China rejects WHO plan for study of Covid-19 origin
China rejected on Thursday a World Health Organization (WHO) plan for a second phase of an investigation into the origin of the coronavirus, which includes the...
Asia
Opening ceremony director fired over Holocaust joke on Games eve
On the eve of the Tokyo Games, organisers fired the director of the opening ceremony over a joke he made about the Holocaust, while media...
Half of all Afghan district centres under Taliban control – US general
Taliban insurgents control about half of Afghanistan’s district centres, the senior US general said on Wednesday, indicating a rapidly deteriorating security situation. Insecurity has been...
India reports first human death from bird flu
An 11-year-old boy has died in India from a bird flu virus of the H5N1 strain, the first such fatality in the country, highlighting a...
Two-thirds of Indians have coronavirus antibodies, survey shows
Two-thirds of India’s population have antibodies against the coronavirus, according to data released on Tuesday from a survey of 29,000 people across the nation conducted...
S.Korea’s Moon scraps Tokyo trip over ‘unacceptable’ diplomat remarks
South Korean President Moon Jae-in will not visit Tokyo for the upcoming Olympics, his office said on Monday, scrapping plans for what would have been...
Coronavirus: First case at athletes’ village, stoking fears ahead of Olympics
Tokyo Olympics organisers said on Saturday a person has tested positive for Covid-19 at the athletes’ village, the first case at a site where most...
Nigerian Olympic delegate is first to be hospitalised with Covid
A Nigerian delegate to the Olympics became the first visitor to the Tokyo Games admitted to hospital with COVID-19, broadcaster TV Asahi said on Friday,...
After 24-year search, Chinese man reunited with kidnapped son
A man has finally reunited with his abducted son after a 24-year hunt across China, handing out missing-person flyers, that burned through his savings and...
Some Philippine troops jump before military plane crashes in flames, killing at least 45
A Philippines Air Force troop plane crashed and broke up in flames on a southern island on Sunday, killing at least 45 people after some jumped free,...
Delta variant sweeps Asia, prompting curbs as vaccination remains tepid
The highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus is surging through Asia this week, with record numbers of infections in Australia and South Korea, prompting...
Vietnam’s GDP grows 5.64% in first half as industry and construction boom
Vietnam recorded a year-on-year GDP growth of 5.64 percent in the first half of this year, three times higher than the growth rate of 1.82...
What is the Delta variant of coronavirus with K417N mutation?
India said on Wednesday it has found around 40 cases of the Delta coronavirus variant carrying a mutation that appears to make it more transmissible,...
Afghan hospital burns after attack; Taliban seize border post in north
Suspected Taliban fighters fired a rocket into a hospital in Afghanistan on Wednesday, sparking a blaze that caused extensive damage and destroyed COVID-19 vaccines though...
North Korea warns U.S. misinterpreting signals risks disappointment
The sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un warned the United States on Tuesday it would be disappointed were it to seek comfort in...
China to keep Covid-19 border restrictions for another year
China is planning to keep its pandemic border restrictions in place for at least another year over worries of emergence of new variants and a...
Philippines’ leader threatens those who refuse Covid-19 vaccine with jail
President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to jail people who refuse to be vaccinated against the coronavirus as the Philippines battles one of Asia’s worst outbreaks, with over 1.3...
HK pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily may shut down this week – memo
Next Digital’s pro-democracy Hong Kong tabloid newspaper Apple Daily will cease publication on June 26 if its board decides at a meeting on Friday it can not continue...
India’s vaccinations hit record with free shots (Updated)
India gave out a record 7.5 million vaccine doses on Monday under a federal campaign to inoculate all adults for free after weeks of criticism...
White House says comments by N.Korea’s Kim are ‘interesting signal’
The United States said on Sunday it saw as an “interesting signal” North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s comments that he is ready for “dialogue...