Hong Kong's pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily said it will print its last edition on Thursday, after a tumultuous year in which it was raided by police and its tycoon owner and other staff were arrested under a new national security law.

Some families living in a jungle may be fearful of things bumping at night, but for one household in Thailand, the sight of an elephant rummaging through their kitchen was not a total shock.

Across the Asia-Pacific, where several countries have witnessed alarming new Covid-19 outbreaks in recent weeks and governments have been forced to reimpose harsh anti-virus restrictions, people are gazing in envy at those on the other side of the globe.

Two executives of Hong Kong pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, charged under a national security law, were denied bail on Saturday in a case that has drawn international condemnation and stoked fears over media freedoms in the financial hub.

A plan by the Group of Seven nations to counter Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative has been welcomed by countries in China's immediate orbit of influence but will need to overcome doubts about Western commitment to emerging market projects.

South Korea is trying to increase its future working population by making it easier for children of foreign residents to become citizens, but its plans have run into trouble in the face of rising anti-China sentiment.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has said the country's economy improved this year but called for measures to tackle the "tense" food situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic and last year's typhoons, state media said on Wednesday.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will not cooperate with an investigation into the country's bloody war on drugs planned by the International Criminal Court (ICC), his spokesperson said on Tuesday while defending the administration's record on human rights.

China's mission to the European Union urged NATO on Tuesday to stop exaggerating the "China threat theory" after the group's leaders warned that the country presents "systemic challenges".

China denounced on Monday a joint statement by the Group of Seven leaders that had scolded Beijing over a range of issues as a gross interference in the country’s internal affairs, and urged the grouping to stop slandering China.

Taiwan will be a "force for good" and continue to seek even greater international support, the presidential office said, after the Chinese-claimed island won unprecedented backing from the Group of Seven of major democracies.

A gas pipe explosion in a residential community in a central Chinese city killed 12 people and injured 138, state media CCTV reported yesterday.

Azerbaijan yesterday handed over to Armenia 15 prisoners of war captured during last year’s hostilities over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, the foreign ministry in Baku said.

Dengue fever infections dropped dramatically in an Indonesian study where a bacteria was introduced into disease-carrying mosquitoes, offering hope in the battle against an illness that sickens millions annually around the world.

A military plane has crashed near Myanmar's second-biggest city of Mandalay, killing 12 people, the city's fire service said in a post on social media.

President Joe Biden's Indo-Pacific policy chief said on Tuesday he was "relatively confident" a target for the production of a billion vaccine doses for the region by the end of 2022 would be met, despite the Covid-19 crisis in India, where they are due to be made.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un presented economic plans to senior ruling party officials before an upcoming meeting to review efforts to overcome hardships brought about by the pandemic, state media said Tuesday.

Taiwan will extend its Covid-19 restrictions for another two weeks until June 28 and schools will remain shut until the summer vacation, the government said.

Using a snorkel and protective gloves, Pariama Hutasoit dives down into the clear waters off the Indonesian island of Bali to pull away plastic from a “reef star” installed by her conservation group to encourage new coral growth.

A new outbreak of Covid-19 is growing near Myanmar's northwestern border with India, bringing the sharpest increase in cases since the military coup in February led to a collapse in health services and the testing programme.