Asian News

January 24, 2020 9:51 AM

MELAKA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Melaka state government has announced there will be a water rationing exercise for three districts next week, as the water level at the Durian Tunggal dam takes a drastic dip.

January 24, 2020 9:39 AM

HONG KONG - Chinese citizens travelling overseas have been urged by their embassies to comply with airport health checks put in place in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Lunar New Year is the most important festival in the Chinese calendar. But instead of traditional reunion dinners, some families have another ritual: luxury apartment shopping in Singapore.With the political unrest in Hong Kong showing no signs of stopping, Chinese buyers are zeroing in on Asia’s other major financial centre, doubling sales of units at the top end of the market. Rich foreigners are largely undeterred by the higher taxes that are now levied on them.Inquiries in the lead up to…

Almost two decades after Sars, a new mystery virus puts China back in the global spotlight.

January 24, 2020 8:37 AM

BEIJING (BLOOMBERG, AFP) - China reported that deaths from a new coronavirus rose to 25, from 18, as it rushes to halt the SARS-like disease, even as the World Health Organisation (WHO) stopped short of calling the infection a global health emergency.

Concerns are growing that the recently-detected coronavirus may spread. Dr Rosalind Eggo explains.

The arrest of American journalist Philip Jacobson in Indonesia over alleged visa violations has sparked an international outcry over press freedom in the Southeast Asian nation.Jacobson, an editor at non-profit media organisation Mongabay, has reported on environmental and corruption issues in Indonesia since 2011.The 30-year-old could face five years in prison if authorities prosecute him for violating the terms of his visa, an offence for which other foreign reporters have previously been…

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte warned the United States on Thursday he would repeal an agreement on deployment of troops and equipment for exercises if Washington did not reinstate the visa of a political ally.Visibly upset, Duterte vented his anger over the US decision to deny entry to Ronald dela Rosa, a former police chief who is now a senator.Dela Rosa said the US embassy in the Philippines did not explain why his visa had been cancelled but that he believed it was most likely because…

The billionaire launches an attack on US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Xinping.

Japan’s health ministry said on Friday it had confirmed the country’s second case of a novel coronavirus strain, in a man who travelled from the Chinese city of Wuhan.In a statement, the ministry said the man in his 40s was a resident of the Chinese city where the outbreak began and arrived in Japan on January 19.He reported having had a fever for several days before his arrival but said that his condition had stabilised by the time of his arrival in Japan.On January 22, he reported a fever and…

January 24, 2020 6:37 AM

The infection was confirmed in a man in his 40s who lives in Wuhan - the Chinese city at the centre of the outbreak - and travelled to Japan, the health ministry said in a statement.

With hundreds of millions set to travel, China tries to corral the deadly virus in Hubei province.

A man died after being slashed by blade tied to a rooster in a cock fight in India, police said on Thursday.The incident draws attention to the controversial practice, which continues in the country on a large scale despite a ban.The victim, Saripalli Venkateswara Rao, 53, was holding the rooster at a death match in the village of Pragadavaram last week when it tried to struggle free, lashing out at its owner.“Rao made efforts to hold on, but he got deep stab injuries from a small sharp knife…

January 24, 2020 5:00 AM

China has taken the unprecedented move of locking down cities at the heart of a new Sars-like outbreak that has spread swiftly across provinces and the world, killing at least 17 and infecting more than 630.

January 24, 2020 5:00 AM

BEIJING • Wuhan residents woke up yesterday morning to news that the authorities had ordered a ban on all travel out of the beleaguered city in a bid to contain a fast-spreading mystery virus that has killed at least 17 people and sickened hundreds more.

January 24, 2020 5:00 AM

What hits a visitor to China's wild animal markets immediately is the smell. It is an odour so overwhelmingly putrid that one would leave at once if one did not have any real business to be there.

January 24, 2020 5:00 AM

The suspension of all public transport in and out of the central Chinese city of Wuhan has turned the spotlight on the historic city that has become ground zero of the new coronavirus outbreak. The Straits Times' former China correspondent Lim Yan Liang takes you through some things to know about this rising city that is the capital of Hubei province.

January 24, 2020 5:00 AM

THE HAGUE • Rejecting arguments made by Myanmar's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague ruled yesterday that Myanmar must act to protect Rohingya Muslims, who have been killed and driven from their homes in what the country's accusers call a campaign of genocide.

January 24, 2020 5:00 AM

PETALING JAYA • The feud involving the two top leaders of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), Malaysia's biggest political party with 50 MPs in Parliament, is flaring up again after a lull of just a few weeks.

January 24, 2020 5:00 AM

A senator and close ally of President Rodrigo Duterte has denounced the Singaporean chief executive of a motorcycle ride-sharing firm and wants her declared "persona non grata" - or unwelcome - in the Philippines.