) HANOI / DHAKA / SINGAPORE / NEW DELHI / YANGON / BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN / YEREVAN / JERUSALEM – The Israeli Ministry of Health on Monday reported 11,483 new […]
This image grab taken from a CCTV footage broadcasted by Jordan's Al-Mamlaka TV on June 27, 2022 shows the moment of a toxic gas explosion in Jordan's Aqaba port. (AL MAMLAKA TV / AFP) At least 12 people died and 251 were injured in a chlorine gas leak from a storage tank at Jordan's Aqaba […]
Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani leaves the Palais Coburg, venue of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) meeting that aims at reviving the Iran nuclear deal, in Vienna, Dec 27, 2021. (ALEX HALADA / AFP) TEHRAN – Iran's chief nuclear negotiator will travel soon to Doha to negotiate the lifting of sanctions […]
In this Nov 15, 2021 photo, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh speaks to media during a press conference in Tehran, Iran. (PHOTO / AFP) DUBAI – Saudi Arabia wants to resume diplomatic talks with Tehran, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told a news conference on Monday a day after Iraq's prime minister pushed […]
In this photo taken on June 25, 2022, people attend a mass rally to mark the "day of struggle against US imperialism", on the 72nd anniversary of the three-year Korean War, which began on June 25, 1950, at the plaza of the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum in Pyongyang. (KIM WONG JIN / AFP) SEOUL […]
A health worker inoculates a student with a dose of the Pfizer vaccine against the coronavirus at his school in Karachi on Jan 24, 2022. (ASIF HASSAN / AFP) NEW DELHI / WELLINGTON / SINGAPORE / KUALA LUMPUR / SEOUL / KARACHI – Pakistan’s aviation regulator has made masks mandatory on domestic flights given a gradual rise […]
The Bayswater Power Station, a coal-powered thermal power station is pictured near Muswellbrook in the Hunter Valley, Australia on Nov 2, 2021. (MARK BAKER / AP PHOTO) CANBERRA – Australia's greenhouse gas emissions increased in 2021, government data has revealed. According to the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory update for December 2021, which was published on […]
Army soldiers register people who are waiting to buy fuel at a fuel station in Colombo, Sri Lanka on June 27, 2022. (ERANGA JAYAWARDENA / AP PHOTO) COLOMBO – Troops in Sri Lanka handed tokens on Monday to people queueing for petrol amid a severe fuel shortage in the nation battling its worst economic crisis […]
The Tokyo Skytree (center) is seen next to residential buildings, with most of its lights turned off as part of energy-saving measures following a government electricity supply warning for the capital and surrounding areas, in Tokyo on March 22, 2022. (PHILIP FONG / AFP) TOKYO – Japan scrambled on Monday to avert a looming power […]
In this file photo taken on Sept 10, 2021, people wearing face masks walk in front of the Opera House in Sydney. (SAEED KHAN / AFP) SYDNEY – Climate change protesters marched in Sydney on Monday forcing police to close major roads in the city center while morning traffic through the landmark Sydney Harbour Bridge […]
This handout image released by NASA shows a rocket, carrying technology likened to a "mini Hubble" telescope, lifting off from Arnhem Space Centre in Australia late on June 26, 2022. (NASA / AFP) CANBERRA – A NASA rocket was launched early Monday from the Australian soil for the first time in 27 years. The rocket, […]
Turkish President and leader of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech during his party's parliamentary group meeting at the Turkish Grand National Assembly in Ankara on June 15, 2022. (ADEM ALTAN / AFP) ISTANBUL – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will attend a round of talks with the leaders […]
A handout picture provided by the Iranian presidency shows Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi during a press conference with the Iraqi Prime Minister in the capital Tehran on June 26, 2022. (IRANIAN PRESIDENCY / AFP) TEHRAN – Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi reiterated on Sunday that the foreign presence in the region not only fails to help […]