KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia on Friday (Sep 30) said it will challenge a move by the heirs of a former Southeast Asian sultan to seize its Dutch assets as part of the descendents’ efforts to enforce a US$15 billion arbitration award against the Malaysian state. The heirs of the former SuluContinue Reading
KABUL: A suicide bomb attack on a classroom of hundreds of people preparing for exams in the Afghan capital on Friday (Sep 30) killed at least 19 people, with most of the casualties girls, police and a witness said. The blast ripped through Kaaj Higher Educational Center, which coaches mainly adultContinue Reading
JAKARTA: Four people were shot and killed by an armed rebel group in Indonesia’s restive West Papua province, the latest in a string of attacks on civilians, police said on Friday (Sep 30). The West Papua National Liberation Army, which the government has designated as a terrorist organisation, said itsContinue Reading
BANGKOK: Thailand’s Constitutional Court on Friday (Sep 30) ruled that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha had not exceeded the maximum eight years allowed in the post, paving the way for his likely return from a five-week suspension. The court was announcing its decision in a case filed by the opposition, whichContinue Reading
JAKARTA: Indonesia has approved its first locally developed COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, the head of the country’s public health agency said on Friday (Sep 30), hailing it as a step toward “the nation’s independence in access to medicine”. Jakarta has stressed the importance of developing national vaccines since the beginningContinue Reading
South Korea’s new President Yoon Suk-yeol, who took office in May, has vowed to boost trilateral security cooperation with the United States and Japan to better counter the North’s evolving weapons threats. The exercises brought together the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier, the 9,800-ton guided missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville, theContinue Reading
HANOI: Seven bodies have been found washed ashore on a beach in southern Vietnam, authorities said on Friday (Sep 30), a week after a boat with more than 40 people on board sank off the neighbouring Cambodian coastal town of Sihanoukville. The bodies found on a beach on Phu QuocContinue Reading
BANGKOK: Thailand’s Constitutional Court is due to deliver its verdict on Friday (Sep 30) on a case that seeks to determine whether Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has already exceeded the eight-year term limit set for his role. Prayut, who seized power in a 2014 coup before formally becoming prime ministerContinue Reading
SEOUL: South Korea’s kimchi makers are in serious pain – brought low as a climate change-induced shortage of cabbages sent prices rocketing this year, exacerbating damage inflicted by cheaper offerings from Chinese competitors. Such is the sense of crisis surrounding the spicy pickled side dish eaten daily by many KoreansContinue Reading
WASHINGTON: The usa on Thursday (Sep 29) imposed sanctions on companies this accused of participation in Iran’s petrochemical and petroleum industry, including five based in China, pressuring Tehran as it seeks to bring back the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Washington has increasingly targeted Chinese companies over the export of Iran’sContinue Reading