World / Asia

India sees impact of Omicron blunted by vaccination, prior infections 03 Dec 2021 - 02:02 pm

NEW DELHI- India expects the Omicron variant of coronavirus to cause less severe disease, the health ministry said on Friday, thanks to vaccinations...

India says it detects two cases of Omicron variant 02 Dec 2021 - 02:18 pm

BENGALURU: Indiahas detected two cases of the new Omicron coronavirus variant in the southern state of Karnataka, a health ministry official said on...

Japan retracts new flight bookings ban after criticisms 02 Dec 2021 - 08:51 am

Tokyo: Japan says it has retracted a ban on new incoming international flight bookings to defend against the new variant of the coronavirus...

Uber adds ride booking via WhatsApp in India 02 Dec 2021 - 07:41 am

Uber Technologies Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc.’s WhatsApp have rolled out ride booking via the messenger service in India, a first for the...

India's SII promises 40 mln more AstraZeneca doses to COVAX this year 01 Dec 2021 - 07:19 pm

NEW DELHI- Serum Institute of India (SII) has pledged to supply about 40 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 shot to the global...

Philippines says COVID variants highlight need for local vaccine development 01 Dec 2021 - 03:22 pm

Manila: New coronavirus variants highlight the need for countries to do their own research and development on COVID-19 vaccines, said a senior Philippines...

Indian man builds one-third sized Taj Mahal replica for wife 01 Dec 2021 - 02:10 pm

New Delhi: An Indian man has built a one-third sized replica of the historic Taj Mahal for his wife, but unlike the original,...

Japan suspends new reservations on all incoming flights 01 Dec 2021 - 12:03 pm

Tokyo: Japan has asked international airlines to stop taking new reservations for all flights arriving in Japan until the end of December as...

Fiji reopens to foreign tourists for first time in nearly two years 01 Dec 2021 - 11:08 am

Canberra: Fiji reopened its border to international travellers for the first time in nearly two years on Wednesday, as the Pacific Island country...

Indian student's fight against caste discrimination raises Dalit hopes 30 Nov 2021 - 03:43 pm

Chennai, India: Bullied by academic staff, barred from the university laboratory and even denied a chair, Deepa P. Mohanan despaired of ever being...

India advises states to step up COVID testing; Mumbai delays school reopening 30 Nov 2021 - 03:32 pm

BENGALURU: India's health ministry said on Tuesday states should ramp up COVID-19 testing as the world battles the new coronavirus variant Omicron, while...

Chinese border cities limit rail imports amid COVID outbreak in the north 30 Nov 2021 - 03:09 pm

BEIJING: A few Chinese border cities are halting some non-container commodity imports by rail to reduce the risk of COVID-19 clusters caused by...

Singapore boosts testing, holds off on further reopening over Omicron variant 30 Nov 2021 - 11:31 am

SINGAPORE: Singapore will hold off on more reopening measures while it evaluates the Omicron COVID-19 variant and will increase testing of travelers and...

Australia on alert after first probable Omicron community case 30 Nov 2021 - 10:13 am

SYDNEY: Australian authorities said on Tuesday that an international traveller who was most likely infected with the Omicron variant spent time in the...

Japan confirms first case of Omicron variant of coronavirus: Kyodo 30 Nov 2021 - 10:06 am

TOKYO: Japan has confirmed its first case of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, the Kyodo news agency reported on Tuesday, citing unidentified...