News Headlines

Phnom Penh, CAMBODIA: Cambodia has confirmed the first case of coronavirus in the country, Health Minister Mam Bunheng said on Monday (Jan 27).  The patient is a Chinese national in the coastal city of Sihanoukville, he said.  The new flu-like virus that was first reported in the Chinese city of ...

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi got a thunderous reception when he addressed a crowd of more than 50,000 Indian-Americans in a stadium in the U.S. city of Houston last September.

Hundreds of workers are toiling around the clock at the site of a field hospital that China is racing to build within days to treat a rapidly growing number of patients stricken by a deadly virus.

A county in northern China is offering 1,000 yuan (US$145) to tipsters who report the presence of anyone from Wuhan, epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, who has not already registered with authorities, the local government TV station said on Monday.

DUBAI: Dubai's Emirates airline is advising its flight crew to stay in their hotels when on a layover in China due to the new coronavirus outbreak there that has killed 81 people. In an internal notice, seen by Reuters, the airline also recommends that crew avoid areas where there would be large ...

PUTRAJAYA: The Malaysia government has temporarily suspended granting of visas for all residents from China's Hubei province, including its capital Wuhan, the Prime Minister's Office said in a press statement on Monday (Jan 27). The statement said that all immigration privileges such as entry ...

SHANGHAI: The mayor of Wuhan, the epicentre of China's coronavirus outbreak, drew ire from Chinese Internet users for what many saw as an overgenerous self-evaluation of his handling of an interview with state television, despite also offering to step down. Zhou Xianwang said during an interview ...

Chinese corporate giants including Alibaba Group Holding and Tencent Holdings Ltd said they have asked staff to work from home for one week after an extended Lunar New Year break ends, seeking to limit the spread of a new flu-like virus.

A Thai park official implicated in the alleged killing of an environmental activist will not face prosecution for murder due to "insufficient evidence", the attorney general's office announced Monday -- a move condemned by rights groups decrying impunity for enforced disappearances.

A woman died while taking part in a cake-eating competition to celebrate Australia Day, local media reported Monday.

ULAANBAATAR: Mongolia has closed its border crossings with China to cars, temporarily shut schools and suspended public events to prevent a deadly virus from reaching its soil, authorities said. The measures announced by the vast, landlocked country are the most drastic steps taken by any nation ...

A deadly virus that has prompted travel restrictions in China is sending shockwaves through Asia's tourism industry, which has become increasingly reliant on growing numbers of Chinese visitors.

BEIJING: Macau said on Monday (Jan 27) it will deny entry to visitors from China's Hubei province or those who visited the province 14 days prior to arrival unless they can provide documentation showing they are not infected with the virus that broke out in the province. Macau's government also ...

WUHAN: The death toll from a coronavirus outbreak in China rose to 81 on Monday (Jan 27), as the government extended the Chinese New Year holiday and more big businesses shut down or told staff to work from home in an effort to curb the spread. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visited the central city ...

WUHAN: The death toll from a coronavirus outbreak in China rose to 81 on Monday (Jan 27), as the government extended the Chinese New Year holiday and more big businesses shut down or told staff to work from home in an effort to curb the spread. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visited the central city ...

NBA star Kobe Bryant's death triggered an outpouring of grief on Monday in China, where he was beloved by fans, with a hashtag of the news drawing more than a billion views.

HONG KONG: A suspected small-scale homemade bomb exploded at a general hospital in Hong Kong on Monday (Jan 27), causing the temporary evacuation of some patients but no injuries, police said. The incident came after a group of protesters on Sunday set alight the lobby of a newly built residential ...

While a North Korean deadline for the United States to soften its stand on denuclerisation talks passed uneventfully over the New Year, state media and propaganda efforts have been focussing on the prospect of a long confrontation with the United States.

WUHAN: Premier Li Keqiang on Monday (Jan 27) became the most senior Chinese leader to visit Wuhan since the city was struck by the outbreak of a deadly virus that has spread across the country and sparked global concern. The virus toll has spiked to 80 dead despite a huge lockdown of Wuhan and ...

BEIJING: China will extend the Lunar New Year holiday to Feb 2, the State Council said Monday (Jan 27), to try and reduce the spread of a virus which has killed 80 people and infected more than 2,700 nationwide. The holiday, which sees hundreds of millions of people travel around the country to ...

WUHAN: China expanded drastic travel restrictions on Monday (Jan 27) and prolonged a public holiday to contain an epidemic that has killed 80 people and infected more than 2,300, as several countries prepared to evacuate their citizens from a quarantined city at the outbreak's epicentre. While ...

HONG KONG: Andy Lau’s upcoming concerts in Hong Kong have been cancelled after the outbreak of a new coronavirus which has affected thousands in China and overseas. The singer's twelve Hong Kong concerts in February have been cancelled "to protect the health and safety of the audience" in view of ...

BEIJING: The ability of the new coronavirus to spread is strengthening and infections could continue to rise, China's National Health Commission said on Sunday (Jan 26), with more than 2,300 people in China infected and 80 killed by the disease. Health authorities around the world are racing to ...

BEIJING: Chinese authorities have ordered the extension of a public holiday in an effort to contain an epidemic that has killed 80 people and infected more than 2,300 nationwide, state-run media reported. A working group chaired by Premier Li Keqiang to tackle the outbreak decided on Sunday "to ...

WUHAN: China expanded drastic travel restrictions on Monday (Jan 27) and prolonged a public holiday to contain an epidemic that has killed 80 people and infected more than 2,300, as several countries prepared to evacuate their citizens from a quarantined city at the outbreak's epicentre. China has ...

STOCKHOLM: Newly available data suggests that China is the world's second-biggest arms producer, behind the United States and ahead of Russia, a leading conflict and armaments think-tank said on Monday (Jan 27). A lack of transparency means the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute has ...

HONG KONG: Hong Kong authorities on Sunday (Jan 26) barred residents of China's Hubei province, the centre of the coronavirus outbreak, from entering the city, in response to mounting pressure to enact preventative measures to contain the spreading epidemic. The ban includes those who have been in ...

Moving away from a high-stakes graduation exam to an evaluative assessment may bring about improvements in classroom teaching and learning, says an observer.

The Wuhan virus outbreak suggests we still haven't learnt the lessons from SARS, says an expert.

WUHAN: China expanded drastic travel restrictions on Monday (Jan 27) and prolonged a public holiday to contain an epidemic that has killed 56 people and infected nearly 2,000, as several countries prepared to evacuate their citizens from a quarantined city at the outbreak's epicentre. China has ...

HONG KONG: Hong Kong authorities on Sunday (Jan 26) barred residents of China's Hubei province, the centre of the coronavirus outbreak, from entering the city, in response to mounting pressure to enact preventative measures to contain the spreading epidemic. The ban includes those who have been in ...

The mayor of China's Wuhan, epicentre of an outbreak of a coronavirus that has killed 56 and infected more than 2,000 in China, said on Sunday he expects another 1,000 new patients in the city, highlighting the immense pressure on Wuhan's infrastructure.

SINGAPORE: There were no new confirmed cases of the Wuhan virus as of noon on Sunday (Jan 26), said the Ministry of Health (MOH), adding that it has been notified of 92 suspected cases in total. Singapore has so far confirmed four cases of the SARS-like virus. Of the 92 suspected cases, 46 have ...

HONG KONG: A group of protesters set alight on Sunday (Jan 26) the lobby of a newly built residential building in Hong Kong that authorities planned to use as a quarantine facility, as public fears in the financial hub about the coronavirus outbreak intensified. A Reuters witness saw several ...

Citizens of China's virus-stricken city of Wuhan have been told to stay indoors, avoid strangers and keep their cars off the road, but locals like Zhang Lin are refusing to sit by and watch their hometown suffer.

Japan will evacuate all its nationals from China's quarantined city of Wuhan, the epicentre of a deadly virus, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Sunday.

KOCHI: Hundreds of thousands of Indians protested across the country on Sunday (Jan 26) against a citizenship Bill that many fear is discriminatory against the minority Muslim community. The protests, which began last month, gathered fresh momentum as India celebrated Republic Day, in ...

LUCKNOW, India: Police in northern India on Sunday (Jan 26) bid goodbye to the historic British-era bolt-action rifles after using them for one last salute during the annual Republic Day parade. The Lee-Enfield .303 rifle was the main firearm of British colonial military forces and, despite being ...

Pope Francis praised China's "great commitment" to contain the coronavirus outbreak on Sunday and said he was praying for the dead, the sick, and families of victims.

SINGAPORE: China is battling a growing health crisis caused by an unknown coronavirus that has infected hundreds and killed more than two dozen people since it was first reported to the World Health Organization on Dec 31, 2019. Authorities around the world are keeping a close watch on ...

WUHAN: Overwhelmed staff members, patients waiting for hours to see a doctor, people fending for themselves: Wuhan residents describe scenes of chaos from one swamped hospital struggling to cope with crowds who may be infected by the new coronavirus. The city of 11 million is the epicentre of the ...

BANGKOK: The health minister in Thailand, the country with the most confirmed cases outside China of the new coronavirus, called an emergency meeting on Sunday (Jan 26) with the transport and tourism ministries amid rising public discontent over the government's handling of the illness. "We can ...

JOHOR BAHRU: Two Chinese nationals who took their toddler, suspected to have been infected with the Wuhan virus, out of a public hospital in Johor to avoid quarantine, were detained at Senai International Airport, near Kulai on Saturday night (Jan 25). Johor police chief Kamarudin Md Din said they ...

HONG KONG: Hong Kong's Disneyland announced it was shutting its doors on Sunday (Jan 26) until further notice over the deadly virus outbreak in central China, a day after city authorities classified the crisis as an emergency. The park said it was taking the step to protect "the health and safety ...

The trade war between US and China as well as the political unrest in Hong Kong have given Southeast Asia record FDI, says Simon Roughneen.

China's capital Beijing will delay reopening the city's kindergartens, schools and universities, state-owned China National Radio (CNR) said on its official page on the microblogging website Weibo on Sunday.

The number of reported deaths from a viral outbreak in China has risen to 54, with authorities in hard-hit Hubei province on Sunday reporting 13 new fatalities and 323 new confirmed cases.

The number of reported deaths from a viral outbreak in China has risen to 54, with authorities in hard-hit Hubei province on Sunday reporting 13 new fatalities and 323 new confirmed cases.

SHANGHAI: The animal-borne SARS virus 17 years ago was supposed to be a wake-up call about consuming wildlife as food, but scientists say China's latest epidemic indicates that the practice remains widespread and a growing risk to human health. Like SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which ...