Asia

North Korea fired two ballistic missiles early on Sunday, authorities in neighbouring countries said, the seventh such launch by Pyongyang in recent days that added to widespread alarm in Washington and its allies in Tokyo and Seoul. Officials in the South Korean capital have said the uptick in the North’s …

A gun and knife attack at a children’s day-care center in Thailand has left at least 32 people dead, including children and adults, according to police. The incident took place on Thursday at the Child Development Center in Uthaisawan Na Klang district, Nong Bua Lamphu province. The shooter, who was an …

Eight people died after flash floods hit a river in India’s eastern state of West Bengal on Wednesday in the latest incident of heavy seasonal rain causing havoc in South Asia. Around 70 people were rescued by disaster relief teams, while 13 were undergoing treatment at a regional hospital, West …

Thirty-four people were killed in Thailand on Thursday in a gun and knife attack at a daycare centre by a former policeman who killed his wife and child before turning his weapon on himself, police said. There were 22 children among the victims of the suspected attacker, who had been …

North Korea has fired two ballistic missiles in less than a week in the wake of a visit by US Vice President Kamala Harris to the troubled Korean Peninsula. The South Korean military said it had detected the launch of “two short-range ballistic missiles from the Sunchon area in South …

US Ambassador to Beijing Nicholas Burns has said that China should restore cooperation with the United States on crucial issues, such as climate change and healthcare. “Our message to the Chinese is ‘let’s talk, open these dialogues and let’s move forward,’” Burns told his audience at the Milken Institute Asia …

Japan, the United States, and South Korea are set to hold joint naval drills in the Sea of Japan, as tensions continue to rise on the Korean Peninsula. Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) announced in a statement on Thursday that the trilateral anti-submarine warfare exercise would be conducted on September …

Beijing says it “deplores” the US president’s latest interview, in which he indicated Washington’s readiness to defend Taiwan Beijing has issued a protest in response to US President Joe Biden’s latest remark that Washington could use its military to defend Taiwan. China considers the self-governing island to be a part …

China’s President Xi Jinping on Friday called for regional countries to reshape the international order at a summit in Uzbekistan touted as a challenge to Western global influence. Leaders should “work together to promote the development of the international order in a more just and rational direction,” Xi said at …

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday told Russian President Vladimir Putin that now is not a time for war, with food, fertiliser, and fuel security among the major concerns of the world at present. “I know that today’s era is not an era of war, and I have spoken …

Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and his Tajik counterpart Emomali Rakhmon agreed to order a ceasefire and troop pullback in a meeting in Uzbekistan on Friday, the Kyrgyz president’s office said, after deadly clashes between the two Russian allies. The former Soviet republics earlier accused each other of restarting fighting in …

A massive fire sent flames and black smoke pouring Friday from a 42-story skyscraper in central China belonging to the country’s largest telecoms operator, but no casualties were reported, officials said. Dozens of floors burned in the China Telecom building in the city of Changsha, the capital of central Hunan …

Russia’s energy minister has announced that the Nord Stream 2 will be “replaced” by an alternative gas pipeline to China​​​ as the strategic project has failed to make headway due to Western sanctions on Moscow over its military operation in Ukraine. Alexander Novak made the announcement in an interview with …

People displaced by the devastating flooding complain that they are without food and ration as authorities struggle to cope with the disaster. The death toll from the catastrophic flooding in Pakistan has crossed 1,400, as the forecast of more rains in parts of the worst-affected southern Sindh province is causing …

The Taliban said on Tuesday they had killed 40 rebel force members, including four commanders, in the northern Afghan province of Panjshir. The Taliban proclaimed victory over the province in September 2021, weeks after they took over the capital Kabul as foreign forces withdrew. Resistance groups have since said they …

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has stressed that his country will never surrender its nuclear arsenal or use it as a bargaining chip for denuclearization with the US, state media said on Friday. The remarks came during a key parliamentary meeting, where legislators passed a new law governing the use …

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to the world for massive help for flood-ravaged Pakistan on Friday as he visited to boost the response to a disaster that the government estimates has caused $30 billion of damage. Record monsoon rains and glacier melt in northern mountains have triggered floods that have …

Authorities in the southwestern China province of Chengdu have maintained a strict Covid lockdown, after an earthquake that has killed at least 65 people in surrounding areas. Footage circulating online showed workers wearing protective gear preventing some of the city’s 21 million residents from exiting their apartments. Buildings in Chengdu …

China has condemned the United States for carrying out “tens of thousands” of cyberattacks against it and stealing troves of sensitive data in recent years. In a report on Monday, China’s National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center (CVERC) said the US National Security Agency (NSA) had conducted “tens of thousands …

A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck China’s Sichuan province on Monday, the strongest to hit the region since 2017, killing more than 40 people and shaking the provincial capital of Chengdu and more distant provinces. Forty-six people were killed in the quake, Chinese state media Xinhua reported on Tuesday, citing local …