Al-Shabaab gunmen attack Mogadishu hotel, casualties reported
MOGADISHU - Al-Shabaab fighters attacked a hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu in a hail of gunfire and explosions on Friday, with casualties reported, security sources and witnesses said.
Literature world holds New York rally for Rushdie
NEW YORK - Prominent literary figures including Paul Auster and Gay Talese gathered Friday in Manhattan for a reading of Salman Rushdie's works, in solidarity with the author seriously injured in a stabbing attack.
Baldwin expects no charges over fatal movie set accident
LOS ANGELES - US actor Alec Baldwin said he does not believe anyone will be criminally charged over the fatal shooting on the set of Western film "Rust," telling CNN he has hired a private investigator to assess culpability for the tragedy.
PM's tenure review approaches
The opposition's petition calling for a definitive ruling on when Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha's eight-year premiership should end is expected to be forwarded to the Constitutional Court for a review on Monday.
Visas extended to boost tourism
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) has approved longer visas for foreign visitors to the country from Oct 1 until March 31.
Casino workers flee Cambodia by swimming to Vietnam
Dozens of Vietnamese casino workers allegedly forced to toil without pay in Cambodia have fled back to their homeland by swimming across a river, authorities in Phnom Penh said on Friday.
Myanmar junta may talk to Suu Kyi ... after her trial
Myanmar’s military chief said on Friday the junta is open to negotiations with ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi to end the crisis sparked by its coup — after her trials in a junta-run court have concluded.
Rajapaksa seeks safety guarantee from Colombo
Deposed former Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa is seeking to return home from his exile in Thailand and has asked his successor to guarantee his safety, his party said on Friday.
Cathay paying pilots extra to fly to China
Cathay Pacific Airways is dangling allowances of up to HK$5,000 (US$640) a flight as a sweetener for pilots rostered on to fly in and out of mainland China, with ongoing Covid-19 curbs making it less appealing to work those routes.
China jails 'disappeared' tycoon for 13 years
Xiao Jianhua, a Chinese Canadian billionaire and onetime trusted financier to China’s ruling elite, was sentenced to 13 years in prison on Friday, and his company fined $8 billion, after he pleaded guilty to bribery and other crimes that authorities said had “seriously jeopardised” the country’s financial security.
Another Singapore crypto firm in trouble
SINGAPORE: The beleaguered cryptocurrency lender Hodlnaut says it is the subject of “pending proceedings” involving Singapore police and that it has slashed its workforce.
Mountain B pub inferno death toll rises to 20
The death toll from the Mountain B pub fire in Chon Buri rose to 20 on Friday, when a 50-year-old man with critical burns died at Chon Buri Hospital after 14 days of treatment.
BG Pathum end Kitchee's Asian Champions League dream
Thailand's BG Pathum United ended Kitchee's fairytale Asian Champions League run with a 4-0 win over the Hong Kong side in the round of 16 on Friday.
Japan court recognises trans woman as parent of girl born before transition
A Tokyo court on Friday acknowledged the parent-child relationship between a transgender woman and her daughter conceived using her frozen sperm and born to her female partner before legally transitioning, partially overturning an earlier family court decision.
Covid vaccine plan for the very young
The government plans to buy 2.9 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer for children aged from six months to four years.
Thailand to allow foreign tourists to extend stay as Covid eases
Thailand will permit an extended length of stay for foreign tourists between October and March in a bid to support its economic recovery as pressures from Covid-19 ease, Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) spokesman Taweesilp Visanuyothin said on Friday.
Soldier slain at army camp gate, corporal prime suspect
NAKHON PHANOM: Police will ask the military court to issue a warrant for the arrest of an army corporal accused of shooting dead a private outside a military camp in Pla Pak district on Thursday evening.
Fuel price hikes, scarce rice add to hardship in Myanmar
People queue under monsoon drizzle for subsidised cooking oil in Yangon, waiting for one of the many commodities that have become scarce as economic misery strikes the city.
2,110 new Covid inpatients, 27 more deaths
There were 27 more Covid-19 fatalities and 2,110 new patients admitted to hospitals on Thursday, the Ministry of Public Health reported on Friday.
Covid-19 to be declared endemic in October
The government will declare Covid-19 endemic in October, and from November responsibility for dealing with it will devolve to provincial disease committees, a spokesman says.
