Asia

Millions of Americans who have been thrown out of work during the coronavirus pandemic have been unable to register for unemployment benefits since the US economy entered a free fall, according to a poll released on Tuesday. The left-leaning Economic Policy Institute found in an online poll that for every …

US President Donald Trump further fueled speculation about the health of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, telling reporters at the White House he had a “very good idea” of his condition but couldn’t talk about it at this time. “I can’t tell you exactly. Yes I do have a very …

The United Nations’ top human rights official has called on the Bangladeshi authorities to allow the disembarking of two stranded boatloads of starving Rohingya Muslim refugees who have fled Myanmar by boats. In a letter to the Bangladesh government on Monday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet warned …

More than 500 civilians killed and over 700 injured during the first three months of the year, according to UNAMA’s quarterly report. Violence surged in Afghanistan in the weeks after the United States and the Taliban signed a deal supposed to pave the way for a peace process, a UN …

President Xi Jinping has taken steps to avoid a second wave of Covid-19 cases in the country China has closed gyms and swimming pools again over fears there could be a second wave of coronavirus in the country. Gyms in China were initially closed in January​ but had gradually reopened …

Several civilians, some of them children, have been injured in an explosion in India’s state of Jammu and Kashmir, where security forces have been clashing with militants. The blast took place on Monday while local residents were clearing debris left by heavy fighting earlier in the day, local media reported, …

Severe floods and landslides in northern Vietnam caused by torrential rains resulted in the deaths of five people over three days, 25 were injured and a few others went missing, local media reported on Saturday, citing local authorities. According to the VN Express newspaper, citing the Central Steering Committee for …

Rumors of North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un’s declining health have inspired a bevy of mocking and agenda-driven tweets from both the left and right. The hashtag #KIMJONGUNDEAD began trending on Twitter shortly after Reuters reported that China had dispatched a team of medical experts to the country to advise …

India allowed shops in residential areas to reopen from Saturday, more than a month after the country went into lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus, federal and state officials said. The federal home ministry said late on Friday that retailers could resume operations with the staff numbers reduced …

China has dispatched a team to North Korea including medical experts to advise on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, according to three people familiar with the situation. The trip by the Chinese doctors and officials comes amid conflicting reports about the health of the North Korean leader. Reuters was …

Chinese medical experts have shared their experience with Iraqi health officials in a video conference, as part of China’s efforts to help Iraq cope with the spread of COVID-19. Renowned Chinese respiratory specialist Zhong Nanshan joined the conference which was held on Thursday. China’s Ambassador to Iraq Zhang Tao, Iraqi …

China has pledged to invest millions of additional dollars into the World Health Organisation (WHO) after Donald Trump announced he was cutting off US funding for the group while reviewing its handling of the coronavirus outbreak. Beijing said it would contribute an additional $30m as the United Nations organization battles …

The Taliban have rejected an Afghan government call for a ceasefire for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and to let authorities focus on tackling the coronavirus, raising new concern about prospects for a fragile peace process. Hopes for an end to Afghanistan’s decades of war were raised in late …

The last patient in Wuhan with severe COVID-19 has been cured, a health official has declared. The now-global disease was first detected in the Chinese city. The patient, who was the last person in Wuhan and the whole of Hubei Province to experience difficulty overcoming the virus, was released from …

Lawyers say pair were peacefully protesting against Indian citizenship act Delhi police have been accused of slapping two Muslim student activists with “bogus” charges of conspiring to incite the recent riots, the worst religious violence in India’s capital for decades, and in which the police were accused of being complicit. …

Amid mounting tension, an Australian frigate has joined US warships in the South China Sea, near water suspected of being a Chinese ship drilling for oil. And regional security sources said today, Wednesday, that an Australian frigate joined the American warships located near the place where the Chinese government exploration …

In a bustling meat market on a tourist island in Indonesia on 7 April, a pile of dead bats is laid out for sale on a table next to cuts of fresh pork while a butcher angrily shoos away a customer trying to take pictures of the scene on his …

With the health of North Korea’s Kim Jong-un subject to furious speculation and a flurry of media reports, questions are inevitably being raised over who would take over control of the hermit kingdom if his reign were to be cut short. The 36-year-old has worked tirelessly in the nine years …

North Korea’s leader missed celebrations on the country’s most important holiday, prompting media speculation. Several outlets have been reporting he may in critical condition following heart surgery. South Korean online newspaper Daily NK on Tuesday cited one source in North Korea, who claimed that Kim Jong Un. who is thought …

On most mornings, Somaya Farooqi and four other teenage girls pile into her dad’s car and head to a mechanic’s workshop. They use back roads to skirt police checkpoints set up to enforce a lockdown in their city of Herat, one of Afghanistan’s hot spots of the coronavirus pandemic. The …