Asia

After recounting its islands, Japan found it has 7,000 more than what is known. According to the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI), the islands number had doubled to reach 14,125 from 6,852. GSI used advanced technology cross-referenced with past aerial photos to conduct the recount. The new number does …

Japan’s ruling party faced backlash from opposition lawmakers and the public this week after reports surfaced that it is mulling a plan to forgive student debt for those who have a child. A panel of the Liberal Democratic Party, which has dominated Japanese politics since World War II, said on …

The United States is Taiwan’s main supplier of military equipment, and China has objected to past sales with sanctions and other actions. The United States has approved the sale to Taiwan of $619 million in munitions for F-16 fighter jets, in a move likely to anger Beijing. The package includes …

China’s Foreign Ministry told the US to “stop politicizing” the issue China has warned the US against making “politicized” claims about the origins of Covid-19. The Foreign Ministry in Beijing was responding after FBI Director Christopher Wray claimed that the virus “most likely” came from a Chinese government laboratory. Speaking …

Malaysia’s leader is calling for Burma’s ruling generals to resolve the civil conflict Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Wednesday that more than 200,000 refugees have fled Burma to his country and urgently called for new ways to persuade Burma’s ruling generals to resolve the civil conflict. Anwar and his …

An Indian state-owned arms manufacturer has shipped artillery barrels to military-ruled Myanmar, an activist group said Wednesday, warning they could be used by the junta in its crackdown on dissent. Myanmar has been in turmoil since the generals toppled Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government two years ago, ending a …

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that he has no plans to meet either the foreign ministers of Russia or of China during the Group of 20 (G20) meeting in New Delhi. Blinken was on a brief tour of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and will head to the …

Air raid alerts continued nationwide in Ukraine Saturday, as Russia and China blocked a statement from the G20 condemning the war, amid new saber-rattling from a Putin ally. Finance leaders and central bank chiefs from the world’s largest economies meeting in India strongly condemned Moscow for the invasion a year …

A senior Indian defense official working in a missile testing range was arrested on Friday for supposedly sharing classified information with a Pakistani spy. The Indian Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) official shared sensitive defense information for “sexual as well as monetary gratification,” Odisha police were quoted as saying …

Pyongyang urged Washington to end “hostile” military drills with Seoul and to remove its strategic assets from the region. North Korea has warned that it will soon consider US military action near its borders as a “declaration of war,” issuing a harsh response after American diplomats pressed the United Nations …

North Korea test-fired four strategic cruise missiles during a drill designed to demonstrate its ability to conduct a nuclear counterattack against hostile forces, its state media said on Friday. The exercise on Thursday involved an apparently operational strategic cruise missile unit of the Korean People’s Army, which fired the four …

Two Pakistani brothers, Abdul, and Mohammed Rabbani, have been freed from the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay after more than 20 years in detention and repatriated, the Pentagon said Thursday. Abdul Rabbani, who was born in 1967, is believed to have been one of the oldest inmates at the …

China is calling for a cease-fire in Ukraine and for peace talks as soon as possible in a much-anticipated position paper released on one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion. As Russia’s war in Ukraine enters its second year, Beijing is pushing harder for a negotiated end to the war. It has …

Japan’s Emperor Naruhito expressed deep sorrow for the suffering of people in conflicts around the world and stressed the importance of dialogue and cooperation in remarks released for his 63rd birthday Thursday. Naruhito did not name other countries in his carefully nuanced remarks days before the one-year anniversary of the …

The death toll from the collapse of an open pit coal mine in northern China has risen to four, with 49 people still missing, state broadcaster CCTV reported Thursday. At least four people were killed in Wednesday’s disaster in the vast Inner Mongolia region’s Alxa League. The official Xinhua News …

Canberra pushes for joint patrols with the Philippines, as Manila and Washington discuss same The Philippines and Australia have agreed to formalize their “strategic” defense engagement through an annual meeting, their defense chiefs said Wednesday, as both countries look to counter Beijing’s growing military influence especially in the South China …

India on Wednesday said it held a meeting with China in Beijing for consultation over border affairs and discussed proposals for disengagement. They share a 3,500 km (2,100-mile) border in the Himalayas called the Line of Actual Control (LAC) that has been disputed since the 1950s. They went to war …

Turkey has launched a temporary wage support scheme and banned layoffs in 10 cities on Wednesday to protect workers and businesses from the financial impact of the massive earthquakes that hit the south of the country earlier this month. A 7.8 magnitude earthquake on Feb. 6 killed more than 47,000 …

President Vladimir Putin said he’s waiting for his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to visit Russia as he hailed deepening ties with Beijing at talks with China’s top diplomat. Cooperation between Russia and China is “very important for stabilizing the international situation,” Putin told Chinese State Councilor Wang Yi at talks …

China says it will not accept US ‘pointing fingers’ after Blinken said Beijing is considering providing arms to Russia. Beijing has strongly denied US claims that China was considering arming Russia in its war against Ukraine, as it reiterated a call for dialogue to end the conflict. A Chinese spokesperson …