TOKYO (THE YOMIURI SHIMBUN/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – It will still be a long time before the area of the US Marine Corps’ Futenma Air Station in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, is returned. The central government must patiently work on the relocation plan for the base. The Defence Ministry has applied to the Okinawa prefectural government for […]
Abdullah Orokzai, also known as Aslam Farooqi, was arrested with other fighters by Afghan intelligence. Afghan forces announced they have arrested the leader of the country’s ISIL (ISIS) affiliate along with 19 other fighters. Two high-ranking commanders were among those arrested in addition to the leader of the Islamic State of the Khorasan Province (ISKP), Abdullah […]
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Labor Department issued new guidelines on Sunday for U.S. meatpacking and meat-processing plants that have seen a rash of coronavirus outbreaks, saying employees should be spaced at least 6 feet (1.8 m) apart and screened before they start working. The interim guidance from the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health […]
BANGKOK (BLOOMBERG) – A vaccine for the novel coronavirus is needed to help reverse a plunge in Thailand’s critical tourism sector, according to the agency that promotes the industry. Visitor numbers are set to tumble 60 per cent to 16 million this year, almost halving foreign tourism income, but those numbers could go even lower […]
KUALA LUMPUR • Malaysia’s push to explore energy blocks off its coast has turned into a five-nation face-off involving American and Chinese warships, raising the risk of a direct confrontation as broader tensions mount between the world’s biggest economies. The episode began in December, when Malaysia’s state-run energy giant Petroliam Nasional, or Petronas, contracted a […]
NEW DELHI, INDIA (REUTERS) – An Indian woman was allegedly gang-raped in a school in the desert state of Rajasthan where she had been quarantined for a night by the police amid the nationwide coronavirus lockdown, a police official said on Sunday (April 26). The incident occurred last week when the victim, a daily wage […]
Never did I imagine that the hardest part about reporting on a city lifting its lockdown would be trying to get out of it. Getting into Wuhan was easy: I bought a ticket on one of China’s numerous platforms, hopped on a train with a suitcase full of protective gear and disinfectant and just over […]
It has been a dramatic reversal of political fortunes for South Korean President Moon Jae-in, with the coronavirus to thank. When the number of daily new infections surged to a high of 909 on Feb 29, calls for Mr Moon’s impeachment were rising as opposition voices blamed the outbreak on his failure to close the […]
SINGAPORE – The Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) has rebutted allegations by a foreign news site that its halal certification process is corrupt, saying that it places utmost priority in ensuring the integrity of its system. An article published on April 22 by Hong Kong-based outlet Asia Sentinel alleged that the council shows “favouritism” […]
Saudi Arabia partially lifts curfew and thousands hit California beaches as pandemic reaches another grim milestone. The coronavirus global death toll exceeded the 200,000 threshold, according to a tally by the Johns Hopkins University. The World Health Organization (WHO) warned against countries issuing so-called “immunity passports” to those recovered from COVID-19, saying there is no […]