China blocks Japan, South Korea visas

China suspended issuing short-term visas in South Korea and Japan yesterday, after announcing it would retaliate against countries that required negative Covid-19 tests from Chinese travellers.
10 January 2023, 18:00 PM

India to demolish some buildings

India will demolish some buildings in a northern Himalayan town near its border with China after evacuating families in the past few days, an official said yesterday, as hundreds of homes have developed cracks in an area thronged by pilgrims.
10 January 2023, 18:00 PM

Treasury running dry

Bankrupt Sri Lanka yesterday announced sharp government spending cuts and warned it had barely enough revenue to pay public salaries and pensions despite huge tax hikes.
10 January 2023, 18:00 PM

Iran sentences ex-president's daughter to 5 years in prison

The activist daughter of former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has been sentenced to five years in prison, her lawyer said today.
10 January 2023, 08:45 AM

China suspends short-term visas for S Korean, Japanese visitors

China has suspended issuing some visas for South Korea and Japan in Beijing’s first retaliation against Covid-related curbs on Chinese travellers.
10 January 2023, 07:10 AM

Myanmar jails 112 Rohingyas including children

Myanmar authorities have sentenced 112 Rohingya, including a dozen children, to between two and five years in prison for attempting to travel to Malaysia "without legal documents", state media reported Tuesday..The group were arrested last month in the southern Ayeyarwady region and senten
10 January 2023, 06:27 AM

China carries out combat drills around Taiwan again

Taiwan yesterday condemned China for holding its second military combat drills around the island in less than a month, with the defence ministry saying it had detected 57 Chinese aircraft.
9 January 2023, 18:00 PM

90pc of people in China province infected with Covid: official

Almost 90 percent of people in China’s third most populous province have now been infected with Covid-19, a top official said yesterday, as the country battles an unprecedented surge in cases.
9 January 2023, 18:00 PM

Thai PM launches re-election bid

Thailand’s embattled Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday vowed to fix the kingdom’s problems as he launched his re-election bid at a major rally in the capital Bangkok.
9 January 2023, 18:00 PM

Rare rhinos dodge poachers for first time since 1977

No rhinos were poached last year in the world’s largest reserve for the endangered great one-horned rhinoceros, India’s Assam state, in what authorities said was the first time since 1977.
9 January 2023, 18:00 PM

Donors pledge over $8bn in aid

Pakistan said yesterday that donors had committed to give more than $8 billion to help it recover from last year’s devastating floods in what is seen as a major test for who pays for climate disasters.
9 January 2023, 18:00 PM

Taiwan condemns China for latest combat drills near island

Taiwan condemned China on Monday for holding its second military combat drills around the island in less than a month, with the defence ministry saying it had detected 57 Chinese aircraft.
9 January 2023, 10:08 AM

UN urges 'massive investments' for Pakistan flood recovery

The UN chief called Monday for "massive investments" to help Pakistan recover from last year's devastating floods, saying it was "doubly victimised" by climate change and a "morally bankrupt global financial system".."No country deserves to endure what happened to Pakistan," UN Secretary-G
9 January 2023, 09:05 AM

Indians evacuated from ‘sinking’ holy town

Authorities in one of the holiest towns in the Indian Himalayas were evacuating panicked residents yesterday after hundreds of houses began developing yawning cracks and sinking, officials said.
8 January 2023, 18:00 PM

China marks end of ‘zero-Covid’

Travellers streamed into China by air, land and sea yesterday, many eager for long-awaited reunions, as Beijing opened borders that have been all but shut since the start of the Covid pandemic.
8 January 2023, 18:00 PM

Road accident kills 19 in China

Nineteen people died and 20 were injured yesterday in a road traffic accident in eastern China’s Jiangxi province, state media reported.
8 January 2023, 18:00 PM

Pak minister in Geneva to secure IMF bailout fund

Pakistan has stepped up efforts to secure money from an international money lender and a friendly state as the South Asian country faces an unprecedented economic crisis.
8 January 2023, 18:00 PM

17 dead in road accident in eastern China's Jiangxi

Seventeen people were killed and 22 were injured Sunday in a road traffic accident in eastern China's Jiangxi province, state media reported.
8 January 2023, 02:34 AM

‘Our town is sinking’

Indian authorities have ordered immediate evacuation of nearly 600 families from their houses in the Himalayan town of Joshimath, an official said yesterday, after hundreds of buildings in the area popular with pilgrims and tourists developed cracks due to shifting soil.
7 January 2023, 18:00 PM

Jack Ma to cede control of Ant Group

Jack Ma will cede control of Chinese fintech giant Ant Group, the company announced yesterday, following a Communist Party crackdown on the nation’s tech sector that targeted the charismatic billionaire.
7 January 2023, 18:00 PM