Asia News Feeds

Recent comments from a high-ranking Japanese politician have driven speculation that the Summer Games will be called off. COVID infections are rising and public support for the Games is dropping.

Jimmy Lai, the owner of Hong Kong’s last opposition newspaper, is a fierce critic of Beijing.

Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai was jailed for 12 months on Friday for helping to lead one of the city’s biggest-ever protests. He was one of several leading activists to be sentenced, including Hong Kong’s so-called “father of democracy” Martin Lee.

The record figures for the first quarter of the year are skewed due to last year’s nationwide lockdown

Opponents of Myanmar’s junta on Friday announced the formation of a national unity government, which includes ousted lawmakers, members of ethnic minority groups and figures in the anti-coup protest, according to a video statement read out on Public Voice Television. 

Pakistan’s government ordered the country’s telecoms agency to temporarily shut down social media and instant messaging platforms on Friday after days of violent anti-France protests. 

Media tycoon Jimmy Lai is among those sentenced for their role in a pro-democracy march in 2019. The defendants were found guilty this month of organizing and participating in unauthorized assemblies.

Sites including Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube will be unavailable until Friday afternoon in the country. The move comes amid fears that a radical group could use social media to perpetuate violent protests.

When the Titanic sank, six Chinese men were rescued – but their ordeal didn’t end there.

Strong foreign trade has helped the world’s second-largest economy recover from the coronavirus crisis since lockdown measures were eased.

China’s economy expanded at its fastest pace on record in the first quarter, data showed Friday, in a sharp turnaround from the historic contraction caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

The US banking group will shut down its retail operations in countries including China and India.

Amid a punishing second wave, people across India are finding drugs, oxygen and beds in short supply.

Australia holds a dismal record on indigenous deaths in custody despite decades of calls for change.

Beijing must close 588 coal-fired power plants in a decade to meet climate pledges, experts say.

Japan and the US have shared concerns about China’s aggressive expansionist policies in the Indo-Pacific region. This will be Biden’s first in-persopn meeting with a foreign leader since becoming president.

An email from the French embassy warns of “serious threats” after anti-blasphemy protests.

Violent anti-French protests have paralyzed Pakistan for the past few days. The architect of these demonstrations is the Tehreek-e-Labiak Pakistan party, which is now a force to be reckoned with in Pakistani politics.

The French embassy in Pakistan on Thursday advised all French nationals and companies to temporarily leave the country, after violent anti-France protests paralysed large parts of the country this week.

Dancers in hotpants at a military event have sparked a heated debate about women, sex and power.

The bank has already recruited hundreds for an ambitious venture in China as it pivots more towards Asia.

A BBC team meets the Taliban, a group that clearly sees itself as Afghanistan’s government-in-waiting.

Alibaba’s run-in with Chinese regulators has made things tense for its other technology giants.

India’s cases plummeted earlier this year, but are now on the rise again. What happened?

The group claim Australia has breached their human rights by failing to act on climate change.

“It is time for American troops to come home,” says Joe Biden, the fourth president to oversee the war.

The 100-year-old temple clock has started ticking again after an aftershock hit the region.

US President Joe Biden announced Wednesday it’s “time to end” America’s longest war with the unconditional withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, where they have spent two decades locked in a bloody stalemate with the Taliban.

China sees Taiwan as a breakaway province, but many Taiwanese people want a separate nation.

If Myanmar’s February 1 military coup has accomplished one thing, it has been to bridge some of the differences that have long kept the country’s ethnic minorities apart. Now protesting side by side against the junta, Myanmar’s ethnic groups hope to build a more equitable and federal Myanmar, and are picking up arms together.

The scheme was devised to grant a dying man’s wish to avoid a ban on traditional burials.

Bangladesh’s COVID vaccination efforts have been hit hard after India halted coronavirus vaccine shipments. India has paused exports during a surge in new infections and a rising death toll.

This week’s "two-plus-two" ministers’ meeting could the stage for closer cooperation on regional security. However, Germany needs to balance its interests between Beijing and Tokyo.

With 100 days until the Olympic opening ceremony, how prepared are Tokyo and Team GB for the rescheduled Games?

President Joe Biden has announced the unconditional withdrawal of all US troops from Afghanistan by September 11. DW analyzes implications for the war-torn country’s future.

As #Tokyo marks 100 days until the start of the #Olympic Games, concerns remain over the city’s preparedness to hold the sporting festival during the #coronavirus pandemic. With just one percent of #Japan’s population currently vaccinated, the majority of the country is against holding the Games.

This comes a day after more than three million Hindus visited the festival as India’s cases soar.

India’s new coronavirus infections hit a record on Wednesday, as crowds ofpilgrims gathered for a religious festival despite oxygen shortages and strict curbs in other areas. 

Could the US decision to pull its troops from Afghanistan by 11 September lead to civil war?

Former U.S. Senator Chris Dodd and former Deputy Secretaries of State Richard Armitage and James Steinberg headed to Taiwan on Tuesday at President Joe Biden’s request, in what a White House official called a “personal signal” of the president’s commitment to the Chinese-claimed island and its democracy.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday the moment has come to withdraw troops from Afghanistan and that Washington would work with NATO allies on a “coordinated” pull-out. 

The UN rights chief warned Tuesday Myanmar could be spiralling towards a “full-blown” Syrian-style conflict, after a two-month crackdown that a local monitoring group says has already claimed more than 700 lives.

India is grappling with a shortage of vaccines as a new wave of infections grips the country. Several states and vaccination centers have reported an unfulfillable demand.

China’s vaccine rollout has gotten off to a slow start. Now, as Beijing tries to boost vaccination rates across the country, citizens are having doubts about the safety and efficacy of the available inoculations.

FRANCE 24 spoke with a Burmese student activist who has fled Yangon, as Myanmar’s military junta continues its repression of opposition protests. UN Human Rights chief Michelle Bachelet has expressed her fear that Myanmar is heading towards a full-blown Syrian-style conflict. More than 700 people have been killed since the military coup in February. But the Commissioner quoted reports saying more than 3000 people have been detained and 23 have been sentenced to death in secret trials.

While Covid-19 appears to be under control in China, authorities want to keep it that way. But given low infection rates, motivation has been lacking for some people to get vaccinated. As a result, some places are offering free ice cream, while people who are hesitant or late in getting inoculated are named and shamed. Meanwhile, recent reports say the effectiveness of Chinese-made vaccines may actually be quite low. That could have an impact not just on China’s domestic inoculations but also on what’s known as its vaccine diplomacy. FRANCE 24’s Bryan Quinn tells us more.

India has approved the use of Russian Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said on Monday, confirming earlier reports of its imminent endorsement.

Pyongyang officially denies any confirmed infections in the isolated nation, but there is little doubt among experts that it has suffered at least some cases of the virus.

A Nepali man was arrested on murder charges in India in 1980 and sat in jail for decades without a trial. Rights activists say Durga Prasad Timsina’s ordeal highlights the grim reality of pretrial detainees in India.

Critics say officials are stalling the relaunch of the watchdog to avoid accountability for rights violations. A top court has ordered the ruling party to fill empty positions after the previous ones expired in 2019.

Several deadly fire incidents in overcrowded Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh over the past several weeks point to a "very worrying trend," say experts.

Politicians and rights activists say organizers of Pakistan’s Women’s March are being threatened with dangerous blasphemy accusations by religious conservatives.