Asia News Feeds

Deepika Padukone and other stars were summoned in a drugs investigation after an actor’s death.

Efforts now turn to the disposal of some 350 whale carcasses after Australia’s worst ever stranding.

The pilot whales got stuck in shallow waters on the west coast of Tasmania during the country’s largest-ever recorded stranding. Rescuers were not able to save all 470 of the marine mammals.

In his first international address, Suga said he is "determined" to host the Olympics next summer. Enthusiasm for the Games has dwindled amid COVID-19, with many wanting a further delay or an outright cancellation. 

Pro-government trolling has become rampant online in the Philippines, but some people have had enough.

Tributes are paid to the “much-loved” and “talented officer” who was killed in a London custody centre.

The technology is being rolled out countrywide as part of Singapore’s national identity scheme.

Police in Singapore are investigating the New Naratif media outlet, founded by academic and athlete PJ Thum, for publishing unauthorized paid advertisements on Facebook during the July 2020 election campaign.

Seoul said the man was shot dead and set alight while allegedly trying to defect to the North.

Thousands of Australians are stuck in the UK after struggling to return due to strict travel rules.

Officials say social networks failed to take down all posts that are illegal under Thai law.

The disappearance of Lynette Dawson in 1982 was made famous in an Australian podcast series.

SP Balasubrahmanyam sang more than 40,000 songs for films in 16 Indian languages.

Farmers in India are angry with reforms that will give private companies greater play in agriculture.

Vincent Namatjira calls his Archibald Prize victory “a very important moment in Australian art”.

The death of a goverment employee was an unfortunate event that should never happened, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has said. Troops reportedly shot the man more than 10 times as part of coronavirus control measures.

Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world yet to eliminate wild polio.

Breeding snakes and types of rat for food or medicine is a source of income for some of China’s poorest people.

Little has changed one year after nearly a million Indians lost their savings in a bank collapse.

China plans a digital version of its currency, which some say could become a big global payment system.

In an interview with DW, former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said that foreign democratic governments need to familiarize themselves with China’s operational strategies towards their particular country.

Pakistan’s opposition says the army has too much political power. The army generals say politicians don’t deliver on promises. Can Pakistan’s politicians and generals sit together and resolve their differences?

Pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong was held for attending an unauthorized rally and violating an anti-mask ban during protests last year. Wong was released after just three hours in detention.

Military officials from the South say that troops interrogated, shot and then burned the body of a government employee found in North Korean waters. Seoul said the man may have been trying to defect.

A South Korean official who went missing from a fisheries patrol boat earlier this week was shot dead by North Korean troops who later burned his body, South Korea’s military said on Thursday.

A new drama has China asking if women are being written out of its epidemic history.

Millions of India’s migrant workers have faced severe hardships since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. As they look to return to their old jobs, they’re confronted with the grim reality of the nation’s economy.

The new bills will loosen rules that have long protected farmers from the vagaries of the market.

Rakhmabai Raut won a historic battle to get a divorce. But she was a pioneer in more ways than one.

The case described by some as a “David versus Goliath battle” has stirred up debate in Singapore.

Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed Tuesday that the world’s largest greenhouse gas polluter will peak emissions in 2030 and go carbon neutral by 2060, in what climate activists hailed as a major step forward.

Coronavirus victims in Nepal say they have been a target of harassment in public and on social media. Rights organizations say the government has not done enough to create public awareness about the disease.

The descendants of Indian Tamil tea plantation workers remain stuck at the bottom of Sri Lankan society. Many of them continue to work under harsh conditions for a meager daily wage.

The pandemic has shaken the film industry, forcing it to think outside of the box office.

Indian food delivery service Zomato’s decision to give female employees up to 10 days of "period leave" per year has triggered a discussion about menstrual health and gender equality in the South Asian nation.

Openly challenging the monarchy of Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn, thousands of protesters marched once again in Bangkok on Sunday to present demands that include a call for reforms to curb his powers and for more democracy. Occupying a historic field in the Thai capital, the pro-democracy demonstrators installed a plaque symbolising the country’s transition to democracy to replace the 1933 original that disappeared mysteriously three years ago.

The mystery surrounding a 19th Century portrait and its role in one of the first immunisation campaigns.

Sarah Dahia from Australia takes us through her week during the coronavirus pandemic.

Thousands of devices are being distributed to vulnerable groups such as the elderly.

Protesters are demanding fresh elections and a new constitution, says Philip Sherwell, Asia Correspondent with The Sunday Times.

Openly challenging the monarchy of Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn, thousands of protesters marched in Bangkok on Sunday to present demands that include a call for reforms to curb his powers.

A police chief’s comments spark an unprecedented backlash after a woman was raped in front of her children.

India’s hospitals are currently short of doctors, medical equipment and ICU beds, with authorities struggling to cope with an unprecedented health crisis. A surge in COVID-19 cases has overwhelmed the health system.

Reports of under-age marriage and child labour rose as the lockdown pushed people deeper into poverty.

Life has returned to normal for many in Singapore, but one group of people still remain in lockdown.

Job losses and economic malaise in India show no sign of slowing as the impact of the coronavirus continues to batter almost every sector. Experts say recovery will be long and difficult.

After borrowing vast sums for infrastructure projects, can the tiny island nation repay the loans?

Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul read out a 10-point manifesto calling for reform of the monarchy.

Authorities are holding final year exams despite students’ protests. A worsening coronavirus crisis in the country has put the students’ lives at risk, with many of them having to travel to other cities to take exams.

What we know about the new leader who replaces long-time premier Shinzo Abe.

Japan’s parliament on Wednesday elected Yoshihide Suga prime minister, with the former chief cabinet secretary expected to stick closely to policies championed by Shinzo Abe during his record-breaking tenure.

Many patients are at the risk of suffering from PTSD, but India lacks infrastructure to treat them.

After Africa was declared polio-free last month, Afghanistan and Pakistan are now the only countries in the world where the disease is found. Why is polio surging in Pakistan and what can be done to curb the disease?

Amidst the coronavirus pandemic, falling incomes, worsening fears about jobs and prolonged social distancing that is anathema to many South Koreans, the nation appears to be slipping into a crisis of mental health.

Coronavirus vaccines being developed in China may be ready for use by the general public as early as November, an official with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said.

Greg Kelly, a former aide to ex-Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to a charge of financial misconduct as the trial against him began in Tokyo.

China and India said they had agreed to de-escalate renewed tensions on their contested Himalayan border and take steps to restore “peace and tranquillity” following a high-level diplomatic meeting in Moscow.

Some of the world’s most isolated tribes live on these Indian Ocean islands and have almost no immunity to disease. New pathogens like SARS-CoV-2 are a dire threat.

A roadside bomb in Kabul targeted first Afghan Vice President Amrullah Saleh on Wednesday morning but he escaped unharmed, his spokesman said. The attack killed at least 10 people.

Two soldiers who deserted from Myanmar’s army have testified on video that they were instructed by commanding officers to “shoot all that you see and that you hear” in villages where minority Rohingya Muslims lived, a human rights group said Tuesday.  

IN THE PAPERS – Tuesday, September 8: We look at reactions to the Saudi court decision to hand down prison sentences to eight people involved in journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder in 2018. Also, we look at why Disney’s latest live-action remake of “Mulan” is proving controversial on so many levels. Plus, France play Croatia in the Nations League for the first time since the 2018 World Cup final. Finally, a British father’s quirky gift to his son finally reveals its purpose!

Two of Australia’s leading foreign correspondents in China have rushed home for their own safety after they were questioned separately by China’s Ministry of State security, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported on Tuesday.

South Korea hunkered down as Typhoon Haishen arrived on the shores of its southern peninsula on Monday, after the powerful storm battered Japan’s southern islands but appeared to pass through without major damage or casualties.

Nearly 300 people were arrested by Hong Kong police on Sunday as riot officers swooped on democracy protesters opposed to the postponement of local elections.

The transgender community in Pakistan faces cultural and legal discrimination on a regular basis, but things have become even tougher for them during the coronavirus pandemic. Mavra Bari reports from Islamabad.