Suicide bomber kills 13 people

A suicide attack on a political rally in eastern Afghanistan killed at least 13 people yesterday, officials said, as the country braces for an escalation in violence ahead of this month's parliamentary election.
2 October 2018

US, China tensions mount

China expressed anger yesterday after a US Navy destroyer sailed near islands claimed by China in the disputed South China Sea, saying it resolutely opposed an operation that it called a threat to its sovereignty.
2 October 2018

Mahathir stands by criticism of Israel

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad yesterday described Jews as "hook-nosed" and blamed them for creating the troubles in the Middle East.
2 October 2018

Desperate locals turn to looting

Indonesia is in a race against time to save victims of a devastating earthquake and tsunami on Sulawesi island, the government said yesterday, as the official death toll rose to more than 1,300 and looting fuelled fears of lawlessness.
2 October 2018

No more passports at South Korea’s airport?

South Korea’s Incheon Airport aims to expand the biometrics iris scanning technology to identify all general airport users by as early as 2020.
2 October 2018

Indonesia quake: 34 Bible study students killed at church, 52 missing - Red Cross

Indonesian rescue workers have discovered the bodies of 34 students killed when a mudslide caused by Friday's quake on Sulawesi island engulfed their church, a local rescue official says.
2 October 2018

Two Koreas remove landmines at border

The two Koreas yesterday started to remove landmines along a section of their heavily fortified border as part of a summit deal to ease
1 October 2018

Typhoon kills four in Japan

Four people have been killed in a powerful typhoon that battered Japan over the weekend, local media reported yesterday, as the storm's aftermath brought travel chaos to Tokyo.
1 October 2018

Japanese warship visits Sri Lanka

Japan's largest warship, the Kaga helicopter carrier, sailed into Sri Lanka's Colombo harbour this weekend, marking Tokyo's highest profile salvo in a diplomatic battle with China for influence along the region's vital commercial sea lanes.
1 October 2018

China wants deeper ties with Maldives

China wants to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation with the Maldives, President Xi Jinping said in a congratulatory message to the newly elected Maldivian president, the leader of an opposition that has vowed to review Chinese projects.
1 October 2018

Pyongyang gifts dogs to S Korea's Moon

South Korean President Moon Jae-in received a pair of North Korean indigenous hunting dogs from Pyongyang, his office said yesterday,
30 September 2018

Maldives court frees ex-leader Gayoom on bail

A maldivian court Sunday granted bail to jailed former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, the country's longest-serving leader, a week
30 September 2018

Repatriation should start

Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said Myanmar should start repatriating the Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh, and
30 September 2018

Air traffic controller hailed as hero

An Indonesian air traffic controller is being posthumously hailed as a hero for refusing to leave his post despite devastating earthquakes
30 September 2018

Powerful Typhoon Trami batters Japan coast

A powerful typhoon pummelled Japan's southern island of Okinawa yesterday, injuring at least 17, as weather officials warned the storm would rip through the Japanese archipelago over the weekend.
29 September 2018

China, Russia slam US 'blackmail'

China and Russia denounced the use of "blackmail" Friday in thinly-veiled rebukes of President Donald Trump, highlighting the chasm between the US and its rivals on issues ranging from trade to the war in Syria.
29 September 2018

Rohingya issue should not be 'internationalised'

The Rohingya issue should not be complicated, expanded or "internationalised", China's top diplomat said, as the United Nations prepares to set up a body to prepare evidence of human rights abuses in Myanmar.
28 September 2018

China executes man for killing 9 school students

A man whose brutal knife attack left nine schoolchildren dead and injured 12 others was executed in China yesterday. Zhao Zewei was
27 September 2018

N Korea's 2017 bomb test set off quakes

The North Korean underground nuclear bomb test last year set off a series of aftershocks over a period of eight months, a study has found.
27 September 2018

Stop slandering China

China demanded the United States "dispel obstacles" to improving military ties and stop slandering it, amid growing tensions over trade, Taiwan, the South China Sea and US President Donald Trump's claims of China meddling in the upcoming US election.
27 September 2018