Asia

Myanmar’s authorities will free around 700 prisoners from Yangon’s Insein jail on Wednesday, prison chief Zaw Zaw told Reuters, in a release that is expected to include some of the thousands of people detained for opposing military rule. The prison chief said he did not have a list of those …

Fighting with government forces in central Afghan cities comes as foreign troops continue to withdrawal from the country. Taliban fighters have launched an attack on Ghazni, clashing with Afghan forces and using explosives in an attempt to seize the central Afghan city, local officials have said. Tuesday’s assault on Ghazni, …

China’s President Xi Jinping has called on the Chinese Communist Party members to advance toward the second centenary goal of the country as the nation prepares to commemorate the ruling party’s 100th founding anniversary. Xi on Tuesday asked the party’s members and officials to advance toward the second centenary goal …

Coup leader General Min Aung Hlaing’s son implicated in the importation of dynamite used in open pit jade mines. Myanmar’s military has further tightened its grip on the country’s jade trade, using the industry to finance the February 1 coup that plunged the country into turmoil, a new report released …

Red Cross appeals for urgent medical supplies and vaccines as archipelago battles surge in cases. The Red Cross has warned that Indonesia is “on the edge of catastrophe”, as coronavirus infections fuelled by the deadlier Delta variant surge across the country are pushing the health system towards collapse. The International …

China’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that the recent characterization of Taiwan as a “country” by a senior Japanese official was erroneous and a serious violation. Japan’s deputy defense minister on Monday warned of a growing threat posed by Chinese and Russian collaboration and said it was necessary to “wake …

A Hindu hardline group has filed a complaint with police against Twitter’s country head after politically sensitive regions were depicted outside a map of India on its website, kickstarting an investigation in a fresh headache for the U.S. tech firm. A map on Twitter’s careers page showed the Jammu and …

The rise of cryptocurrencies has prompted interest from central banks to create digital currencies. A recent survey conducted by the Bank for International Settlements revealed that almost every central bank has considered issuing a digital currency. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and other …

Google took down two Google Maps documents on Monday that had listed the names and addresses of hundreds of Thai activists who were accused by royalists of opposing the monarchy, the technology company said. Thai royalist activist Songklod “Pukem” Chuenchoopol told Reuters he and a team of 80 volunteers had …

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a joint statement Monday, officially deciding to extend the China-Russia Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation. The announcement came during talks between the two heads of state via video link. Hailing the upcoming 20th anniversary of the signing of the …

The explosion took place in the evening at a building in Dhaka’s Moghbazar area, and rescuers reached the scene, said Faisalur Rahman, a fire control room official.

Indian police suspect explosive-laden drones were used to attack an air force base in Jammu city.

Everyone in North Korea is heartbroken over leader Kim Jong Un’s apparent weight loss, said an unidentified resident of Pyongyang quoted on the country’s tightly controlled state media, after watching recent video footage of Kim.

About 5,000 families flee their homes from northern Kunduz city as Taliban fighters intensify attacks across the country.

India’s daily COVID-19 infections rose by 50,040 on Sunday, official data showed, as concerns grew about the detection of the highly infectious Delta variant of the coronavirus in some states.

A fire swept through a marina in Hong Kong in the early hours of Sunday, igniting fuel tanks as it passed along a line of closely moored cabin cruisers, and resulting in at least 10 sinkings before firefighters extinguished the blaze.

President Joko Widodo said Indonesia facing an ‘extraordinary situation’ as cases go past 2.05 million.

A press videographer who was traveling with President Ashraf Ghani’s delegation tested positive for COVID-19, according to a notification released by Congress’s Office of Attending Physician on Friday.

Pakistan’s military said on Friday that suspected militants had ambushed and shot dead five soldiers in the province of Balochistan, where insurgents have stepped up attacks this year.

The Office of the Commissioner of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong on Friday (June 25) urged the United States to stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs on the pretext of press freedom.