Southeast Asia

China maintains ban on Boeing 737 MAX flights

China's aviation regulator will not yet allow Boeing's troubled 737 MAX jet to fly in the company's biggest market owing to lingering safety concerns, despite the US lifting a ban on commercial flights.
Suu Kyi forecast to triumph in virus-hit Myanmar election

Polls opened in Myanmar Sunday morning for a vote expected to return to power the government of Aung San Suu Kyi, who remains a hero at home in spite of a reputation abroad shattered by the Rohingya crisis.
India’s top general says face-off with China could spark bigger conflict

India's Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat has said a tense border standoff with Chinese forces in the western Himalayas could spark a larger conflict, even as senior commanders from both sides met near the frontline for their eighth round of talks.
25 dead, scores missing after typhoon lashes Vietnam

Vietnam deployed hundreds of soldiers and heavy machinery today to search for survivors after landslides triggered by torrential rains from Typhoon Molave, one of the strongest typhoons in the region in decades.
Thai police order media probes over protest coverage

Thai police says they had ordered an investigation of four news outlets under emergency measures imposed last week to try to stop three months of protests against the government and monarchy.
Thai PM vows to stay on as protesters defy his ban

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said today he was not quitting after tens of thousands of anti-government protesters defied a ban on demonstrations and he warned them not to persist.
Thailand declares emergency, detains leaders, to curb protests

Thailand's government banned protests and police arrested at least three protest leaders today in the face of escalating demonstrations targeting King Maha Vajiralongkorn as well as Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, a former junta leader.
Maersk to stop using Myanmar military ports: rights group

Global shipping giant Maersk will stop using military-owned ports in Myanmar, a lobby group has said after leading a campaign against international companies with links to the armed forces.
Strengthen Saarc cooperation to face Covid-19 challenges: Momen

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has called upon all his counterparts of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) member states to work together in strengthening regional cooperation to fight the challenges posed by Covid-19 pandemic.
BSF rescues Bangladeshi woman ‘trafficked’ into India

India’s Border Security Force (BSF) personnel rescued a Bangladeshi woman who was trafficked into India from West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, an official says.
Myanmar bars Rohingya candidate from election

A Rohingya Muslim is barred from standing in Myanmar's upcoming election, in a decision decried by rights groups as discriminatory and a symptom of the "ongoing genocide" against the persecuted minority.
Death toll reaches 21 as search resumes for people missing in landslide in Kerala’s Idukki

A massive search operation using man and machine, is underway to find 50 odd people reported missing after a landslide in Kerala’s Idukki district.
Greta Thunberg donates 100,000 euro to aid flood relief efforts in Bangladesh, India

Teen climate activist Greta Thunberg has pledged to donate 100,000 euro from prize money to flood relief efforts in Bangladesh and India.
China halts HK extradition treaties with Canada, Australia, UK

China announced the suspension Tuesday of Hong Kong's extradition treaties with Canada, Australia and Britain in a tit-for-tat move following similar decisions by those countries over a controversial new security law.
Bangladeshi in Al Jazeera documentary to be deported from Malaysia

Bangladeshi Md Rayhan Kabir who appeared in the controversial Al Jazeera documentary will be deported and blacklisted to prevent him from returning to Malaysia, says Immigration director-general Khairul Dzaimee Daud.
Cancel financial grant to Myanmar police, HRW urges Japan

Human Rights Watch has called for Japan to immediately cancel plans to donate money to Myanmar police to purchase vehicles and communications equipment, saying the force has a well-documented record of serious human rights violations, including against the Rohingya population in the country.
India, China accuse each other of violating de facto border

India and China on Saturday each traded accusations that the other had violated their shared de facto border, an area that this week became the site of the deadliest clash in half a century between the two nuclear-armed giants.
19 killed in China tanker truck blast

The number of people killed in a tanker truck explosion on a highway in eastern China has climbed to 19, with more than 170 injured, local authorities said Sunday.
677 Bangladeshi workers return from Kuwait, UAE, Maldives

A total of 677 Bangladeshi citizens, most of whom are migrant workers, have returned from Kuwait, UAE and Maldives by three separate special flights since Monday.
Death toll from Pakistan airline crash now 97

The flight data recorder from the Pakistani airliner that crashed into a residential neighbourhood of Karachi has been found, an official said on Saturday, as the death toll rose to 97.
Duterte govt shuts down Philippines' top broadcaster ABS-CBN

Philippine regulators today shut down the country's largest media company and a frequent target of President Rodrigo Duterte's tirades, a day after its 25-year congressional franchise expired.
Include migrants in policies to address Covid-19: Red Cross to governments

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) calls on governments to systematically include migrants, irrespective of legal status, in their programmes and policies aiming to address the Covid-19 pandemic.
Military assault continues in Rakhine, Chin when world distracted by Covid-19

UN human rights expert Yanghee Lee has called upon the United Nations to step up its efforts to protect civilians in Rakhine and Chin states of Myanmar, alleging ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity being committed by the Myanmar military there.
Malaysian man walks 120km to avoid infecting anyone with Covid-19

The story of a Malaysian man, who walked 70km over three days from Kota Kinabalu to get to his hometown of Kota Marudu (some 120km away) with a dog as his companion, is getting much attention from internet users.
Coronavirus pandemic to hit growth in Asia: World Bank

The coronavirus pandemic is expected to sharply slow growth in developing economies in East Asia and the Pacific as well as China, the World Bank says in an economic update.
China reports 31 new coronavirus cases in mainland

Mainland China reports 31 new coronavirus cases, including one locally transmitted infection, the country’s National Health Commission said, dropping from 45 cases a day earlier.
China reports drop in new imported coronavirus cases, no local transmissions

Mainland China reported a drop in new confirmed coronavirus cases as imported infections fell and no locally transmitted infections are reported, including in central Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak in China.
WHO calls for urgent, aggressive actions as coronavirus cases soar in Southeast Asia region

The World Health Organization (WHO) calls on Southeast Asian countries, including Bangladesh, to urgently scale-up aggressive measures to combat Covid-19, as confirmed cases crossed 480, and the disease claimed eight lives in the region.
Thailand cancels on-arrival visa for 18 countries

Thailand cancels the grant of visa on arrival for 18 countries and visa exemption for three others to contain the spread of the coronavirus, the country's interior minister said.
Section 144 imposed in Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh

Delhi Police deploy forces and imposed Section 144 in Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh area which has been the epicentre of the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) agitation, as protesters have been sitting on the road since December 15 demanding the withdrawal of the act.