Asia

China reported no coronavirus deaths on Tuesday, the first time since it started publishing daily figures in January. The National Health Commission said it had 32 confirmed cases, down from 39 on Monday. It comes as the government is under scrutiny as to whether it is underreporting its figures. The …

It was considered by some a key plank in India’s battle against coronavirus: on Saturday, the government there announced it was banning the export of various drugs which could potentially help patients diagnosed with COVID-19. Stockpiles of medicines, including hydroxychloroquine – an anti-malaria drug being tested as an unlikely but …

Japan is to declare a state of emergency in Tokyo and six other prefectures as early as Tuesday in a bid to stop the coronavirus, the prime minister said, with the government preparing a stimulus package to soften the economic blow. More than 3,500 people have tested positive for the …

India is restricting the export of most diagnostic testing kits, as coronavirus cases in the South Asian nation topped 3,350 on Sunday despite a three-week nationwide lockdown to slow the spread of the respiratory disease. India, which in recent weeks already banned the export of certain drugs, along with ventilators, …

The number of confirmed new coronavirus cases in South Asia neared 6,000 on Saturday, even as authorities in some cities tightened restrictions on movement and warned lockdowns could be extended in a bid to rein in the pandemic. “If people don’t obey the rules seriously and cases continue to rise, …

Pakistani authorities ordered on Friday four men, including a British militant, convicted of the 2002 murder of U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl, to be detained for three months despite a lower court’s ruling to overturn their convictions. The High Court in the province of Sindh on Thursday acquitted the four, including …

Dozens of people are missing and feared dead after a ferry in the Solomon Islands set sail despite warnings not to embark during a cyclone. The MV Taimareho was traveling on Thursday night from the capital Honiara, on the island of Guadalcanal, to West Are’ are, on Malaita Island. The …

Singapore will close schools and most workplaces, except for essential services and key economic sectors, for a month, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Friday, as part of stricter measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Singapore’s infections, both imported and domestic, have been rising sharply in recent …

Shenzhen has become the first Chinese city to ban the sale and consumption of dog and cat meat. It comes after the coronavirus outbreak was linked to wildlife meat, prompting Chinese authorities to ban the trade and consumption of wild animals. Shenzhen went a step further, extending the ban to …

The Malaysian government was forced to apologize after its Women’s Development Department published a series of sexist “tips” to help deal with the ongoing coronavirus lockdown, including advising women to continue to wear makeup and to “avoid nagging.” The campaign was met with fierce backlash online, and the posts have …

Gunmen and suicide bombers raided a Sikh religious complex in the Afghan capital of Kabul on Wednesday, killing 25 people before security forces killed all of the attackers, the government said. The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement. Sikhs have been the target of …

The US is cutting $1bn (£0.86bn) in aid to Afghanistan and threatening further reductions in co-operation, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said. Pompeo announced the cut following a trip to the Afghan capital, Kabul, where he failed to break a deadlock between two politicians who both claim victory in …

A decision was taken by the International Olympic Committee in agreement with the Japanese Government and Tokyo 2020 organizing committee to delay this summer’s Olympic and Paralympic Games until 2021 due to the worldwide outbreak of Covid-19, which has hampered athletes in their preparations and seen a number of competing …

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announces a “stringent and strict” curfew across the country from midnight tonight for the next 21 days to save the country from the coronavirus. “This 21 days’ time is needed to break the cycle of coronavirus transmission,” he says in a televised address.

Millions of people across India have been placed under lockdown until the end of the month as efforts to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus in the country intensified. Residents living in 75 districts across the country, including in major cities such as the capital New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, …

North Korea fired what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast on Saturday, the latest in a series of such launches by Pyongyang as the world struggles with the coronavirus pandemic. The South Korean military condemned the launches as “extremely inappropriate given the difficult situation the …

The world’s richest nations poured unprecedented aid into the global economy on Thursday as coronavirus cases ballooned in the new epicenter Europe, with the number of deaths in Italy outstripping those in mainland China, where the virus originated. With over 242,000 infections and nearly 10,000 deaths, the epidemic has stunned …

At least two dozen Afghan security forces and policemen have been killed and several others are missing after “Taliban infiltrators” attacked them in an army base in southern Afghanistan. The attack on a joint police and army headquarters near Kalat, the provincial capital, killed at least 14 Afghan army forces …

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reiterated his desire to hold the Olympic Games in their “complete form,” and indicated he wasn’t thinking of reducing the scale of the event or holding the games behind closed doors. Speaking in parliament, Abe said that the games must be safe and secure for …

China has for the first time reported no new locally transmitted cases of the new coronavirus at its epicenter since the country started recording infections in January. China’s National Health Commission announced on Thursday that there had been no new infections in the country’s central city of Wuhan, in Hubei …