N.Korea’s Kim calls for relief campaign in rain-hit areas
By Hyonhee Shin
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has mobilised the military to carry out relief work in areas recently hit by heavy rains, state media said on Sunday, ...
Knife attacker on Tokyo commuter train wanted to kill ‘happy women’
The man alleged to have wounded 10 people in a knife attack on a Tokyo commuter train late on Friday told police he became incensed when he saw women who “looked ...
Seventeen die when lightning strikes wedding party in Bangladesh
At least 17 people were killed and more than a dozen injured on Wednesday when lightning struck a wedding party on a boat in northwestern Bangladesh, officials said.
The lightning hit ...
India deploys warships in South China Sea as part of ‘Act East’ policy
India is sending a naval task force to the South China Sea this month to expand security ties with friendly countries, officials said on Wednesday, signalling its intent to play ...
Delta variant rampant in Asia
The Olympics host city Tokyo, as well as Thailand and Malaysia, announced record COVID-19 infections on Saturday, mostly driven by the highly transmissible Delta variant of the disease.
Cases surged ...
Hong Kong man sentenced to 9 years in prison in first national security case
The first person convicted under Hong Kong’s national security law was sentenced to nine years for terrorist activities and inciting secession, judges said on Friday, in a watershed ruling ...
Afghan villagers search for survivors as flash flood kills at least 40
Afghan villagers searched desperately for survivors after flash flood swept down a narrow valley in a Taliban-controlled area, killing at least 40 people and destroying dozens of houses in the early ...
Azerbaijan, Armenia accuse each other of ceasefire violations
Armenia and Azerbaijan accused each other on Thursday of flouting a Russian-backed ceasefire that both sides had accepted the previous day to halt deadly border clashes.
Armenia’s defence ministry ...
Ceasefire called after three Armenian soldiers killed in clashes with Azerbaijan
Armenia said that three of its soldiers had been killed in an exchange of gunfire with Azerbaijan and both sides later accepted a Russian ceasefire proposal to try to calm ...
Afghan authorities arrest local journalists on propaganda charges
Afghan authorities have arrested four journalists on propaganda charges after they tried to enter the contested area of Spin Boldak in southern Kandahar province, where security forces have been clashing ...
South, North Korea reopen hotlines as leaders seek to rebuild ties
South and North Korea have restored hotlines that Pyongyang severed a year ago when ties deteriorated sharply, and the two countries’ leaders are renewing efforts to rebuild relations, Seoul’s ...
Antibodies from Sinovac shot fade after about 6 months
Antibodies triggered by Sinovac Biotech’s COVID-19 vaccine decline below a key threshold from around six months after a second dose for most recipients, although a third shot could have ...
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 hypothesis it could have ...
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 reported former Prime Minister Shinzo ...
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 growing in Afghanistan in ...
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 potential new risk for ...
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 in June and July.
The ...
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 his first summit with Prime ...
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 competitors will be staying, raising ...
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, as Japan battles to stem ...
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 left him with massive debts.
...
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, officials said, in the ...
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 some countries to tighten curbs ...
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 per cent posted in the same period ...