Much of Asia has largely managed to keep Omicron at bay even as the variant rages in other parts of the world, but the region...

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday (Dec 29) called on Chinese and Hong Kong authorities to immediately release Stand News employees arrested after...

A Hong Kong police raid on a pro-democracy media organisation and the arrest of seven people connected with it was aimed at seditious activity, not...

A lockdown of 13 million people in the Chinese city of Xi'an entered its seventh day on Wednesday (Dec 29), with many unable to leave...

Hundreds of Hong Kong national security police raided the office of online pro-democracy media outlet Stand News on Wednesday (Dec 29) and arrested six people,...

The Philippines has lifted a four-year ban on new open-pit mines, an official said on Wednesday (Dec 29), in a bid to revitalise the country's...

Delta Air Lines on Monday cited new Chinese cleaning requirements after it rerouted a China-bound flight back to the United States, drawing criticism from Chinese...

Hong Kong prosecutors on Tuesday (Dec 28) filed a "seditious publications" charge against jailed media tycoon Jimmy Lai who already faces charges under a tough...

India has moved to cut off foreign funding to a charity founded by Mother Teresa, a decision critics described as further evidence of harassment of...

Afghanistan's Taliban authorities said Sunday that women seeking to travel anything other than short distances should not be offered transport unless they are accompanied by...

A handful of Myanmar nurses hiding from the junta have been running makeshift clinics to treat COVID-19 patients and resistance fighters with medicine smuggled past...

China's local symptomatic coronavirus cases crept up again, with most new infections reported in the northwestern city of Xi'an as it entered a fifth day...

India will start administering COVID-19 booster shots as a precautionary measure to healthcare and frontline workers from Jan 10, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on...

Three years of democracy protests followed by a pandemic have devastated Hong Kong retailers who had grown used to relying on cash from mainland Chinese...

Aid group Save the Children said it was suspending operations in Myanmar's strife-torn Kayah state after two staff members went missing in an attack that...

The former chief minister of Johor Osman Sapian has died, Bernama reported. Mr Osman died on Tuesday (Dec 21), aged 69. He was admitted to the KPJ...

Resort and bar owners on a Philippine island popular with surfers and tourists were expecting a bumper Christmas holiday after COVID-19 restrictions finally eased. Then...

At least 70 people were missing and one confirmed dead on Wednesday (Dec 22) following a landslide at a jade mine in northern Myanmar, a...

Iran's top diplomat to Yemen died on Tuesday after contracting coronavirus, Iranian state TV has said.The death of Ambassador Hassan Irloo came after he was...

Troops raced Tuesday (Dec 21) to deliver food and water to typhoon-ravaged islands of the Philippines as charities appealed for aid to help hundreds of...

The Chinese city of Xi'an began testing millions of residents for COVID-19 on Tuesday (Dec 21) after the detection of more than 40 new cases...

Taiwan is a "wanderer" that will eventually come home and not a chess piece to be played with, the Chinese government's top diplomat said on...

The death toll from the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines this year surpassed 200 on Monday (Dec 20), as desperate survivors pleaded for urgent...

Prospects for democracy in Hong Kong are "bright", China said on Monday (Dec 20) in a white paper, a day after pro-Beijing candidates won a...

Thailand's public health minister said on Monday (Dec 20) that his ministry will propose reinstating mandatory quarantine for foreign visitors due to concerns over the...

Japan has softened its suspension of all new incoming flight bookings to make it easier for citizens to return, the government said on Thursday (Dec...

Cathay Pacific has been hit by a wave of pilot resignations in recent weeks as resentment over Hong Kong's strict quarantine regime boils over and...

South Korea's daily coronavirus case numbers rose to a new high on Thursday (Dec 2), as authorities halted quarantine exemptions for fully vaccinated inbound travellers...

A senior politician from Belize pledged on Wednesday "steadfast" support for Taiwan during a meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen, amid doubts whether fellow Central American...

Japan on Wednesday (Dec 1) said it would expand its travel ban on foreigners entering the nation, preventing those with resident status from 10 African...

South Korea reported a new daily record of 5,123 new coronavirus cases, as the country battles to contain a sharp rise in patients with severe...

A northern Chinese city bordering Russia halted rail imports including coal and timber on Wednesday (Dec 1) over fears of a fresh cluster of COVID-19...

Thick grey dust hangs in the air and vast chasms are gouged into the land in the Indian coal hub of Singrauli, where giant machines...

The bill was tabled in the lower house, Lok Sabha, and approved within four minutes through a voice vote before being sent to the upper...

Ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi is expected to hear the verdict in her incitement trial on Tuesday (Nov 30), the first judgement from...

Hong Kong has banned non-residents from entering the city from four African countries and plans to expand that to travellers who have been to Australia,...

The Philippines on Sunday (Nov 28) further tightened border controls to keep out the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus, adding seven European countries to...

A resurgence of COVID-19 infections in northern China have forced two small cities to suspend public transport and tighten control over residents' movement, as the...

Japan will reinstate tough border measures, barring all new foreign arrivals over the Omicron COVID-19 variant, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced on Monday (Nov 29),...

A COVID-19 case was detected at the Johor Causeway on the first day of the Singapore-Malaysia land vaccinated travel lane (VTL) on Monday (Nov 29). Malaysia's...

Ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi is expected to hear the verdict in her incitement trial on Tuesday (Nov 30), the first in a...

Baran Nuri Muhamadamin, 24, from Iraqi Kurdistan was travelling to be with her fiancé in Britain. She has been the first woman to be publicly...

The Taliban co-founder and now prime minister of Afghanistan Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund pledged Saturday that his government will "not interfere" in other countries' internal...

Chinese police have captured a North Korean prisoner who staged a daring escape from jail in October and had been on the run for more...

When Lita* walked into a public hospital in April, she knew her decision to have an abortion was right and lawful.Her pregnancy was early and...

A road crash victim in India who was mistakenly declared dead by doctors and woke up after seven hours in a morgue freezer has now...

It was billed as a "warm welcome" but the UK's offer of refuge to around 16,000 Afghans after the Taliban takeover has turned into a...

Wenzhou, a city in eastern China, has issued an arrest warrant for Macau junket mogul Alvin Chau, accusing him of operating gambling activities in mainland...

Thailand was among the first countries in Asia to reopen for foreign arrivals, and it is seeing a slow recovery, including new hotels touting longer...

Johor police on Wednesday (Nov 24) refuted a statement going viral on social media that Singaporeans may face snatch thieves in the district when the...

Afghanistan’s Tagab district is known for two things – its mouthwatering pomegranates and the constant fighting between Taliban militants and the Afghan government and foreign...

An African swine fever outbreak is spreading widely in Vietnam and is hurting the local farming industry, forcing the culling of three times the number...

China's birth rate plummeted to a record low last year, highlighting a looming demographic crisis for Beijing caused by a rapidly ageing workforce, a slowing...

Japan and Vietnam on Tuesday signed an agreement to cooperate in space defense and cybersecurity, as the two Asian nations rapidly step up their military...

Splitting up fights and turning away gatecrashers – the life of a bouncer is never easy.But for India’s door staff, the Covid-19 pandemic cut their...

South Korea reported a new daily record of 4,116 new coronavirus cases for Tuesday (Nov 23), as the country battles to contain a spike in...

Former South Korean president Chun Doo-hwan, whose iron-fisted rule of the country following a 1979 military coup sparked massive democracy protests, died on Tuesday (Nov...

Most of us will have experienced drifting off to sleep during a lengthy bus journey. But would you pay to do just that?That's the idea...

Jobless and engulfed in debt, Afghan brick kiln worker Fazal said the country's imploding economy had left him with a stark choice - marry off...

Two-year-old Haoyang has likely just months to live - but the only medicine that can help his rare genetic condition is not found anywhere in...

Srinivaslu Konda and his 40-strong extended family spent more than two days trapped on the top floor of their home by the flash flooding that...

Afghanistan's Taliban authorities on Sunday issued a new ''religious guideline'' that called on the country's television channels to stop showing dramas and soap operas featuring...

The Philippines' defence chief said on Sunday (Nov 21) a military resupply mission for the country's troops stationed on an atoll in the South China...

A summit between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Monday was held without a representative from Myanmar, Malaysia's Foreign Minister Saifuddin...

Iraq is calling for regional co-operation to ease tensions, and the country is central to solving challenges facing the Middle East, Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein...

About 100 hutments were destroyed when a fire broke out at a slum in Pakistan's largest city of Karachi.No one was injured in the blaze,...

China reported 17 new COVID-19 cases for Nov 20, down from 23 a day earlier, its health authority said on Sunday (Nov 21).Of the new...

Chinese state media posted video on Saturday (Nov 20) purporting to show tennis star Peng Shuai smiling and well, as international pressure mounts for information...

Indian farmer Rajpal Singh Yadav says he smiled on Friday for the first time in a year since he rode his tractor to a protest...

The US envoy to Iran said on Friday that Tehran was approaching the point of no return for reviving a nuclear deal after it boosted...

South Korea said Friday it scrambled fighter jets to respond to a group of Russian and Chinese warplanes that entered its air buffer zone unannounced.South...

The United States and UN on Friday (Nov 19) demanded proof of Peng Shuai's whereabouts and well-being amid rising concern for the tennis star, missing...

The Taliban called Wednesday on U.S. Congress members to release Afghan assets frozen after their takeover of the country, warning economic turmoil at home could...

Hong Kong authorities captured and euthanised seven wild boars late on Wednesday (Nov 17) as they began a campaign to reduce their numbers in urban...

The Philippines on Thursday (Nov 18) condemned "in strongest terms" the actions of three Chinese coast guard vessels that it said blocked and used water...

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen lauded military cooperation with Washington on Thursday (Nov 18) as she commissioned the first combat wing of F-16 fighters upgraded with...

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said Tuesday it has killed over 130 Huthi rebels in the past 24 hours in strikes in and near the...

China on Tuesday welcomed a virtual meeting between President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden as raising hopes for better relations, while the U.S....

The Malaysian air force has pledged to conduct a thorough probe after a fighter jet crashed on Tuesday (Nov 16), killing one pilot and injuring...

Grab's service disruption continued on Wednesday (Nov 17) with some users in Southeast Asia still unable to use the platform. In response to queries from CNA,...

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has launched a late bid for a senate seat, avoiding a clash with his own daughter for the vice-presidency hours before...

Myanmar's junta has charged ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi with electoral fraud during 2020 polls that her party won in a landslide, state media...

Iindu militants attacked and set fire to the home of a former Indian foreign minister, police said, in the latest incident of religious violence that...

Hong Kong's leader on Tuesday (Nov 16) defended allowing the head of JP Morgan Chase to skip a three-week COVID-19 quarantine imposed on most other...

A group of women subjected to invasive gynecological searches at Doha airport will sue Qatari authorities, seeking redress for an ordeal that sparked global condemnation,...

China is battling its biggest COVID-19 outbreak caused by the highly transmissible Delta variant, with some areas restricting entry by people from a northeastern city...

Taliban forces held a military parade in Kabul on Sunday (Nov 14) using captured American-made armoured vehicles and Russian helicopters in a display that showed...

Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to use his first virtual meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden to warn the United States to "step back"...

More than 12 shipowners have made payments of $300,000 each to release vessels detained by the Indonesian navy, which said the ships were anchored illegally...

At least 26 Maoist rebels were killed on Saturday in a gunfight with special commandos in a remote Indian forest, police said, the latest deadly...

Authorities in New Delhi announced Saturday (Nov 13) a one-week closure of schools as the Indian capital's pollution control body warned of a looming health...

Beijing city said individuals who recently visited overland ports of entry on China's borders should avoid the Chinese capital, with national authorities concerned over the...

Japan's new foreign minister, Yoshimasa Hayashi, said on Saturday (Nov 13) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken assured him in a phone call that the...

The McDonald’s clown mascot stares blankly at the empty road outside the restaurant. Its wide red grin and big lifeless eyes were visible through the...

World Health Organization (WHO) officials said on Friday (Nov 12) they were hoping to convene a meeting soon to set guidelines on the use of...

Hong Kong has refused to renew the visa of an Australian correspondent from The Economist, the newspaper's chief editor said, as authorities in the Chinese...

Chinese President Xi Jinping warned against a return to Cold War-era divisions in the Asia-Pacific Thursday as tensions mounted over the security of Taiwan.In the...

A Japanese train driver is suing his employer after his wages were docked 56 yen (US$0.50) over a minute-long delay to the country's famously punctual...

On the edges of an old and depleted mine on the rugged outskirts of Pingdingshan in central China's Henan province, workers sift through dunes of...

Japan's new foreign minister said on Thursday (Nov 11) it was important to build constructive and stable ties with China while calling for responsible behaviour...

New evidence shows China may be "committing genocide" against the Uyghur minority, the US Holocaust Museum said on Tuesday (Nov 9), the latest accusation that...

Malala Yousafzai, the campaigner for girls' education and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who survived being shot aged 15 by a Taliban gunman in her native...

China's military said on Tuesday (Nov 9) it had conducted a combat readiness patrol in the direction of the Taiwan Strait, after its defence ministry...

Myanmar's junta has charged a US journalist detained since May with sedition and terrorism, which carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, his lawyer said...

Pakistan and local Taliban militants have agreed to a one-month ceasefire which may be extended if both sides agree, spokesmen said on Monday, opening the...

More than 20 countries agreed to phase out coal power at the UN climate talks in Glasgow, but not Japan - a "leap backwards" for...

A COVID-19-hit Chinese city is offering thousands of dollars for anyone giving clues in tracing the source of its latest outbreak, as part of a...

China's armed forces are capable of blockading Taiwan's key harbours and airports, the island's defence ministry said on Tuesday (Nov 9), offering its latest assessment...

Astronaut Wang Yaping became the first Chinese woman to walk in space, authorities said on Monday (Nov 8), as her team completed a six-hour stint...

The Taliban appointed 44 of its members to key roles including provincial governors and police chiefs on Sunday, a key step in shoring up its...

The failed assassination attempt against Iraq’s prime minister at his residence on Sunday has ratcheted up tensions following last month’s parliamentary elections, in which the...

The top leaders of China's ruling Communist Party on Monday (Nov 8) started a pivotal meeting expected to further firm President Xi Jinping's grip on...

When a Taliban militant meets Afghan pop star Ayrana Sayeed, he tries to charm her."If you marry me, I will have a beard and a...

North Korean mechanised troops held an artillery fire competition over the weekend as part of efforts to boost the country's defence capabilities, state media reported...

A video showing a powerful Vietnamese official enjoying a bite of steak smothered in gold leaf at a luxury London restaurant has sparked online anger...

Iraq’s military says Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi survived an assassination attempt after a drone laden with explosives targeted his residence in the capital, Baghdad.Al-Kadhimi escaped...

It's a city of more than 5 million motorbikes but Hanoi on Saturday (Nov 6) opened its first ever urban railway line as authorities try...

A Palestinian teenager was killed Friday by Israeli troops during West Bank protests, the Palestinian health ministry said, days after Israel approved plans for 3,000...

Bloodstains still mark the spot where assassins gunned down Mohib Ullah, an activist who was a leading voice for the 850,000 Rohingya living in fear...

Chinese President Xi Jinping, the uncontested leader of the world's most populous nation, heads a pivotal plenary of the ruling party's top figures next week...

hina is expanding its nuclear arsenal much more quickly than anticipated, narrowing the gap with the United States, the Pentagon said in a report published...

Just a few months after the Taliban took charge in Kabul and promised to restore peace in Afghanistan, many Afghans still fear an invisible enemy:...

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday (Nov 3) said it had approved Indian drugmaker Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, paving the way...

An American journalist detained for months by Myanmar's junta has been denied bail and hit with a third criminal charge, his lawyer told AFP on...

On the winding road up to India's Himalayan frontier is a postcard view of gushing streams and tranquil lakes - punctuated occasionally by the sight...

At least 19 people were killed and 50 more wounded in an attack on a military hospital in Kabul on Tuesday, the latest atrocity to...

China's top climate negotiator said on Tuesday (Nov 2) a broad deal on carbon markets was possible at the United Nations COP26 climate talks despite...

China's new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases spiked to a near three-month high and tighter curbs to contain the spread are expected in the capital Beijing...

China and Russia are pushing the UN Security Council to ease sanctions on North Korea by reviving a 2019 attempt to remove a ban on...

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida tapped Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi to take the ruling party's number two post, and former defence minister Yoshimasa Hayashi was...

Japan on Tuesday (Nov 2) confirmed plans to gradually ease COVID-19 border restrictions, but fell short of calls from business lobbies to open up the...

As Myanmar's military seeks to put down protest on the streets, a parallel battle is playing out on social media, with the junta using fake...

Taliban supreme leader Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada has made a rare public appearance in an address to supporters in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, the...

Japan's ruling coalition celebrated holding on to a strong majority in weekend elections, with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida hailing the results as a "big deal"...

Overseas tourists began pouring into Bangkok and the holiday island of Phuket on Monday (Nov 1) as Thailand kickstarted its tourism industry after 18 months...

The suspect in a Halloween stabbing and fire attack on a Tokyo train expressed admiration for infamous comic villain the Joker, Japanese media reported, with...

Japanese voters are casting their ballots in national elections in the first big test for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.Up for grabs are 465 seats in...

At least 12 civilians, including children, were killed Saturday in a car bomb blast near the airport of Aden, the Yemeni government's interim capital, security...

After 18 months of almost no activity due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was hoped that some international tourists would be back by now in...

Polls opened in Japan's general election on Sunday (Oct 31) with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida hoping to win over a pandemic-fatigued public with spending promises...

Myanmar's military sentenced a close aide of ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi to 20 years in prison on Friday, his lawyer said, the...

The UN humanitarian chief had a dire message for leaders of the world’s 20 largest economies meeting this weekend: Worry about Afghanistan because its economy...

China recorded its highest number of daily local new COVID-19 infections in more than six weeks on Friday (Oct 29), as the country battles an...

A Vietnamese court has jailed five citizen journalists for "abusing democratic rights", drawing sharp US criticism of the communist government's crackdown on freedom of speech.Vietnam's...

Iran said Wednesday it will resume talks with world powers in November on reviving a nuclear deal after a five-month gap in the face of...

Momoko Nojo's campaign for Japan's upcoming election revolves around social media and T-shirts, but she's not running for office.Instead, the activist is fighting a different...

A small number of US forces are stationed in Taiwan to train with Taiwanese soldiers, President Tsai Ing-wen said in an interview with CNN, confirming...

A few border cities in northeastern China started to tighten COVID-19 measures, restricting travel and limiting gatherings in public spaces, and some declared a "pre-war"...

An uncertain fate awaits the hawkers, drivers and rough sleepers who have made a second home under the ornate arched ceiling of Bangkok's century-old central...

China placed a city of four million under lockdown on Tuesday in a bid to stamp out a domestic coronavirus spike, with residents told not...