For months, no kerosene was available at all in Mannar as the country’s foreign exchange reserves dried up and it was unable to import crude for its refineries. When supplies resumed just a couple of weeks ago, kerosene prices were nearly four times as high, as Sri Lanka began dismantlingContinue Reading
MANILA: The Philippines has sought clemency for a Filipino woman on death row in Indonesia, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s press secretary said on Tuesday (Sep 6), in the latest high-level attempt to save the drug trafficker’s life. Mary Jane Veloso was arrested in Indonesia in 2010 carrying a suitcase lined withContinue Reading
Sources familiar with the plans told Reuters US Representative Stephanie Murphy, a Florida Democrat, was leading a bipartisan House delegation that would arrive in Taiwan on Wednesday and stay until Friday. The other members of the US delegation included Democrat Kaiali’i Kahele and Republicans Scott Franklin, Joe Wilson, Andy Barr,Continue Reading
NEW DELHI: India approved a locally developed, needle-free and nasally administered COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use on Tuesday (Sep 6), in a boost to the country’s homegrown pharmaceutical industry. The new inoculation was developed by Bharat Biotech, the makers of another intravenous vaccine that was greenlit by the World HealthContinue Reading
KUALA LUMPUR: Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak on Tuesday (Sep 6) applied for a review of the Federal Court’s decision to uphold his conviction and sentence for the misappropriation of RM42 million from SRC International, a former subsidiary of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB). Lawyer Rahmat Hazlan from Messrs Shafee &Continue Reading
KABUL: Two earthquakes shook Afghanistan on Tuesday (Sep 6), with one killing six people in the northeast of the country, officials said. The temblor early in the morning in northeastern Kunar province also injured nine people, according to Mohammad Nassim Haqqani, spokesperson for Afghanistan’s disaster ministry. The United States GeologicalContinue Reading
BEIJING: China has logged its hottest August since records began, state media reported Tuesday (Sep 6), following an unusually intense summer heatwave that parched rivers, scorched crops and triggered isolated blackouts. Southern China last month sweltered under what experts said may have been one of the worst heatwaves in globalContinue Reading
Are COVID-19 tests and quarantine still needed? Here’s a look at the requirements across key Asian destinations, including Japan and South Korea.Continue Reading
SINGAPORE: Taiwan has removed Singapore, Malaysia and a host of other countries from an initial list of nations announced as eligible for visa-free entry starting next week. On Monday (Sep 5), a table published online by Taiwan’s Bureau of Consular Affairs showed that visitors from Singapore and Malaysia among other countries wereContinue Reading
TAIPEI: Taiwan’s government expressed its condolences to China on Tuesday (Sep 6) for an earthquake in Sichuan province and said it was ready to send rescuers, in a sign of goodwill to Beijing despite weeks of military tensions. China, which claims democratically-governed Taiwan as its own territory despite the strongContinue Reading