Israel and UAE strike historic deal to normalise relations

Israel and the United Arab Emirates have reached a historic peace deal that will lead to a full normalisation of diplomatic relations between the two Middle Eastern nations in an agreement that US President Donald Trump helped broker.
13 August 2020

China steps up fight against food wastage after President Jinping terms it ‘shameful’

China’s biggest short-video and social media platforms have said they will punish users seen to be wasting food in their broadcasts, as the government urges against food wastage in the middle of a pandemic, with President Xi Jinping terming it “shameful”.
13 August 2020

Pakistan army chief to visit Saudi Arabia in quest to smooth ties

Pakistan’s army chief will visit Saudi Arabia this weekend, officials say, seeking to calm diplomatic strains over Kashmir as financial support for Islamabad hangs in the balance.
13 August 2020

Back from the dead?

Some skin, eggs and tissue samples are all that remain of Malaysia’s last rhino, Iman, who died last November after years of failed breeding attempts.
12 August 2020

Daughters have equal rights to property

Daughters cannot be deprived of their right of equality and they will have equal coparcenary (joint heirship) rights in joint Hindu family property even if the father died before the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005, India’s Supreme Court has ruled.
12 August 2020

Pranab remains on life support

The condition of India’s former President Pranab Mukherjee continued to be critical today and he remains on ventilator support after undergoing a brain surgery two days ago, the Army’s Research and Referral hospital in New Delhi said.
12 August 2020

Two more Rajapaksas included in Lanka govt

Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa named two more relatives to a new government unveiled yesterday, further consolidating his family’s grip on power.
12 August 2020

Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt ‘diagnosed with cancer’

Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt, whose life has been so colourful and tragic that it became the subject of a biopic, has been diagnosed with lung cancer, Indian media reports said yesterday.
12 August 2020

World’s biggest container ships take shape in S Korea

On the bridge of one of the world’s biggest container ships, a worker in a grey protective suit installs the compass that will guide the leviathan across the world.
12 August 2020

Mahatma Gandhi’s iconic glasses go on sale in UK

A “rare and important” pair of iconic glasses worn by Indian independence hero Mahatma Gandhi look set to sell for tens of thousands of pounds after a British auction house put them up for sale on Monday.
11 August 2020

We have to ‘save it ourselves’

Hong Kongers rushed to buy pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily yesterday in a show of support for its owner, who was arrested a day earlier as police rounded up critics of China.
11 August 2020

Kashmir family alleges Indian forces killed three civilians

The family of three missing Kashmiris have alleged the trio was killed in a staged operation by the Indian army, bringing back memories of past cases of extrajudicial killings in the Muslim-majority region.
11 August 2020

Bhutan in virus lockdown for the first time

Bhutan has been largely shielded from coronavirus but yesterday, the remote Himalayan kingdom famous for measuring gross national happiness went into lockdown for the first time.
11 August 2020

PM ‘concerned’ as call grows for reform of the monarchy

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha yesterday said he is concerned about a growing student protest movement after another student group issued an unusually frank 10-point call for reform of the monarchy.
11 August 2020

Facebook has not shared ‘evidence’

The head of a UN investigative body on Myanmar said Facebook has not released evidence of “serious international crimes”, despite vowing to work with investigators looking into abuses in the country including against the Rohingya Muslim minority.
11 August 2020

Hong Kong residents buy newspaper to support free press

Long lines of people bought up copies of the Apple Daily paper at Hong Kong newsstands to support a free press in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.
11 August 2020

J&K militants kill fifth BJP politician

A Kashmir politician who died of gunshot wounds yesterday has become the fifth member of India’s ruling nationalist party to be killed by militants in the turbulent region since last month.
10 August 2020

China fumes as US lauds Taiwan’s democracy

A US cabinet member heaped praise on Taiwan’s democracy and its success in battling the coronavirus as he met the island’s leader yesterday during a historic visit that China has slammed as a threat to peace.
10 August 2020

China flexes muscles with raid, arrests

Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai was arrested yesterday and led in handcuffs through his newspaper office as police raided the building, part of a sweeping crackdown on dissent since China imposed a security law on the city.
10 August 2020

PM Hasina congratulates Mahinda Rajapaksa on Lankan polls victory

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina congratulates her Sri Lankan counterpart Mahinda Rajapaksa on his party’s victory in the recently held parliamentary polls.
8 August 2020