Asia

Voters have turned out in record numbers to cast their ballots in Hong Kong’s district council elections. By lunchtime, the number of voters had already surpassed the final total in the 2015 elections. The election is seen as a test of support for embattled Chief Executive Carrie Lam. Pro-democracy protest …

The United States is the world’s biggest source of instability, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Saturday. The Chinese minister said during a meeting with his Dutch counterpart on the sidelines of the meeting of foreign ministers of the Group of 20 countries in Japan, that US politicians tarnish China’s …

Japan seized the last event of its G20 presidency on Friday to reject a South Korean warning about radiation from the ruined Fukushima nuclear plant as a dispute between the neighbors threatened to overshadow the meetings. Foreign ministers from the Group of 20 (G20) nations gathered in the central Japanese …

China won’t have to sacrifice economic growth or prosperity to go carbon neutral in the next few decades, according to a new report. The country could triple its economic output per person by 2050 while still reducing its carbon footprint, the Energy Transitions Commission said in the report, published on …

South Korea says all the crew members and the three vessels seized earlier by Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement in the Red Sea have been released. The three vessels and the 16 people on them had been detained a few miles off Uqban Island, off the western coasts of Yemen, on …

Fifty-one children and three teachers were injured at a kindergarten in southwest China when a man attacked them with a corrosive chemical, state media reported Tuesday. According to state-run news agency Xinhua, a 23-year-old suspect surnamed Kong climbed into the school in Kaiyuan city, Yunnan province, on Monday afternoon and …

Two packed trains rammed into each other in Bangladesh on Tuesday, killing at least 16 people and injuring nearly 60 others, police said. Three coaches were sent crashing off the tracks at Mondobhag station in the town of Kasba when a Dhaka-bound train and a locomotive bound for Chittagong collided. …

At least 10 people have been killed and millions displaced after Cyclone Bulbul smashed into India and Bangladesh over the weekend. The storm hit Bangladesh late on Saturday night and led to severe flooding there and in neighboring India. The bad weather has since dissipated, but many are still waiting …

The authorities in Bangladesh have ordered the evacuation of some 100,000 people from coastal areas as Cyclone Bulbul is set to hit the country. The storm – which is due to make landfall on Saturday evening local time – is expected to unleash surges as high as 7ft (two meters). …

Three judges and a court staffer were killed in Afghanistan on Thursday after Taliban militants stopped their car in the latest attack on the judiciary, officials said. Abdullah Hasrat, a spokesman for the governor in eastern Paktia province where the judges worked, told Reuters the incident took place in Mohammad …

Delhi’s record-breaking air pollution may be the result of a covert chemical attack by Pakistan, an Indian politician has claimed, insisted that his airtight theory should be “seriously” considered. “There is a possibility that poisonous gas could have been released by any neighboring country which is afraid of us,” Meerut …

Authorities in New Delhi declared a public health emergency on Friday and closed schools and all construction activity until next week as air pollution in the city hit its worst level this year. A thick haze has hung over the Indian capital this week caused by plumes of toxic smoke …

The U.S. government has launched a national security review of TikTok owner Beijing ByteDance Technology Co’s $1 billion acquisition of U.S. social media app Musical.ly, according to two people familiar with the matter. While the $1 billion acquisition was completed two years ago, U.S. lawmakers have been calling in recent …

India will formally split up disputed Jammu and Kashmir state into two federal territories on Thursday, aiming to tighten its grip on the restive region that has been in the grip of a harsh security clampdown for nearly three months. Street protests against the measures have erupted sporadically, while militants …

The death toll from torrential rains that caused flooding and mudslides in Japan climbed to 10 on Saturday, with three others missing, public broadcaster NHK reported, just two weeks after the region was hit by a powerful typhoon. Landslides ripped through waterlogged areas in Chiba and Fukushima prefectures, in eastern …

Japanese Emperor Naruhito formally proclaimed his ascendancy to the throne on Tuesday in a centuries-old ceremony attended by dignitaries from more than 180 countries, pledging to fulfill his duty as a symbol of the state. Naruhito became emperor and his wife Masako became empress on May 1 in a brief …

At least 62 people were killed and “nearly 60” others were wounded in two blasts inside a mosque in Nangarhar province during Friday prayers, TOLOnews reported, citing Attaullah Khogyani, spokesman for the local governor. The mosque is in the Jaw Dara area of the Haska Meyna district of Nangarhar. Explosives …

A truck bomb exploded near a police station in eastern Afghanistan has left at least three people dead and some 27 others injured, officials say. The blast, which took place outside the police headquarters in Laghman Province, also partially destroyed a nearby religious school, wounding nearly 20 children, Asadullah Daulatzai, …

A fire erupted on the sixth floor of a commercial building in downtown Mumbai Monday afternoon. Firefighters have rescued over a dozen people so far and there are currently no reports of casualties. ? *Fire in Comercial Building at Veera Desai Andheri West* 14oct ? Andheri West ke Veera desai …

Japan has deployed tens of thousands of troops and rescue workers after one of the strongest storms in years hit, killing at least 23 people. Typhoon Hagibis made landfall south of Tokyo on Saturday, moving north and bringing severe flooding. Seventeen people are missing from the storm, public broadcaster NHK …