BEIJING (CHINA DAILY/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – Nine government agencies have issued a notice calling for punishment of people who misbehave on transport during the Spring Festival travel rush. The notice, issued by agencies including the National Development and Reform Commission and Ministry of Transport, said bad behaviour includes a range of actions on roads, railways, urban […]

TOKYO (XINHUA) – About 2,000 travellers were stranded overnight at a key airport through Sunday (Jan 6) in Hokkaido, northern Japan, as heavy snow caused flight cancellations, local media reported. Flights were cancelled last Saturday night, as two runways at the New Chitose Airport were closed because of heavy snow. As 105 flights were cancelled […]

US President Donald Trump has said that a location for another summit with North Korea is being negotiated. Mr Trump told reporters in Washington DC that “a good dialogue” was taking place with North Korea, but sanctions on Pyongyang would remain in place. Mr Trump met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un last June, the first […]

After a historic summit between the US and North Korea, here’s an overview of a saga that has at times threatened nuclear war. Why did North Korea develop nuclear weapons? The Korean peninsula was divided after World War Two and the North developed into a Stalinesque authoritarian system. Isolated globally, it saw nuclear weapons as […]

KUALA LUMPUR – Although Sultan Muhammad V made it through just two years of a five year-term as Malaysia’s King, the 49-year-old’s tenure was one of the most eventful – not only did he preside over the country’s first ever transition of power from the long-ruling Barisan Nasional, he also became the first King to […]

DUBAI (Reuters) – Kuwait reiterated its request to Dubai to release $496 million in frozen funds held for over a year and belonging to Port Fund, part of a Kuwaiti private equity, Port Fund said on Sunday. The funds are at the heart of a money-laundering probe which is straining relations between the two Gulf […]

BEIJING (BLOOMBERG) – US and Chinese officials are set to begin trade negotiations on Monday (Jan 7) in the hope of reaching a deal during a 90-day truce between President Donald Trump and his counterpart Xi Jinping. While the mid-level talks probably won’t produce a major breakthrough, the stakes are high as both sides face […]

SINGAPORE – Three people had to be taken to hospital after an accident between two cars and a van on the Seletar Expressway (SLE) on Sunday morning (Jan 6). Police said they were alerted to the accident on the SLE towards the Bukit Timah Expressway at 5.57am. A 65-year-old driver and his two passengers, a […]

NEW DELHI (REUTERS) – A rainy spell early on Sunday (Jan 6) brought better air to residents of New Delhi, giving them a brief respite from thick grey smog that has shrouded the Indian capital for the last two months, although air quality continued to be “very poor”. A measure of tiny, hazardous breathable particles […]

GEORGE TOWN (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – Billed by Unesco as “a living testimony to the multi-cultural heritage of Asia and Europe”, the popular George Town World Heritage Site is unfortunately seeing a resurgence of illegal hotels with questionable fire safety. “Yes, we know that new ones are emerging again,” city mayor Datuk Yew Tung […]