Search results for: Asia

Vaccinated foreign pilgrims allowed for Umrah

-- 2021-08-08 11:08:10

Saudi Arabia will gradually begin receiving Umrah pilgrimage requests from abroad for vaccinated pilgrims starting Aug. 9 after about a year and a half of not receiving overseas worshippers due to the...

Japan confirms first lambda variant case of coronavirus

-- 2021-08-07 19:20:10

The lambda variant of the novel coronavirus, first identified in Peru, has been found in Japan for the first time, health ministry officials said Friday, reports The Japan Times citing Bloomberg. The...

India approves J&J COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use

REUTERS 2021-08-07 18:28:38

India has approved Johnson & Johnson's single-dose COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use on Saturday, health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said in a tweet. The pharmaceutical giant had applied for emer...

Australia daily Covid at 2021 record high

REUTERS 2021-08-07 12:37:46

Australia reported a record daily number of new coronavirus cases this year on Saturday with the highly infectious Delta variant continuing to spread through the country's most populous states of New...

Knife attacker on Tokyo commuter train wanted to kill women who ‘looked happy’

-- 2021-08-07 11:20:17

The man alleged to have wounded 10 people in a knife attack on a Tokyo commuter train late on Friday told police he became incensed when he saw women who "looked happy" and wanted to kill them, Japane...

Israel bombs Hamas sites in Gaza in response to fire balloons, military says

-- 2021-08-07 10:46:21

Israeli aircraft bombed Hamas sites in the Gaza Strip on Saturday in response to incendiary balloons launched from the Palestinian enclave, Israel's military said. There were no immediate reports of...

Taliban capture first Afghan provincial capital, in Nimroz

REUTERS 2021-08-06 19:49:17

The city of Zaranj in Afghanistan's Nimroz province fell to the Taliban on Friday, provincial police said, making it the first provincial capital the insurgents have captured as they step up offensive...

Taliban kills Afghanistan government’s top media officer

-- 2021-08-06 17:34:27

Taliban fighters on Friday assassinated the Afghanistan government's top media and information officer in the capital Kabul, the hardline militant group said. Dawa Khan Menapal, head of the Governmen...

Rocket fire from Lebanon sets off sirens in Israel and Golan Heights

REUTERS 2021-08-06 15:09:10

Rockets were fired towards Israel from southern Lebanon on Friday, a Lebanese security source said, triggering sirens in northern Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. There were no immediat...

Hardliner Raisi sworn in as Iran president amid tensions with West

REUTERS 2021-08-06 11:03:19

Hardline Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi took the oath of office before parliament on Thursday, with the Islamic Republic's clerical rulers facing growing crises at home and abroad. The mid-ranking S...

Taliban target provincial Afghan cities in response to US strikes

REUTERS 2021-08-06 10:58:00

Afghan security forces keep watch at a checkpoint in the Guzara district of Herat province, Afghanistan July 9, 2021 — Reuters Taliban militants have switched strategy from targeting rural area...

China aims to provide 2.0b COVID-19 vaccine doses to world in 2021: CCTV

-- 2021-08-05 20:31:08

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday said China will strive to provide two billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to other countries in 2021, state broadcaster CCTV reported.In his written message to...

At least 40 bodies found in Myanmar jungle after army crackdown

REUTERS 2021-08-05 18:32:29

A Myanmar militia force fighting the army in a central part of the country and residents have found at least 40 bodies in jungle areas in recent weeks, including some showing signs of torture, a milit...

Uneasy calm in Indian Kashmir on second anniversary of loss of autonomy

-- 2021-08-05 15:48:18

Troops patrolled the streets on Thursday in Srinagar, the main city of Indian Kashmir, where many shops were shut to mark the second year since the Himalayan region was stripped of its autonomy. In 2...

Expats wait anxiously as Singapore weighs COVID-19 reopening

-- 2021-08-05 15:46:07

For months, Briton Jamie Pierre has been trying to get approval to travel to Singapore for his new job there. But after repeated checks online plus multiple emails and messages, he is frustrated, conf...

Indian govt asks states to impose restrictions ahead of festivals

-- 2021-08-05 13:40:44

The Indian government has asked state authorities to impose restrictions ahead of festivals across the country, warning that overcrowding could lead to "super spreader" events and a new surge in infec...

Sydney reports worst day of pandemic as lockdown nears six weeks

Reuters 2021-08-05 11:38:07

Sydney reported its worst day of the Covid-19 pandemic on Thursday with five deaths and a record rise in locally acquired infections as a weeks-long hard lockdown is struggling to contain the highly c...

Pakistan to rent out PM’s official house to manage 'financial crunch': Report

-- 2021-08-04 16:11:05

Reeling from a financial crunch, Pakistan has now put its prime minister Imran Khan's official residence in Islamabad on the market for rent, according to a report by news agency ANI citing the local...

Taliban claim responsibility for car bomb attack in Kabul

-- 2021-08-04 16:07:03

The Taliban claimed responsibility on Wednesday for a car bomb attack on the residence of Afghanistan's acting defence minister, while a blast near the office of the main security agency in Kabul just...

US envoy says Taliban seek 'lion's share of power' in new government

-- 2021-08-04 10:58:05

The Taliban and the Kabul government are far apart in US-backed talks on bringing peace to Afghanistan, with the insurgents demanding "the lion's share of power" in any new government, the special US...

Australia reports one of its youngest Covid deaths as Sydney outbreak grows

-- 2021-08-04 10:24:23

Australia's New South Wales reported one of the country's youngest deaths from COVID-19 on Wednesday, as daily infections lingered near a 16-month high despite the lockdown of 5 million people in stat...

Indian govt 'ready to probe Bengal post-poll violence'

UNB 2021-08-03 19:45:15

Barely 20 days after India's top human rights body recommended a central probe into post-poll violence in the eastern state of West Bengal, the federal government on Tuesday expressed its willingness...

UAE lifts ban on transit flights

REUTERS 2021-08-03 18:31:23

The United Arab Emirates will lift a ban on transit passenger traffic from India, Pakistan, Nigeria and other countries from Aug 5, the National Emergency and Crisis Management Authority (NCEMA) said...

Pakistan reaches 1.0m shots a day after warning unvaccinated face penalties

REUTERS 2021-08-03 17:58:51

Pakistan hit a target on Tuesday to vaccinate one million people a day against COVID-19, making strides in its inoculation campaign just weeks away from a deadline for workers in public-facing roles t...

Iran’s Raisi says he will take steps to lift US sanctions

REUTERS 2021-08-03 15:08:58

Iran will take steps to lift "tyrannical" sanctions imposed by the United States, hardline Shi'ite cleric Ebrahim Raisi said on Tuesday after winning the endorsement of the country's supreme leader to...

China's Wuhan to test all residents as cases of Delta variant reported

REUTERS 2021-08-03 12:56:32

China's Wuhan city will test all of its 12 million residents for the coronavirus, an official said on Tuesday, after the place where the virus emerged in late 2019 confirmed its first domestic cases o...

Japan will only hospitalise most serious Covid patients as infections rise

-- 2021-08-03 10:54:09

Japan will focus on hospitalising patients who are seriously ill with COVID-19 and those at risk of becoming so while others isolate at home, officials said, amid worries about a strained medical syst...

Sudden US troop withdrawal worsens situation, Afghan president says

-- 2021-08-02 17:29:02

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Monday blamed Afghanistan's fast-deteriorating security situation on a "sudden" decision by the United States to withdraw its troops but said his government had a plan...

Concerns growing in China as Delta outbreak spreads

-- 2021-08-02 15:25:15

A fresh Covid outbreak in China has spread to more locations, raising concerns in local media over the country's vulnerability to the highly contagious Delta variant. More than 300 cases have bee...

US to launch Afghan refugee programme

-- 2021-08-02 12:22:57

US President Joe Biden's administration will launch a new programme to resettle certain Afghans as refugees in the United States, an administration official and two knowledgeable sources said on Sunda...