News Headlines

PASIR GUDANG, Johor: The Johor state government said on Thursday (Jun 27) that air quality in Pasir Gudang is good, adding that enforcement actions have been taken against 38 industrial premises for violating the 1974 Environment Quality Act. Speaking at a media conference, the state's Health ...

BEIJING: In a secretive school in China's capital rows of students face a giant video projection of Xi Jinping, making careful notes on the lecture on their leader's guiding principles. Sitting in red-covered chairs in a school dotted with statues of late Chinese leaders, the mostly male students ...

HANOI: Vietnam has culled nearly 10 per cent of its pig herd to contain an African swine fever outbreak that has started hitting large-scale industrial farms, the government said in a statement on Tuesday (Jun 25). Earlier outbreaks have appeared mostly at small household farms but have now ...

SINGAPORE: On Tuesday (Jun 25), the Singapore Food Agency put up a post on social media to raise awareness about African swine fever (ASF), a deadly disease sweeping across Asia, affecting hundreds of farms and leading to the death of millions of pigs.  Here are four things to know about the hog ...

NEW DELHI/LONDON: An Air India passenger plane flying to the United States was escorted by British fighter jets to land in London on Thursday (Jun 27) after what an official at the airline later said was a hoax bomb threat. Air India said flight AI 191 from Mumbai to Newark had made a ...

SINGAPORE: National carriers Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Malaysia Airlines (MAS) on Thursday (Jun 27) signed a preliminary agreement that could see them "significantly" expand codeshare flights. Under the terms of the memorandum of understanding, SIA and MAS will explore a "wide-ranging strategic ...

SEOUL: South Korean power couple Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-kyo announced on Thursday (Jun 27) they are parting ways after just a year of marriage.  The news came as a shock - many fans had rooted for the stars of the hit TV series Descendants of the Sun and lovingly dubbed them the SongSong ...

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's tourism industry is recovering faster than expected after the Easter Sunday suicide bombings shook the island nation, giving a much-needed boost to the economy, Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera said. The country was hit by mass cancellations after Islamic State-backed ...

China's Xi Jinping landed in Osaka Thursday ahead of what promises to be a stormy G20 meeting over trade, as US President Donald Trump lashed out at Beijing and vowed more tariffs.

NEW DELHI: An Air India passenger plane flying to the United States was escorted by British fighter jets to land in London on Thursday (Jun 27) after a bomb threat. Air India said flight AI 191 from Mumbai to Newark had made a precautionary landing at London Stansted Airport "due to bomb threat" ...

HANOI: A court in Vietnam on Thursday (Jun 27) jailed for eight years a man who formerly worked as a lawyer, on a charge of attempting to overthrow the state, just days after a US citizen got 12 years on a similar charge. Despite sweeping economic reform and increasing openness to social change ...

HONG KONG: Hong Kong was plunged into chaos again on Thursday (Jun 27) as protesters rallied outside the justice secretary's offices, blocking roads and forcing workers to leave in the latest unrest to rock the city over an extradition Bill that has now been suspended. Millions have thronged the ...

HONG KONG: Police officers were penned in and emergency operations were delayed after Hong Kong protesters barricaded the entrance and exit of the main police headquarters (PHQ) for hours on Thursday morning (Jun 27). Hundreds of thousands of people marched through the city from Wednesday ...

VICTORIA, Australia: A 38-year-old Malaysian man has been charged with trying to "internally import" heroin pellets through an international airport in Victoria, Australian authorities said on Thursday (Jun 27). In a joint media release, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Australian Border ...

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Malaysian deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on Thursday (Jun 27) was hit with 33 additional counts of receiving bribes from the operator of a visa application system. The new charges bring the total number of charges against him to 87, the highest among senior figures ...

TAIPEI: Taiwan has vetoed a US$2 billion bid by a Hong Kong-led consortium to build a twin skyscraper in Taipei citing national security concerns, arguing the company is too heavily influenced by mainland China. Hong Kong-listed Nan Hai Corporation had successfully bid to build the Taipei Twin ...

SYDNEY: Australia on Thursday (Jun 27) said it was "urgently seeking clarification" on the fate of a citizen feared detained in North Korea. The department of foreign affairs said it was in contact with the family of a man "who has been reported as being detained in North Korea". Korean-language ...

Women exposed to triclosan, a chemical often found in soaps and hand sanitizers, may be more likely to develop osteoporosis than women who don't have this exposure, a new study suggests. Triclosan has been widely used for years as an antimicrobial agent in consumer goods and personal care products ...

SEOUL: Time was running out for the United States to formulate a new strategy to revive denuclearisation talks, a senior North Korean diplomat said on Thursday (Jun 27), as a US envoy for North Korea is set to visit South Korea ahead of President Donald Trump's trip. Negotiations have been stalled ...

Several Huawei Technologies Co employees have collaborated on at least 10 research projects with Chinese armed forces personnel over the past decade, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.

LONDON: Japan on Thursday (Jun 27) publicly cautioned the two candidates vying to replace Prime Minister Theresa May that Japanese investment could leave the country if there is a no-deal Brexit, urging Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt to avoid such a scenario. Japan, one of the biggest investors in ...

HONG KONG: The 22-year-old son of a business tycoon has dropped US$117 million on a luxury home in Hong Kong, the latest purchase to highlight the huge wealth gap in a city currently rocked by political protests. The crammed financial hub regularly tops various rankings of cities with the least ...

South Korean mobile carrier KT Corp said on Thursday it launched 5G services in one of the world's most heavily armed border zones separating the two Koreas.

A total of 535 people have been killed since 2010 after being hit by trains while wearing headphones on tracks in and around the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, police said Thursday.

OSAKA: World leaders are descending on Osaka, west Japan, for a summit on Friday (Jun 28) and Saturday of the Group of 20 (G20) big economies. Here are five issues likely to dominate the meeting, hosted by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. TRUMP-XI TRUCE? Overshadowing the G20 meeting ...

SEOUL: North Korea on Thursday (Jun 27) warned the South to stop "meddling" in nuclear talks between Pyongyang and Washington, denying President Moon Jae-in's assertion that dialogue was under way between the two Koreas. "The reality is the contrary," senior foreign ministry official Kwon Jong Gun ...

SEOUL: An event to promote women's rights in South Korea featuring female opposition party supporters pulling down their shorts has drawn widespread criticism, with many saying the stunt revealed a patriarchal culture in the party and Korean society generally. Despite its economic advances, South ...

SINGAPORE: Prolonged political uncertainty in Hong Kong will not be good news for Singapore, said the country’s central bank chief Ravi Menon on Thursday (Jun 27). Singapore also has not seen any significant fund flows from Hong Kong, where millions have taken to the streets over the past weeks to ...

KUALA LUMPUR: Affordability is among the reasons behind Malaysia’s continued support for Huawei as it looks to tap into the great potential of the 5G technology, said Malaysia's telecommunications industry regulator, despite security concerns raised by the United States over the Chinese ...

An erupting volcano in Papua New Guinea that has blanketed a town in ash has forced around 5,000 people from their homes, officials said Thursday.

SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will be in Osaka, Japan for a four-day working visiting starting Thursday (Jun 27) to take part in the G20 Leaders’ Summit, a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said. He is attending the gathering of 20 leaders of major economies, including ...

With a presidential election looming Taiwan is bracing for a deluge of fake news and disinformation -- much of it emanating from China and aimed at making sure Beijing's preferred party wins the day, analysts say.

Special quick-flushing toilets, granny rap and a self-imposed brothel ban: Japan's Osaka is determined to paint itself in the best possible light for the G20 leaders summit starting on Friday.

Under the immense Christ the Redeemer statue that overlooks Rio de Janeiro and its picturesque Guanabara Bay, dozens of tourists jockey for position to get selfies with the stunning panoramic view illuminated by the setting sun.

In 1979, 22-year-old Neil Vining spotted a job advertisement that took him by surprise.

Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un have exchanged a total of 12 letters since the beginning of last year, South Korea's Unification Minster said, with the North Korean leader the more assiduous suitor in their nuclear bromance, penning eight.

The three men were so busy staging a fake car crash they failed to notice the very people they were trying to block: foreign journalists heading towards one of China's notorious internment camps.

TOKYO: G20 host Japan hopes world leaders will endorse a deal on marine plastic waste and find common ground on climate change, but its own environmental record is under increasing scrutiny. Activists say Japan has fallen behind on reducing plastic consumption and is caving to US pressure to water ...

Japan's top government spokesman said on Thursday that Japan and the United States have not discussed revising the U.S.-Japan security treaty after U.S. President Donald Trump renewed his criticism of the defence pact in a television interview.

Indonesia's Constitutional Court will rule on Thursday on an opposition challenge to the official presidential election result after allegations the vote won by President Joko Widodo in the world's third-biggest democracy was rigged.

Japan's markets watchdog will likely recommend that the financial regulator fine Nissan Motor Co up to 4 billion yen (US$37 million) over the alleged underreporting of former Chairman Carlos Ghosn's compensation, a source said.

Several Huawei Technologies Co employees have collaborated on at least 10 research projects with Chinese armed forces personnel over the past decade, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.

The reality TV star is being called out for disrespecting the traditional outfit with some critics using the hashtag #KimOhNo.

Although no doubt a lot has to be done to meet FIFA standards for a World Cup venue, says John Duerden.

Several Huawei Technologies Co employees have collaborated on at least 10 research projects with Chinese armed forces personnel over the past decade, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong protesters marched to major consulates on Wednesday (Jun 26) in a call for G20 nations to confront fellow member China over sliding freedoms in the financial hub, at a weekend summit in Japan. The semi-autonomous city has been shaken by huge demonstrations this month, with ...

OTTAWA: Canada said on Wednesday (Jun 26) it is investigating the origin of a tainted pork shipment and bogus documents that prompted China to ban Canadian meat and further strained tense relations. "We're now in the process of investigating the source of these certificates," Trade Minister Jim ...

SHANGHAI: Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei said on Wednesday (Jun 26) that its 5G business has not been impacted by the recent US sanctions amid a prolonged trade war between the world's two largest economies. "I can clearly tell everyone here that our current 5G technology solutions are ...

HONG KONG: Hong Kong's anti-corruption watchdog has arrested a former senior figure at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange operator for suspected misconduct linked to two listings. The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) said in a statement on Wednesday (Jun 26) that it had on Sunday ...

TEHRAN: Iran said on Tuesday (Jun 25) it will further free itself from the 2015 nuclear deal in defiance of new American sanctions as US President Donald Trump warned the Islamic republic of "overwhelming" retaliation for any attacks. Tensions between Iran and the US have spiralled since last year ...