International
This day in history
1921 - Canadians Sir Frederick Banting and Charles Best isolated insulin for the first time. It proved an effective treatment for diabetes.
This day in history
1940 - The Battle of Britain began in WWII when at least 70 German bombers attacked docks in south Wales.
Unvaccinated tourists will not be allowed into Canada for some time -PM Trudeau
Foreign tourists who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 will not be allowed to enter Canada for quite some time, with the government unwilling to jeopardize progress made on containing the virus, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday.
World’s tallest sandcastle built in Denmark
In the small seaside town of Blokhus in Denmark, the world’s tallest sandcastle has been completed, weighing nearly 5,000 tonnes and towering over 20 metres high, its designers said Wednesday.
UK lawmakers demand action over China’s alleged Xinjiang abuses
A group of British lawmakers yesterday urged the government to take tougher action against China over its treatment of minority groups, including a partial Winter Olympics boycott and cotton trade ban.
UK lawmakers clear PM of conduct breach over luxury holiday
A British parliamentary standards committee yesterday cleared Prime Minister Boris Johnson of breaching a lawmakers’ code of conduct over a luxury Caribbean holiday, but criticised his handling of the matter.
Chinese researchers propose deflecting 'Armageddon' asteroids with rockets
Chinese researchers want to send more than 20 of China's largest rockets to practice turning away a sizable asteroid - a technique that may eventually be crucial if a killer rock is on a collision course with Earth.
Brazil's Bolsonaro says he may not accept 2022 election under current voting system
Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro said on Wednesday he may not accept the result of a presidential election next year unless the voting system, which uses computers to record votes, is replaced with printed ballots that he favors.
Legal action over Shetty, Gere kiss shelved
India's Supreme Court suspended legal action against Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty yesterday over enthusiastic kisses bestowed on her by Hollywood heart-throb Richard Gere....
Exhibition highlights need to protect sea lanes
Asia Pacific naval forces kicked off the region's biggest sea defence exhibition in Singapore yesterday, highlighting the need to protect the world's key shipping lanes from extremist threats....
Toll climbs to 29 in Indian bus fire
The death toll from a head-on smash between a passenger bus running on compressed natural gas and a chemical tanker rose to 29 yesterday, the Press Trust of India said.
Police told the news agency they had recovered 29 bodies and that another 14 people were injured in the accident, which occurred when the bus tried to overtake another vehicle on a highway in western Gujarat state Monday.
Six of the dead had been identified but most bodies were charred beyond recognition by the flames that engulfed the bus, police said.
Thirteen of the injured were being treated in local hospitals and three of them were in serious condition, the report said.
Russia to build N-centre in sanctions-hit Myanmar
Russia said yesterday it had agreed to help build a light-water nuclear reactor and research centre in Myanmar, an Asian state run by a military junta that is under European and US economic sanctions.
"The agreement foresees cooperation in the design and equipping of a centre for nuclear research in Myanmar," including a light water nuclear reactor, Russia's atomic energy agency Rosatom said in a statement.
Rosatom head Sergei Kiriyenko and Myanmar's Science and Technology Minister U Thaung signed the deal for construction of the centre yesterday in Moscow, the statement said.
Malaysia mulls action over absconding foreign maids
Malaysia is considering stern action against maid agencies that encourage foreign housemaids to abscond from the homes where they are supposed to work, a minister said yesterday....
Sarkozy fine tunes govt as Chirac bids adieu
French president-elect Nicolas Sarkozy was putting the finishing touches to his broad-based government yesterday as Jacques Chirac prepared to bid farewell in a nationwide address....
Pak court official slain for his ties to chief judge, lawyers say
A top court official shot dead at his home was targeted because of his ties to Pakistan's suspended chief justice and had come under pressure from the government, lawyers for the judge said yesterday....
30 Suu Kyi men arrested in Myanmar
Some 30 supporters of Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi were arrested yesterday as they headed to pagodas around Yangon to pray for her release from house arrest, a party spokesman said....
Clashes with Pakistan to harm ties
Clashes between Afghan and Pakistani border guards that left more than a dozen dead will further strain ties between the two neighbours, Kabul said yesterday....
Vietnam jails dissident
A Vietnamese court yesterday sentenced a dissident to five years' prison for spreading propaganda against the communist state and for disrupting security, the sixth activist to be jailed in a week....