Asia

More than 200 people were injured in Malaysia on Monday when two metro light rail trains collided in an underground tunnel close to the Petronas Twin Towers in the capital Kuala Lumpur, officials said. The incident occurred at around 8.45 p.m. (1245 GMT) when one of the trains, which was …

Three researchers from China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) sought hospital care in November 2019, a month before China reported the first cases of Covid-19, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a US intelligence report. The newspaper said the previously undisclosed report – which provides fresh details on the number …

A gun battle erupted on Sunday between Myanmar security forces and an alliance of armed ethnic groups opposed to February’s coup, at a town on the border with China, Myanmar media said. The fighting at Muse, one of the main crossing points to China, was the latest to hit Myanmar …

India’s capital New Delhi will start relaxing its strict coronavirus lockdown next week if its new cases continue to drop. The South Asian country on Sunday reported 240,842 new infections nationwide over 24 hours – the lowest daily number in more than a month – and 3,741 deaths. For weeks, …

At least 21 killed after ‘abrupt, extreme weather’ hits runners taking part in a 100-kilometer cross-country mountain race in China’s Gansu. At least 21 people have been killed after hail, freezing rain and high winds struck during an ultramarathon in China’s northwestern Gansu province, local officials said. “Abrupt, extreme weather” …

Air India has said the personal data of millions of passengers was compromised as a result of a cyberattack. The stolen information included credit card and passport details. India’s national carrier and largest international airline informed the public of the breach on Friday. “This incident affected around 4,500,000 data subjects …

US President Joe Biden and South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Friday injected fresh urgency into attempts to engage North Korea in dialogue over its nuclear weapons, with Biden saying he would meet its leader Kim Jong Un under the right conditions. Biden and Moon said the complete denuclearization of …

India on Saturday reported 257,299 new coronavirus infections over the last 24 hours, while deaths rose by 4,194. Total infections in the country stood at 26.3 million while the country’s total death toll was at 295,525, according to data from the health ministry.

A strong, shallow quake has rocked southwestern China near the border with Myanmar, killing at least three people and injuring at least 27 others. The Yunnan province seismological bureau gave the magnitude of the Friday night quake as 6.4. It said the tremor struck eight kilometres (five miles) below the …

A bomb blast on Friday killed six people at a pro-Palestinian rally in Southwest Pakistan, police said. The bomb, which was attached to a motorcycle, targeted the vehicle of the leader of the hardline religious party that had organized the event, local police chief Jafar Khan told Reuters by phone. …

Crowded camps that are home to hundreds of thousands of refugees placed under lockdown after the alarming spread of the coronavirus. Bangladesh authorities have imposed a lockdown in five Rohingya refugee camps in southeastern Bangladesh after an alarming spread of the coronavirus, officials said. The shutdown will initially last for …

Roadside bombings in southern and central Afghanistan killed 13 people, including nine members of one family, officials said Thursday. Meanwhile, militants stopped a bus in western Afghanistan, ordered three men to get out, and shot and killed them. No one has claimed responsibility for the latest attacks. The three men …

A speeding bus overturned on a highway in southern Pakistan on Thursday, killing at least 13 passengers and injuring 29 others, police said. The bus was traveling from the port city of Karachi to Peshawar in the northwest when the accident took place in the district of Sukkur in southern …

China said on Thursday a US warship had illegally entered its territorial waters in the South China Sea, the latest salvo in the two nations’ dispute over Beijing’s territorial claims in the busy waterway. In a statement, the Chinese military’s Southern Theater Command said the USS Curtis Wilbur entered the …

Indian navy ships recovered 22 bodies of people who were aboard a barge that sank off Mumbai as a cyclone blew ashore this week, officials said Wednesday. The search is continuing for 55 more missing people, navy spokesman Mehul Karnik said. He said the three ships and helicopters involved in …

In the heart of territory under siege from the Taliban, one of Afghanistan’s most important hydroelectric dams is at the centre of a power struggle that symbolises the battle between the government and insurgents. Kajaki Dam, which provides power to more than three million people in the south — including …

The China National Space Administration (CNSA) has published images taken by the Martian rover Zhurong during the landing process of the country’s first Mars exploration, the Tianwen-1 mission. On Wednesday, the CNSA published two images taken by Zhurong, showing a successful landing on the red planet. The images show the …

India recorded 4,529 Covid-19 deaths on Tuesday, the pandemic’s highest single daily death toll in any country so far, the authorities said on Wednesday, as the virus spread into the country’s vast hinterlands. The previous deadliest day for a single country was recorded in the United States in January when …

Sporting body chief offers Tokyo medical help, says most residents at Olympic Village will be vaccinated. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has sought to reassure a Japanese public anxious over Tokyo’s hosting of the Summer Games during the coronavirus pandemic, announcing that most athletes will be vaccinated before the sporting …

US lawmakers pleaded Tuesday for the evacuation of thousands of Afghan allies, fearing a bloodbath as America ends its longest war, but the administration said it did not want to set off a panic. “We cannot allow Kabul to be another Saigon,” Representative Mike McCaul, the top Republican on the …