LONDON (Reuters) – The option of a one-time payment holiday during times of intense crisis might enable countries to pandemic-proof their bonds, a prominent debt fund believes. Economic fallout from COVID-19 has triggered a record number of sovereign defaults ... 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 »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s central bank said on Thursday that it has signed a currency agreement with Laos, allowing direct local currency settlement for transactions under the current and capital accounts. The agreement was aimed at boosting financial cooper... More »
HANOI (Reuters) – Vietnam said it has seized more than 125 kg (275 lb) of rhino horns hidden in plaster blocks and shipped from United Arab Emirates, the latest large-scale wildlife trafficking case in Southeast Asia. The rhino horns were discovered earlier th... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s agriculture ministry said on Monday it will carry out checks on local veterinary authorities in 10 provinces as it tries to slow the ongoing spread of the deadly African swine fever virus. The investigations come after China’s cabin... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s agriculture ministry said on Friday it had confirmed an African swine fever outbreak in Luchuan county in the southwestern region of Guangxi that killed nine pigs on a farm. China has reported 143 outbreaks of the incurable disease ... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand will ban pig imports from Laos for 90 days after its neighbor confirmed the first outbreak of deadly African swine fever, an official notice said. The ban would cover live pigs and carcasses in an effort to prevent the disease from... More »
Anopheles minimus mosquitoes are pictured at a lab in the Public Health Ministry in Bangkok, Thailand, November 9, 2017. Picture taken November 9, 2017.REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha BO RAI, Thailand (Reuters) – Once a smuggling stop for Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge gu... More »
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau raised the plight of Rohingya refugees and extra-judicial killings in the Philippines at a summit of Asian and Western leaders on Tuesday, sensitive human rights issues skirted by almost all the others. More »
Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday said he raised the issue of human rights and extrajudicial killings during a conversation with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who was "receptive" to his comments. More »
Southeast Asian foreign ministers ended an impasse on Sunday over how to address disputes with China in the South China Sea, issuing a communique that called for militarization to be avoided and noting concern about island-building. More »
An exiled Thai opposition activist and outspoken critic of Thailand’s ruling junta has been abducted in Laos, a rights group said on Tuesday, calling on authorities in Thailand and Laos to investigate the disappearance. More »
Democratic Republic of Congo has suffered two separate outbreaks of polio, a debilitating and potentially deadly disease that the world is trying to eradicate, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday. More »
Fertility clinic Miracle IVF Center is seen in Vientiane, Laos June 7, 2017. REUTERS/Phoonsab Thevongsa Dozens of fertility clinics have mushroomed in land-locked Laos after scandals over commercial surrogacy have spurred wealthier southeast Asian neighbors to... More »
EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom talks to reporters in Pasay city, Metro Manila, in the Philippines March 10, 2017. REUTERS/Erik De Castro The European Union is seeing increased impetus around the world to move forward with Free Trade Agreements (FTA) w... More »
The Wall Street sign is seen outside the New York Stock Exchange, March 26, 2009. REUTERS/Chip East The lobby group for Wall Street’s structured finance companies has partnered with the trade association for the blockchain industry to explore ways blockchain t... More »
Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers link arms during the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Retreat in Boracay, central Philippines February 21, 2017. L-R: Saleumxay Kommasith, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Laos- Anifah Aman, Minister of F... More »
U.S. President Barack Obama talks to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairman David Archambault II (L) as they attend the Cannon Ball Flag Day Celebration at the Cannon Ball Powwow Grounds on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota, June 13, 2014. RE... More »
A worker fogs the drains in the common areas of a public housing estate at an area where locally transmitted Zika cases were discovered in Singapore August 31, 2016. REUTERS/Edgar Su Singapore confirmed 26 more cases of locally transmitted Zika infections, the... More »
Chinese President Xi Jinping waits for the arrival of US National Security Adviser Susan Rice (not pictured) for their meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, July 25, 2016. REUTERS/How Hwee Young/Pool Chinese President Xi Jinping has reshuf... More »
A contractor fogs a condominium garden in Singapore in an effort to kill mosquitoes, September 5, 2013. REUTERS/Tim Wimborne/File Photo Singapore has confirmed 41 cases of locally transmitted Zika virus, mostly among foreign construction workers, and said it e... More »
VIENTIANE Southeast Asian nations overcame days of deadlock on Monday when the Philippines dropped a request for their joint statement to mention a landmark legal ruling on the South China Sea, officials said, after objections from Cambodia. Beijing publicly t... More »
KUNMING, China/VIENTIANE For the southwestern city of Kunming, China’s plan to extend a high-speed rail link 3,000 km (1,875 miles) south to Singapore is already a boon: pristine expressways, a gleaming station and something of a real estate boom, as young buy... More »
GENEVA The world should stop vaccinating children against one of the three strains of the crippling polio virus as part of a drive to eradicate the disease once and for all, a group of health experts has advised the World Health Organization. There is no cure ... More »
