Heavy snow and winds in several parts of Iran in the past few days have closed many roads and disrupted transport. ( read original story ...)
Turkey tightens government control over civil society groups
Turkey has passed a law expanding government control over civil society groups, a move that rights campaigners warn may lead to the closure of non-governmental organisations and throttle what dissent ... ( read original story ...)
Japan suspends international air travel in response to new virus variant
Japan clamped down on international visits by non-resident foreign nationals until the end of January in response to the spread of a new more virulent variant of the coronavirus that has sickened ... ( read original story ...)
Almost 70% of the world’s soccer balls are made in one city in Pakistan — here’s what it’s like inside one of the factories
The city of Sialkot in northern Pakistan is home to at least 1,000 soccer ball factories that employ almost 60,000 people. ( read original story ...)
Blackcaps v Pakistan: first test, day four – Live updates
NZ lead by 239 NZ 431 (Williamson 129, Watling 73, Taylor 70, Nicholls 56, Shaheen 4/109) Pakistan 239 (Faheem 91, Rizwan 71, Jamieson 3/35) 17th over - Naseem continues. Latham has a single to deep ... ( read original story ...)
Australia v India: second Test, day four – live!
Can the bowlers save Australia again by fighting back from an almost hopeless position? Join Geoff Lemon for updates ... ( read original story ...)
Australia’s supposed summer of improvement stutters against India
It is hard to compute that a team can bowl out their opposition for 36 in a Test series and still be the one under the pump ... ( read original story ...)
Top five China commodities to eye for growth in 2021
A China-led economic recovery should boost demand for these commodities in 2021 after COVID-19 roiled global markets in 2020. ( read original story ...)
Taiwan third-best investment location, BERI report says
Taiwan was ranked as the third-best investment destination, alongside South Korea, in the lastest report by the US-based Business Environment Risk Intelligence SA (BERI), the Ministry of Economic ... ( read original story ...)
As Asia embraces a zero-carbon future, Hong Kong must make a niche as a green finance hub
Trillions will be needed for China, Japan and South Korea, not to mention other Asian economies, to achieve carbon neutrality, Hong Kong’s financial sector has a critical role in helping to raise ... ( read original story ...)