Asia

A Chinese envoy has accused the United States of undermining the global economy by building trade barriers and artificially prolonging the global coronavirus pandemic by halting funding to the World Health Organization. China’s ambassador to the United Nations in Vienna, Wang Qun, made the unusually harsh remarks at a meeting …

China and Russia have rejected US plans to extend a UN arms embargo on Iran along with a probable push to trigger a return of all sanctions on Tehran at the UN Security Council. “It has no right to extend an arms embargo on Iran, let alone to trigger snapback,” …

Blast in the eastern city of Gardez kills five civilians and wounds 19 – including five army personnel The Taliban said it carried out a deadly attack Thursday on an Afghan army base after the government ordered forces to resume strikes against the militants. Afghan officials said a vehicle carrying …

The novel coronavirus has been detected in one of the camps in southern Bangladesh that are home to more than one million Rohingya refugees, officials said on Thursday. An ethnic Rohingya refugee and another person had tested positive for COVID-19, a senior Bangladeshi official and a U.N. spokeswoman said. It …

Japan has lifted a state of emergency imposed due to the coronavirus in 39 out of 47 prefectures, after a sharp fall in new infections. The order still applies in Tokyo, Osaka, and on the northern island of Hokkaido, where new cases are emerging daily. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said …

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has ordered the military to move to an “offensive mode” against the Taliban and other armed groups after dozens of people, including newborn babies, were killed in two separate attacks in the war-ravaged nation. “I am ordering Afghan security forces to switch from an active defense …

Two cities in northeastern China have imposed travel restrictions and gone into temporary lockdown amid a new cluster of coronavirus infections which have sparked fears of an impending second wave sweeping the country. Wuhan, the original epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, reported at least five new indigenous cases of infection …

Tropical storm Vongfong is moving west-northwest and a thunderstorm advisory has been issued over parts of the central region of Luzon, the largest and most populous island of the Philippines which is home to the capital Manila. Heavy rainfall is expected later today and Thursday, while gale force winds are …

At least seven crew members were killed and 22 others were injured as a blaze broke on the Jag Leela oil tanker at the Belawan port of the city of Medan in Indonesia’s North Sumatra province, media reported on Tuesday, citing local authorities. According to the Jakarta Post newspaper, the …

The spike in cases comes just as the South Korean government was easing some social distancing restrictions and moving to fully reopen schools and businesses, in a transition from intensive social distancing to “distancing in daily life.” South Korean officials scrambled on Monday to contain a new coronavirus outbreak that …

At least 19 people have died in two separate attacks in Afghanistan’s Kabul city and Nangarhar province. The attacks targeted a hospital and a funeral of a local police commander. Gunmen stormed a hospital on Tuesday in an ongoing attack in the Afghan capital Kabul, as a suicide blast killed …

Chinese authorities plan to test all of Wuhan’s 11 million residents for Covid-19 in a little over a week. After more than a month without newly-recorded cases, the disease has suddenly reappeared in the city. All districts in the city were ordered to submit a plan on how they will …

The leader of the Islamic State group in South Asia and the Far East has been arrested in Kabul, Afghanistan’s intelligence service says. Zia ul-Haq, also known as Sheikh Omar Khorasani, was held with two other senior leaders of the militant group. The Taliban are the main militant group in …

On Saturday, as many as 11 soldiers – four Indian and seven Chinese – were injured after a tense face-off near the Naku La sector (ahead of Muguthang Valley), a pass at a height of over 5,000 meters in the Sikkim sector. As per officials, the two Asian giants share …

The Chinese city of Wuhan has seen its first new case of the novel coronavirus in more than a month as China has also reported a spate of new infections in the northeast, after moving to reopen from months of stringent lockdown. Meanwhile, Germany, which has also taken steps to …

China is considering moves that would entrench its vast fur industry further into the country’s economy, raising worries over the spread of coronavirus among animals crowded together in small spaces. The country’s agriculture ministry is proposing to reclassify mink, raccoon dogs, silver foxes and blue foxes as domestic livestock, rather …

China has issued a lengthy rebuttal of what it said were 24 “preposterous allegations” by some leading U.S. politicians over its handling of the new coronavirus outbreak. The Chinese foreign ministry has dedicated most of its press briefings over the past week to rejecting accusations by U.S. politicians, especially Secretary …

Authorities banned an application for a Mother’s Day march so small groups of masked protesters instead played cat and mouse with police in different shopping centers. Riot police chased protesters through Hong Kong shopping malls on Sunday as anti-China activists launched Mother’s Day flash mob rallies calling for independence and …

At least six were killed when protesters angry over what they see as unfair food aid distribution during the coronavirus pandemic clashed with police in Afghanistan’s western Ghor province on Saturday, according to officials. Four civilians and two police officers died in the incident, according to Tariq Arian, spokesman for …

One officer and five soldiers of Pakistan’s Frontier Corps (FC) were killed as their vehicle was targeted with remote-controlled IED near Pak-Iran border in southwestern Balochistan province, a military statement said. According to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the security forces were returning after conducting a …