Chinese hospitals and funeral homes were under intense pressure on Wednesday as a surging Covid-19 wave drained resources, while the scale of the outbreak and doubts over official data prompted some countries to consider new travel rules on Chinese visitors..In an abrupt change of policy,

The UN Security Council on Tuesday called on the Taliban to reverse policies targeting women and girls in Afghanistan, expressing alarm at the "increasing erosion" of human rights in the country..In the latest blow to women's rights in Afghanistan since the Taliban reclaimed power last yea

Taiwan will extend compulsory military service to one year from four months from 2024 due to the rising threat the democratically governed island faces from its giant neighbour China, President Tsai Ing-wen said yesterday.

Low temperatures and fog in New Delhi hit air and rail movement yesterday morning as a cold wave gripped the Indian capital with minimum temperatures dipping as low as 5.6 degrees Celsius (42 F).

When Sri Lanka slid into its worst economic crisis in seven decades leading to deadly riots and alarming shortages of fuel, food and medicines earlier this year, its giant northern neighbour stepped into the breach.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday granted a special pardon to former President Lee Myung-bak, who was convicted of corruption and other charges and who has in recent years been suffering from poor health.

India’s pharmaceuticals regulator has begun inspecting some drug factories across the country, the health ministry said yesterday, as it tries to ensure high standards after an Indian company’s cough and cold syrups were linked to deaths in Gambia.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has kicked off a key meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party, state media reported yesterday, a venue he has often used to announce major policy decisions marking the New Year.

At least 20 Rohingya have died at sea in recent weeks, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said today, as boats carrying hundreds of the persecuted Muslims landed in Indonesia while others were believed to be adrift in the Indian Ocean.

The possible sinking of a boat in recent weeks with 180 Rohingya Muslims on board could make 2022 one of the deadliest years at sea in almost a decade for the community, a UN agency said, as refugees try to flee desperate conditions in Bangladesh camps.

China will scrap quarantine measures for overseas arrivals starting January 8, health authorities announced yesterday, after nearly three years of strict pandemic border restrictions.

South Korea accused the North of flying several drones across their shared border yesterday, prompting Seoul’s military to deploy warplanes to shoot them down -- with local media reporting one of the planes later crashed.

Chinese President Xi Jinping yesterday urged officials to take steps to protect lives in his first public remarks on Covid-19 since Beijing dramatically loosened hardline containment measures this month.

Seventy-one Chinese air force aircraft including fighter jets and drones entered Taiwan’s air defence identification zone in the past 24 hours, the island’s government said yesterday, the largest reported incursion to date.

A Myanmar junta court will give its verdicts on five remaining charges in the 18-month trial of jailed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Friday, a legal source told AFP.

Christmas Day floods in the Philippines forced the evacuation of nearly 46,000 people from their homes, civil defence officials said yesterday.

Nepal’s new government, led by the former Maoist rebel chief, will try to balance ties with its immediate neighbours China and India as it seeks economic growth in one of the world’s poorest countries, officials of the ruling coalition told Reuters.

The possible sinking of a boat in recent weeks with 180 Rohingya Muslims on board could make 2022 one of the deadliest years at sea in almost a decade for the community, a U.N. agency said, as refugees try to flee desperate conditions in Bangladesh camps.

Chinese President Xi Jinping urged officials on Monday to take steps to protect lives in his first public remarks on Covid-19 since Beijing dramatically loosened hardline containment measures this month.

A Myanmar junta court will give its verdicts on five remaining charges in the 18-month trial of jailed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Friday, a legal source told AFP.