Panic buying over Covid-19 reported worldwide
(NST) - Shelves are being stripped bare of toilet rolls, hand sanitiser and surgical masks everywhere from Japan to France to the United States as panic buying criss-crosses the globe with the…
Chinese cybersecurity company accuses CIA of 11-year-long hacking campaign
(Reuters) - Chinese anti virus firm Qihoo 360 said CIA hackers have spent more than a decade breaking into the Chinese airline industry and other targets, a blunt allegation of American espionage…
Coronavirus: Iran temporarily frees 54,000 prisoners to combat spread
Iran has temporarily released more than 54,000 prisoners in an effort to combat the spread of the new coronavirus disease in crowded jails.
(BBC) - Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili told…
Armed ex-guard holds 30 hostage in Philippines mall
(NST) - Heavily armed police were in a standoff Monday with a disgruntled former security guard who took at least 30 people hostage in a Philippines shopping mall.
Workers and customers…
Indonesia confirms first Covid-19 cases
(NST) - Indonesian President Joko Widodo said on Monday that two Indonesians have tested positive for the Covid-19 coronavirus, marking the first confirmed cases in the world’s fourth most…
COVID-19: Saudi Arabia bars foreigners from visiting Mecca
(SCMP) - Saudi Arabia on February 27, 2020, stopped issuing entry visas to foreign pilgrims heading to Mecca and Medina, two of Islam's holiest cities. There are fears that the deadly coronavirus…
Thai govt survives vote of no confidence
(ST) - The Thai government survived a no-confidence motion in Parliament yesterday following four days of intense censure debate targeting six top government officials, including Prime Minister…
COVID-19: WHO raises global virus risk to maximum level
(NST) - The World Health Organization on Friday raised its global risk assessment of the new coronavirus to its highest level after the epidemic spread to sub-Saharan Africa and caused financial…
Army of 100,000 Chinese ducks on standby to combat locust swarms
(ST) - A troop of special Chinese ducks is waiting to be deployed to neighbouring Pakistan to fight a swarm of crop-eating pests that threaten regional food security.
At least 100,000 ducks are…
New Delhi hit by worst violence in decades
(Aljazeera) - New Delhi is reeling from days of violence, described as some of the worst the Indian capital has suffered in decades.
Dozens of people have been killed and more than 200 were…
Indonesia may start work on new capital in July
(TheStar) - A 'soft groundbreaking' and early construction on Indonesia’s new capital city in East Kalimantan may take place in July, the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) announced…
Governments ramp up preparations for coronavirus pandemic
(Reuters) - Governments ramped up measures on Thursday to battle a looming global pandemic of the coronavirus as the number of infections outside China, the source of the outbreak, for the first…
WHO: More coronavirus cases reported outside China than inside
(ST) - More new coronavirus cases are being reported outside China than inside it, with Italy and Iran in particular seeing their outbreaks spread to nearby countries.…
Saudi Arabia suspends Umrah visa over Covid-19 outbreak
Saudi Arabia on Thursday suspended visas for pilgrims wishing to visit Makkah over Covid-19 coronavirus fears, the foreign ministry said.
(NST) - The government is "suspending entry to the…
Delhi clashes: 21 killed as Hindu and Muslim groups clash
(BBC) - Delhi remains on edge after the third consecutive night of rioting, with reports of Muslim homes and shops being targeted by violent mobs.
Twenty-one people have been killed so far in…
U.S. braces for coronavirus spread as outbreaks worsen in Italy, Iran
(Reuters) - The United States told Americans on Tuesday to begin preparing for coronavirus to spread within the country as outbreaks in Iran, South Korea and Italy escalated and fears that the…
Thai govt: Accusations of PM’s role in 1MDB ‘groundless’
(TheStar) - The government has rejected as “groundless” the recent accusation by the dissolved Future Forward Party of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-Cha being involved in the 1Malaysia Development…
How Iran’s coronavirus death toll came to be the highest behind only China
(SCMP) - Iran has been thrust to the forefront of rising global concern about the spread of the novel coronavirus after reporting by far the most deaths of any country apart from China.
Iranian…
COVID-19: South Korea raises alert level to highest
(Al Jazeera) - South Korea has raised its disease alert to the highest level after a surge in coronavirus infections and two more deaths, while Chinese state media warned the outbreak had yet to…
Malaysia, China and Vietnam in ‘dangerous, ongoing game of chicken’ in South China Sea
(SCMP) - A fresh stand-off over energy exploration in the disputed South China Sea that involves Malaysia, China and Vietnam has been brewing for weeks out of the public eye, a Washington-based…
Newly-banned Thai opposition party says junta helped 1MDB cover-up
(TheStar) - A banned Thai opposition party on Sunday (Feb 23) accused the former military junta of helping cover up Malaysia's multi-billion-dollar 1MDB scandal, urging Thais to demand the truth…
Covid-19 spreads in Middle East as Iran deaths rise to 4
(NST)- New Covid-19 coronavirus cases surged across the Middle East on Friday, after a rapid spread in Iran, where authorities say the death toll from the virus has hit four, prompting alarm and…
Quaden Bayles: Australian school boy in bullying video receives global support
(BBC) - People around the world have rallied behind a nine-year-old Australian boy after a video of his deep distress over being bullied went viral.
Yarraka Bayles posted the clip of her son,…
US removes China from list of developing countries
(TheStar) - China, together with some other countries, has been removed from the United States' list of 'developing' nations and considered as a 'developed' country when it comes to international…
Germany shooting: far-right gunman kills 10 in Hanau
(TheGuardian) - A gunman killed nine people in two apparently racially motivated shootings at shisha bars in the German town of Hanau, police said. The suspect then killed himself, according to…
The ‘Skull-Breaker Challenge’ Spreads On TikTok, Here Is What Can Go Wrong
(Forbes) - The descriptor “skull-breaker” usually implies a bad ending. A skull-breaker date. A skull-breaker job interview. A skull-breaker spa visit. These typically are not good things.
So…
Malaysia 1MDB fugitive Jho Low spotted in Wuhan: Police
(CNA) - A fugitive Malaysian financier wanted over a massive graft scandal has been spotted in the city at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak, police said, although it was unclear if he had…
Thousands of frozen meat containers pile up at Chinese ports
(FMT) - Thousands of containers of frozen pork, chicken and beef are piling up at some major Chinese ports as transport disruptions and labour shortages slow operations, people familiar with the…
Indonesian minister suggests ‘the rich’ should marry ‘the poor’ to reduce poverty rate
(TheStar) - Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Muhadjir Effendy has suggested the country’s rich people should marry those from low-income families, arguing that such cross-class…
Japan confirms 2 deaths and 29 in serious condition on cruise ship due to COVID-19
(CNA) - Two passengers from a coronavirus-hit cruise ship moored near Tokyo have died and 29 people were in a serious condition, the Japanese government said on Thursday (Feb 20), as a second…