World / Asia

Australia denies refugee policy will halt UN bid 13 Dec 2016 - 12:35 pm

MELBOURNE, Australia: Australia’s foreign minister has denied allegations that its United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) candidacy has been impaired by its oft-criticized...

Thousands in North Korea at risk months after devastating floods : IFRC 13 Dec 2016 - 11:53 am

SEOUL: Thousands of survivors of floods that hit a remote corner of North Korea in August are in need of urgent aid as...

Cyclone Vardah batters south India coast killing four 12 Dec 2016 - 08:58 pm

CHENNAI, India: A cyclone barrelled into the southeast coast of India on Monday, killing at least four people and bringing down trees and...

Indonesia, India pledge closer maritime ties 12 Dec 2016 - 04:16 pm

New Delhi: The leaders of Indonesia and India pledged greater maritime cooperation Monday, as Asia's two largest democracies sought to counter China's rising...

Hong Kong arrests 29 staff from 5 financial firms in bribery probe 12 Dec 2016 - 02:52 pm

HONG KONG: Twenty-nine current and former staff of five financial firms, including four banks, have been arrested in Hong Kong for alleged bribery...

Taiwan calls on youths to join army as China threat looms 12 Dec 2016 - 02:19 pm

Taipei: Taiwan's defence minister called on youths to join the army Monday after Chinese military aircraft came near the island over the weekend...

Azerbaijan downs Armenian drone 12 Dec 2016 - 02:02 pm

BAKU: Azerbaijani troops have shot down an Armenian drone, the Defense Ministry in the capital Baku said on Monday. The ministry said in...

Philippine Abu Sayyaf militants free 2 Indonesians 12 Dec 2016 - 01:55 pm

MANILA, Philippines: Abu Sayyaf gunmen have freed two Indonesian tugboat crewmen kidnapped by the ransom-seeking militants six months ago and held in the...

New Thai king pardons prisoners in 'first show of mercy' 12 Dec 2016 - 01:33 pm

Bangkok: Thailand's new King Maha Vajiralongkorn has pardoned tens of thousands of prisoners, a first act of "mercy" as monarch as he reaches...

School bomb kills nine-year-old in Pakistan: officials 12 Dec 2016 - 01:28 pm

Peshawar, Pakistan: A nine-year-old girl was killed and three other children were wounded Monday when a bomb exploded near their school gate in...

Japan protests China over jet interference claim 12 Dec 2016 - 12:37 pm

TOKYO: Tokyo has lodged a protest with Beijing over a claim that Japanese fighter jets interfered at close range with Chinese military planes...

10 IS-linked fighters dead in clash in Philippines 12 Dec 2016 - 12:29 pm

ZAMBOANGA CITY, the Philippines: At least 10 members of a Islamic State-linked militant group have been killed in clashes with government forces in...

Bomb injures 4 police officers in Thailand’s south 12 Dec 2016 - 12:26 pm

BANGKOK: Four border patrol police officers were hospitalized in Thailand’s Muslim majority south on Monday, when a remote controlled bomb exploded near their...

Schools shut, navy on alert as cyclone bears down on south India 12 Dec 2016 - 10:04 am

NEW DELHI: Indian authorities closed schools and colleges on Monday and prepared to move people out of low-lying areas as a cyclone bore...

South Korean court says no date yet for president's impeachment hearing 12 Dec 2016 - 08:26 am

SEOUL: South Korea's Constitutional Court said on Monday no date has been set for public hearings in the case to review parliament's impeachment...

Getting children into school is not like going to Pluto, says Julia Gillard 11 Dec 2016 - 10:36 pm

NEW DELHI: The world is facing a crisis if countries do not increase their education budgets and get more children into school, warned...

Information war far from fair in Thailand's south 11 Dec 2016 - 10:24 pm

YALA, Thailand: For some weeks, the deputy police commissioner of Thailand, Police Gen. Srivara Ransibrahmanakul, has been making some pretty serious allegations about...