MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippines will not halt infrastructure projects involving Chinese firms blacklisted by ally the United States and will act in its own interests, not those of a foreign power, the president’s spokesman said on Tuesday. President Rodrigo... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thai police arrested a student leader on Tuesday as part of a continued crackdown against political activists who helped organize an anti-government protest in July, a police officer told Reuters. Jutatip Sirikhan, 21, the president of the ... More »
MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippines will not halt infrastructure projects involving Chinese firms blacklisted by ally the United States and will make its own decisions, not those of a foreign power, the president’s spokesman said on Tuesday. President Rodrigo D... More »
DONG HOA, Vietnam (Reuters) – While coronavirus lockdowns caused many men across the world to grow their hair longer than usual, none compare with Vietnam’s Nguyen Van Chien who has gone almost 80 years without a trim. The 92-year-old from the southern Mekong ... More »
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia’s northern state of Penang has barred entry by overseas visitors seeking medical treatment until it finalises new health and safety procedures in light of the coronavirus crisis, the chief minister said on Monday. Authorities ... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s economy saw its biggest annual contraction in 22 years and a record quarterly fall in the April-June period, as the coronavirus pandemic and restriction measures hit tourism, exports and domestic activity, prompting an outlook do... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Flash floods killed at least two people and swept through hundreds of houses in northern Thailand, authorities said after tropical storm Sinlaku dumped heavy rains on 18 provinces over the weekend. Muddy, waist-high waters poured into homes... More »
HANOI (Reuters) – Vietnam is in the midst of a “decisive” fight against the novel coronavirus, its premier said on Monday, focusing on the city of Danang where infections have appeared in four factories with a combined workforce of 3,700. Vietnam, widely prais... More »
HANOI (Reuters) – Vietnam has no plans for a widespread lockdown and will only put areas considered epicentres under strict quarantine, the government’s spokesperson said on Monday. “We will only implement social distancing in areas considered virus epicentres... More »
HANOI (Reuters) – Vietnam reported 21 more novel coronavirus infections late on Monday, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 642. All of the new cases are linked to Danang, the new coronavirus epicentre where Vietnam more than a week ago detect... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore researchers have developed “electronic skin” capable of recreating a sense of touch, an innovation they hope will allow people with prosthetic limbs to detect objects, as well as feel texture, or even temperature and pain. The d... More »
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s economy likely posted the biggest contraction in more than two decades in the second quarter, as measures taken to combat the coronavirus pandemic hit most sectors, a Reuters poll showed on Monday. The median forecast of 20 anal... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Visitors to Universal Studios in Singapore will now have to pass through facial recognition scanners to enter the park, in the city-state’s latest foray with a technology that has stoked privacy concerns. Resorts World Sentosa (RWS), whic... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s emerging student pro-democracy movement has adopted a Japanese cartoon hamster, Hamtaro, as a creative way to get support from young people around the country. University and high school students have rallied almost daily in the ... More »
HANOI (Reuters) – The airport in the central Vietnamese tourism hotspot of Danang was packed on Monday after three residents tested positive for the coronavirus and the evacuation of 80,000 people began. The Southeast Asian country is back on high alert after ... More »
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia is considering making face masks compulsory in public following the emergence of 13 new coronavirus clusters since the government relaxed broad curbs on movement and businesses last month, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said ... More »
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia reported on Monday its second-highest daily increase in coronavirus-related deaths with 96 fatalities, a day after registering a record daily jump in deaths, data presented by health ministry official Achmad Yurianto showed. The c... More »
JAKARTA (Reuters) – President Joko Widodo said the coronavirus outbreak in Indonesia is expected to peak in August or September, the state news agency Antara reported on Monday, two to three months later than earlier projected. “Based on data the peak is (now)... More »
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia reported 1,209 new coronavirus infections and 70 new deaths on Monday, its health ministry said. The case total is currently 64,958 and number of fatalities 3,241, said Achmad Yurianto, a ministry official. Source: https://www.reu... More »
HANOI (Reuters) – Vietnam’s VinSmart, a unit of Vingroup, has produced its first 5G smartphones in cooperation with the U.S.’s Qualcomm, Vingroup said on Monday. The model, Vsmart Aris 5G, is equipped with a Snapdragon 765G 5G module platform and a quantum sec... More »
MANILA (Reuters) – Bank of the Philippine Islands Chief Executive Cezar Consing said it was clear that a certificate purporting to be for a Wirecard deposit was “spurious” and reiterated that no cash from the German payments firm had entered the bank. Wirecard... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Regulators worked hard and did their job in the case of payments firm Wirecard, which on Monday said that 1.9 billion euros ($2.13 billion) missing from its accounts was likely never there, Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said on Monday. “I thi... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand hopes to ease some coronavirus restrictions on foreigners entering the country after going for 28 days without recording any domestic transmissions, a senior official said on Monday. Those who will benefit from the easing of restri... More »
CHONBURI, Thailand (Reuters) – Volunteer pet groomer Kriengkai Thatwakorn is thrilled to be back helping out stray dogs in Thailand, some in urgent need of a shearing after waiting three sweltering months for a trim. A domestic travel ban to contain the novel ... More »
HANOI (Reuters) – Stuck at home with school suspended, Nguyen Doi Chung Anh made the most of a lockdown in Vietnam by using art to demonstrate tragedy, resilience and chaos in the world’s battle against the coronavirus. The work of 10-year-old Chung Anh shows ... More »
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia will ask Bangladesh to take back about 300 Rohingya refugees detained after a boat carrying them entered its waters this week, the southeast Asian nation’s defence minister said on Tuesday. Malaysia does not recognise refugee ... More »
MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippine health ministry on Tuesday recorded six new coronavirus deaths and 518 additional infections. The ministry said total deaths have increased to 1,017 while confirmed cases have reached 22,992. (Paragraph 2 of this story shows t... More »
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s health ministry reported 1,043 new coronavirus infections on Tuesday, its biggest daily rise in cases, taking the total number of infections to 33,076. There were also 40 new deaths, bringing total fatalities to 1,923, said Achm... More »
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia reported on Tuesday 486 new coronavirus infections, taking the total in the Southeast Asian country to 18,496, the country’s COVID-19 task force reported on its official website. The task force also recorded 30 more deaths, taking... More »
MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippine health ministry on Tuesday reported six new coronavirus deaths and 224 more infections, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 12,942. The number of deaths was the lowest in just over two weeks, with the total now at 83... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore’s health ministry said on Tuesday it confirmed 451 more coronavirus cases, taking the city-state’s tally of infections to 28,794. Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-singapore/singapores-health-ministry... More »
HANOI (Reuters) – Vietnam is aiming for double-digit annual growth in the turnover of e-commerce over the next five years, forecasting that sales in the sector could be worth $35 billion by 2025 in the Southeast Asian country. More than half of Vietnam’s 96 mi... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore’s health ministry said on Tuesday it had confirmed another 884 coronavirus cases, taking the city-state’s tally of infections to 24,671. Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-singapore/singapores-health-m... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand on Tuesday reported two new coronavirus cases and no new deaths, bringing the total to 3,017 cases and 56 deaths since the outbreak started in January. The two new cases are a 19-year-old woman from Bangkok and a 51-year-old woman ... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Chewy and Miley, both two-year-old Schnauzer dogs, are getting their hair cut at a groomer in Bangkok for the first time since the new coronavirus outbreak began in Thailand in January. Pet grooming shops are among a handful of businesses t... More »
MANILA (Reuters) – Dressed as “Star Wars” characters, local officials in the Philippines are out and about to enforce strict quarantine measures while also handing out relief packages. With Darth Vader and Stormtrooper outfits made from rubber mats and old pla... More »
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia criticised the World Health Organisation on Monday for advising adults to avoid palm oil in their diet during the COVID-19 outbreak and use alternatives such as olive oil. The WHO Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office said in ... More »
SUKOHARJO, Indonesia (Reuters) – Volunteers clad as Superman and Spider-Man sprayed disinfectant against the coronavirus on Indonesia’s island of Java, flanking a colleague wearing the winged helmet of local superhero Gatotkaca who shouted, “Wear masks, wash h... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore has confirmed 799 more coronavirus infections, its health ministry said on Monday, taking the city-state’s tally of cases to 14,423. Most of the new cases are among migrant workers living in dormitories in the city-state, which ... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand on Monday reported nine new coronavirus cases and one death, bringing the country’s totals to 2,931 cases and 52 fatalities. It is the first time since the outbreak started in January that there have been no new local transmissions... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore said on Tuesday it had preliminarily confirmed 1,111 new coronavirus cases, taking the city-state’s total infections to 9,125. The health ministry said most of the cases were migrant workers living in dormitories, a group that a... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand recorded 19 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, a senior health official said, the lowest daily tally in more than a month. A 50-year-old taxi driver accounted for the latest death, said Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a spokesman for the gov... More »
MANILA (Reuters) – The Asian Development Bank [ADB.UL] announced on Monday it was tripling the size of its rescue package to $20 billion to help developing countries in Asia counter the severe macroeconomic and health effects of the coronavirus pandemic. It pr... More »
MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippine health ministry on Monday reported 18 new coronavirus deaths and 284 additional infections. In a bulletin, the health ministry said total deaths have reached 315, while confirmed cases have increased to 4,932, adding 45 patien... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s job losses may reach 10 million if the coronavirus outbreak continues for a few months, a business advisory council said on Monday. Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy is being hit hard by the virus outbreak and is heading in... More »
HO CHI MINH CITY (Reuters) – A Vietnamese entrepreneur in Ho Chi Minh City has invented a 24/7 automatic dispensing machine providing free rice for people out of work following an ongoing nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. Vietnam... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore is preparing to house hundreds of foreign workers in accommodation vessels typically used for offshore and marine industry staff as it races to find alternatives to dormitories where the novel coronavirus has been spreading rapi... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand reported 28 new coronavirus cases and 2 new deaths on Monday. Of the new cases, 18 are linked to previous cases, 7 without connection to old cases, and 3 are Thai nationals who had traveled to South Sulawesi province, Indonesia for... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore’s high court upheld on Monday a rarely-used law that criminalizes sex between men, dismissing three appeals that argued it was unconstitutional. The ruling follows challenges to the colonial-era law by activists emboldened after... More »
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesian President Joko Widodo said on Monday he plans to impose stricter limits on mobility between regions and also to implement a large-scale policy of social distancing to help curb the spread of coronavirus. “In implementing the poli... More »
HANOI (Reuters) – You’ve got to eat it, to beat it: That’s the philosophy of one Hanoi chef who is attempting to boost morale in the Vietnamese capital by selling green, coronavirus-themed burgers. Laughing in the face of the global pandemic, Chef Hoang Tung a... More »
JAKARTA (Reuters) – The governor of Indonesia’s capital Jakarta on Friday declared a state of emergency for the next two weeks in the city, the center of Indonesia’s coronavirus outbreak. Governor Anies Baswedan told a news conference that public entertainment... More »
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – AirAsia Group Bhd (AIRA.KL) said on Friday an independent probe into corruption allegations from Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has found the Malaysian airline’s procurement process with European planemaker Airbus SE (AIR.PA) rob... More »
DEPOK, Indonesia (Reuters) – While many Muslims in Indonesia’s capital accepted advice to avoid religious gatherings and prayed at home on Friday elsewhere in the world’s most populous Muslim country, people ignored the risk of coronavirus and crowded into the... More »
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia will mobilise the army to help enforce curbs on movement aimed at reining in the coronavirus, the government said on Friday, as it grapples with the highest number of infections in Southeast Asia. Malaysia reported 130 new inf... More »
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – A fire killed five people at a refining and petrochemicals complex in southern Malaysia owned by Petronas and Saudi Aramco, authorities said on Monday. It was the second fire in less than a year at the $27 billion Pengerang Integrated ... More »
BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – The Chinese city at the center of the coronavirus epidemic closed its first makeshift hospital, one of 16 hurriedly built to handle the epidemic, after it discharged the last recovered patients, state broadcaster CCTV reported on M... More »
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Two Indonesians have tested positive for coronavirus after coming into contact with an infected Japanese national, President Joko Widodo said on Monday, marking the first confirmed cases in the world’s fourth-most populous country. The disc... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand has reported one new coronavirus case, bringing the total number of such cases in the country to 43 since January, a senior health official said on Monday. The new case is a 22-year-old Thai woman who works with another Thai patien... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea reported 123 new coronavirus cases, taking the country’s total infections to 4,335, the Yonhap news agency said, citing health authorities. The updated numbers added to the 476 recorded earlier by the Korea Centers for Disease Con... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Kuwait’s Health Ministry announced 10 new cases of coronavirus in the country on Monday bringing the total number to 56, a ministry official said. The official, who was speaking during a news conference broadcast on state television, urged ci... More »
HANOI (Reuters) – Samsung Electronics has started building a $220 million research and development center in Vietnam, the South Korean tech giant’s local unit said on Monday. But a ground-breaking ceremony, scheduled for this past Saturday, was canceled becaus... More »
BEIJING/SEOUL (Reuters) – Fears of a coronavirus pandemic grew on Monday after sharp rises in new cases reported in Iran, Italy and South Korea but China relaxed restrictions on movements in several places including Beijing as its rates of new infections eased... More »
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has submitted a letter of resignation to the country’s king, his office said on Monday, leaving the government in limbo amid talk of forming a new governing coalition. The fate of Malaysia’s ru... More »
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia’s Mahathir Mohamad has quit his Bersatu party after unexpectedly resigning as prime minister on Monday amid a power tussle, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. It was not immediately clear why Mahathir lef... More »
HANOI (Reuters) – Bamboo Airways will suspend flights to South Korea from Feb. 26 over coronavirus concerns, the company said on Monday. Its flights between Da Nang and Nha Trang to Seoul’s Incheon International Airport will cease operations starting Feb. 26, ... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Kuwait and Bahrain on Monday recorded their first new coronavirus cases, all involving people who had visited Iran, which has reported 43 cases of the disease, state media said. Kuwait detected the virus in three people among 700 who had been... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Qatar will ask passengers arriving from Iran and South Korea to remain in home isolation or a quarantine facility for 14 days over fears of new coronavirus outbreak, Qatar Airways said in a statement on Monday. Source: https://www.reuters.com... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Kuwait said on Monday three people, including a Saudi national, who returned from Iran were infected by the new coronavirus, state news agency KUNA reported. The three cases, the first in the Gulf state, were among the 700 people evacuated fr... More »
SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia (Reuters) – An influx of Chinese that some Cambodians resented for bringing noise, dust and chaos to the port of Sihanoukville, is the cause of more pain now that it has gone into reverse. The new coronavirus has meant yet another setba... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s telecoms regulator raised 100.52 billion baht ($3.2 billion) in 5G spectrum auctions on Sunday, with operators snapping up 48 licenses ahead of an expected commercial rollout later this year. Thailand’s top mobile operator, Advan... More »
MANILA (Reuters) – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Saturday that Donald Trump deserved to be re-elected, praising the U.S. president’s reaction to his decision to end a decades-old military agreement with the United States. Trump said on Wednesday... More »
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s parliament will soon begin debating a sweeping new bill that proposes corporate tax cuts and seeks to make internet giants pay more taxes, as part of a wider plan to simplify laws and boost investments in Southeast Asia’s bigges... More »
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia’s economic growth in the fourth quarter is expected to have slowed to its weakest since mid-2016 on weaker private consumption and external demand, a Reuters poll showed. The median forecast from the poll of 13 economists was ... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Britain takes U.S. concerns about its use of Huawei equipment seriously but is confident a trade deal with the United States will be among its first after leaving the European Union, its foreign secretary said on Monday. U.S. officials ha... More »
HANOI (Reuters) – Vietnam confirmed an additional three cases of the new coronavirus, the health ministry said, bringing the country’s total to eight cases. The latest confirmed case were in the same flight from Wuhan, China, to Vietnam and had close contact w... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iranians should not allow U.S. President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” approach to harm national unity ahead of parliamentary elections, President Hassan Rouhani said in a speech, lashing out at hardliners over mass disqualification of ca... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore said on Monday that the coronavirus outbreak will hurt its economy this year, as it announced new measures to tackle the disease which originated in China and has spread to the city-state and several other countries. The Southea... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran said on Monday that it had not closed the “door to negotiations” in efforts to resolve a dispute over its nuclear agreement with world powers that has escalated steadily since the United States withdrew from the deal in 2018. Foreign Min... More »
MANILA (Reuters) – A restive volcano in the Philippines has a high risk of eruption as it is “recharging” with fresh magma and rising emissions of toxic gas, a top scientist said on Monday, while authorities ordered commercial establishments to stay shut. Eart... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn has ordered police to stop completely blocking roads in Bangkok for royal motorcades, a government spokeswoman said. The order followed rare criticism of royal motorcades and other inconveniences that Tha... More »
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) – Thousands of Cambodians working for a Hong Kong-listed casino company have gone on strike for higher pay and better working conditions, they said on Thursday. About 3,000 workers joined the strike in front of the NagaWorld hotel and casi... More »
JAKARTA (Reuters) – A coalition of trade unions will mobilize thousands of people next week to block the Indonesian government’s plan to relax restrictive labor rules, as President Joko Widodo’s administration is set to hand over a bill to parliament. The prot... More »
HANOI (Reuters) – At least four people, including three policemen, were killed on Thursday in Vietnam when protesters attacked authorities trying to build a wall near a military airport, the Ministry of Public Security said. The protesters attacked the authori... More »
MANILA (Reuters) – At least 11 people have been killed and more than 300 treated in hospital after drinking coconut wine in the Philippines, including some who were celebrating at a Christmas party, health and local authorities said on Monday. The poisoning oc... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s central bank has not shut the door to further monetary policy easing should the economy worsen, the governor said on Monday, after two rate cuts this year to support flagging growth. The Bank of Thailand (BOT) last week left its ... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s customs-cleared exports in November fell 7.39% from a year earlier, after falling 4.54% the previous month, the commerce ministry said on Monday. November’s export numbers came in worse than a Reuters poll forecast for a decrease... More »
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia expects to sign more deals with the United Arab Emirates in the energy, health and education sectors during a visit to the country next month by President Joko Widodo, a ministry statement released on Monday said. The Indonesian g... More »
(Reuters) – The Malaysian Open will return to the Asian Tour next year following a four-year hiatus, officials said on Monday. The event will offer a purse of $1 million and be held at Kota Permai Golf and Country Club March 5-8. The Malaysian Open became the ... More »
MANILA (Reuters) – Rescue teams in the southern Philippines searched for signs of life on Monday in a collapsed shopping center after a powerful earthquake that killed at least three people and wounded dozens more. Disaster response officials said five people ... More »
MANILA (Reuters) – To some athletes, brands count for everything when it comes to performance. Filipina schoolgirl Rhea Bullos bagged three gold medals at an athletics competition this week without wearing shoes, opting instead to wrap her feet in tape and dra... More »
JAKARTA (Reuters) – A cave painting found on Indonesia’s island of Sulawesi, depicting human-like figures hunting animals, appears to be the earliest known pictorial record of story-telling, according to a study by a team of Australian and Indonesian researche... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore political figure Brad Bowyer on Monday corrected a Facebook post questioning the independence of state investment firms following a government request, in the first use of the country’s new “fake news” law. Bowyer used “false an... More »
MANILA (Reuters) – A group of secondary school students in the Philippines has found a way to convert poo from stray dogs into a mixture for bricks, aiming to rid city streets of excrement and potentially even lower construction costs. As part of a research pr... More »
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong police fired tear gas and rubber bullets on Monday to force back anti-government protesters trying to escape a university where hundreds are holed up with petrol bombs and other homemade weapons amid fears of a bloody crackdown.... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – China on Monday called on the U.S. military to stop flexing its muscles in the South China Sea and to avoid adding “new uncertainties” over Taiwan, during high-level talks that underscored tension between the world’s two largest economies. ... More »
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has downgraded Malaysia’s air safety rating, restricting the country’s airlines from adding flights to the United States, four sources familiar with the matter and a U.S. government offici... More »
JAKARTA (Reuters) – A former chief executive of Indonesian state electricity utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) [PLNEG.UL] has been cleared in a graft case related to a power plant project, a judge at the country’s corruption court said on Monday. Prosecu... More »
HANOI (Reuters) – Police in Vietnam have arrested eight people in connection with the discovery of 39 dead people, all believed to be Vietnamese, in a truck near London last month, state media said on Monday, bringing the total number of arrests in Vietnam to ... More »
YANGON (Reuters) – Ethnic rebels in Myanmar have detained and interrogated a lawmaker and several Indian nationals, one of whom died, the rebels said on Monday, in the latest escalation of violence in the restive western state of Rakhine. Tens of thousands of ... More »
