🇧🇩 Bangladesh

Foreign Minister criticises wealthy nations for hoarding COVID vaccines

Bangladeshi Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen criticises nations for stipulating conditions for vaccines supplies to other countries and for hoarding COVID-19 vaccines.

🇨🇳 China

Cryptocurrency mining exiting China

Companies are moving operations to other countries as Beijing strengthens efforts to curb businesses involved in the mining and trading of digital currencies.

COVID border restrictions for another year

Pandemic border restrictions to remain in place for at least another year with emergence of new variants and other sensitive events.

🇮🇳 India

COVID cases top 30 million

50,848 infections were recorded on Wednesday, bringing the total to 30.02 million. The decline in cases in recent weeks has prompted states to begin loosening restrictions — a move that some observers say can potentially backfire.

Delta Plus variant concerning

New coronavirus variant to be of concern after 22 cases detected across the country.

🇲🇾 Malaysia

Malaysia and Thailand launch cross-border QR payments

Both central banks launch cross-border Quick Response (QR) payment link to enable consumers and merchants in both countries to make and receive instant cross-border payments.

Aim to inoculate 60 by end-September

Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin says Malaysia aims to vaccinate 60% of the country’s population by the end of September.

Sunway to sell stake in healthcare unit to GIC

Malaysian conglomerate Sunway agrees to sell around a 15 percent stake in its healthcare unit to Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC for RM700 million to RM800 million reports CNA.

🇳🇵 Nepal

Top court removes most of caretaker PM's cabinet

The Supreme Court removes 20 ministers, recently appointed by embattled communist Prime Minister K.P.Sharma Oli, pending a ruling on whether a caretaker premier can make sweeping cabinet changes.

🇸🇬 Singapore

GlobalFoundries puts 4 billion into expansion

U.S. semiconductor giant GlobalFoundries will invest over 4 billion to expand its Singapore wafer plant and ramp up capacity as it attempts to tackle the global microchip shortage.

Stay-home notice for new travellers from higher-risk countries

Period for new travellers shortened to 14 days from 24 June.

🇱🇰 Sri Lanka

Belated #MeToo movement starts from newsrooms

Government orders \investigation into sexual harassment in the media after a string of #MeToo allegations from female newsroom staff.

US pledges more vaccines

The Biden administration pledges more COVID vaccines for Sri Lanka as part of an approximately USD16 million aid allocated for Asia.