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BANGKOK (AP) — A court in Myanmar postponed its verdict on Tuesday in the trial of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi to allow testimony from an additional witness, a senior member of her political party.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand's conservative opposition party chose former businessman and political novice Christopher Luxon as its new leader on Tuesday, as it tries to rebuild from a huge election loss last year and continued infighting.
TOKYO (AP) — Japan confirmed on Tuesday its first case of the new omicron coronavirus variant, a visitor who recently arrived from Namibia, an official said.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said the patient, a man in his 30s, tested positive upon arrival at Narita airport on Sunday and was isolated and is being treated at a hospital.
KABUL (AP) — Taliban fighters have summarily killed or forcibly “disappeared” more than 100 former police and intelligence officers since taking power in Afghanistan, Human Rights Watch said in a report Tuesday.
BEIJING (AP) — China has pledged to donate 600 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccines to Africa as the world grapples with the unequal distribution of the shots between rich and poor countries.
Chinese President Xi Jinping made the promise Monday in a video speech to the opening ceremony of a China-Africa forum on economic cooperation.
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Crown Prince Akishino, the younger brother of Emperor Naruhito, has complained about harsh criticism of his daughter’s recent marriage and suggested that the imperial family should be allowed to refute false and extreme attacks.
WASHINGTON (AP) — After months of study, the Pentagon has decided no immediate major changes are needed in the global positioning of U.S. forces, although it will further analyze force needs in the Middle East and make refinements in Asia and the Pacific, officials said Monday.
GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization warned Monday that the global risk from the omicron variant is “very high” based on the early evidence, saying the mutated coronavirus could lead to surges with “severe consequences.”
NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian lawmakers on Monday repealed agricultural legislation that provoked a year of nationwide protests from farmers, in a move that was seen as a major reversal and rare climbdown for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, which had ardently defended the controversial reforms.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australian authorities announced on Monday that they would delay plans to relax border restrictions by at least two weeks, as the country reported its fifth case of the omicron COVID-19 variant.
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa's rapid increase in COVID-19 cases attributed to the new omicron variant is resulting in mostly mild symptoms, doctors say.
“We've seen a sharp increase in cases for the past 10 days.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s most acclaimed Indigenous actor, David Gulpilil, has died of lung cancer, a government leader said on Monday. He was 68 years old.
Gulpilil found his widest audiences with his roles in the 1986 hit film “Crocodile Dundee” and in director Baz Luhrmann’s 2008 epic “Australia” in a career that spanned five decades.
MOSCOW (AP) — Scores of opposition supporters in Kyrgyzstan rallied Monday to challenge the results of a parliamentary election that was swept by parties loyal to the country's president.
Sunday's election came just over just over a year after a forceful change of government in the ex-Soviet Central Asian nation that propelled Sadyr Zhaparov to the presidency.
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — A Muslim mob burned a police station and four police posts overnight in northwest Pakistan after officers refused to hand over a mentally unstable man accused of desecrating Islam's holy book, the Quran, authorities said Monday.
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Lawmakers from all three Baltic states met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Monday in a sign of further cooperation between European Union nations and Taiwan.
It is the first joint visit to Taiwan by members of parliament from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, Tsai said.
JOHOR BAHRU, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysians working in Singapore held joyful reunions with their loved ones after returning to their homeland on Monday following the partial reopening of a land border that has been shuttered for nearly two years due to the pandemic.
BELAGAVI, India (AP) — Arbaz Mullah’s love story began, as romances often do, when he first laid eyes on the woman of his dreams, Shweta Kumbhar.
Over nearly three years, their courtship in many ways resembled that of any other couple and they made each other promises to get married.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The emergence of the omicron variant hasn't changed New Zealand's plans to ease restrictions in Auckland and move the nation into a new, more open phase of its pandemic response, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Monday.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Cases of the omicron variant of the coronavirus popped up in countries on opposite sides of the world Sunday and many governments rushed to close their borders even as scientists cautioned that it's not clear if the new variant is more alarming than other versions of the virus.
MOSCOW (AP) — Kyrgyzstan held a parliamentary election Sunday just over a year after a forceful change of government in the ex-Soviet Central Asian nation and voters backed parties supporting the country's new president, according to early results.
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia’s Prince Norodom Ranariddh, former prime minister and the son of the late King Norodom Sihanouk, died Sunday in France, Information Minister Khieu Kanharith announced on his Facebook page.
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan said 27 Chinese aircraft entered its air defense buffer zone on Sunday, the latest in a long series of incursions as part of Beijing's pressure on the self-ruled island.
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Worried scientists in South Africa are scrambling to combat the lightning spread across the country of the new and highly transmissible omicron COVID-19 variant as the world grapples with its emergence.
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s annual Golden Horse Awards kicked off Saturday with a Hong Kong drama receiving the most nominations for the Asian equivalent of the Academy Awards.
The Golden Horse Awards, which began in 1962, is considered one of the most prestigious awards for Chinese-language films.
BEIJING (AP) — Macao police on Saturday detained the head of Macao’s biggest casino junket organizer and others after Chinese authorities issued an arrest warrant for them over accusations that they ran an illegal cross-border gambling syndicate.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Solomon Islands police found three bodies in a burned-out building and arrested more than 100 people in this week's violence sparked by concerns about the Pacific nation's increasing links with China.
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, at his first troop review Saturday, renewed his pledge to consider “all options,” including acquiring enemy base strike capability, and vowed to create a stronger Self-Defense Force to protect the country amid growing threats from China and North Korea.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Violence receded Friday in the capital of the Solomon Islands, but the government showed no signs of addressing the underlying grievances that sparked two days of riots, including concerns about the country's increasing links with China.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The widow of South Korea’s last military dictator issued a brief apology over the “pains and scars” caused by her husband’s brutal rule as dozens of relatives and former aides gathered at a Seoul hospital on Saturday to pay their final respects to Chun Doo-hwan.
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin said the talks he hosted in southern Russia Friday with the leaders of regional rivals Armenia and Azerbaijan were “constructive” and produced a series of agreements on key issues.
BANGKOK (AP) — The United States and six other nations issued a joint statement Friday calling on the international community to suspend all assistance to Myanmar's military, and expressing grave concern over reports of human rights abuses by its security forces.
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Five U.S. lawmakers met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday in a surprise one-day visit intended to reaffirm America's “rock-solid” support for the self-governing island that is claimed by China.
NEW DELHI (AP) — The Serum Institute of India, the world's largest vaccine maker, resumed exports of coronavirus vaccines to the U.N.-backed COVAX distribution program on Friday after halting most overseas sales in March.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The evacuation of American citizens and others from Afghanistan didn’t end with the departure of the last U.S.
TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s Cabinet on Friday approved a 770 billion yen ($6.8 billion) request for an extra defense budget through March to expedite the purchase of missiles, anti-submarine rockets and other weapons amid rising concern over the escalation of military activities by China, Russia and North Korea.
NEW DELHI (AP) — Thousands of jubilant Indian farmers waving green and white flags on Friday marked the anniversary of their movement by celebrating a victory that forced Prime Minister Narendra Modi to withdraw three agriculture laws the farmers feared would drastically reduce their incomes and leave them at the mercy of corporations.
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia has recovered significantly from a mid-year spike in coronavirus cases and deaths that was one of the worst in the region, but with its vaccination drive stalling due to logistical challenges and other issues, and with holidays approaching, experts and officials warn it could soon face another surge.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The Solomon Islands’ decision to switch its diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing has been blamed for arson and looting in the national capital Honiara, where protesters are demanding the prime minister's resignation.
BANGKOK (AP) — One of Thailand’s major fast food chains has been promoting its “Crazy Happy Pizza” this month, an under-the-radar product topped with a cannabis leaf. It’s legal but won’t get you high.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — For decades, the tiny Marshall Islands has been a stalwart American ally. Its location in the middle of the Pacific Ocean has made it a key strategic outpost for the U.S.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare on Friday blamed foreign interference over his government’s decision to switch alliances from Taiwan to Beijing for anti-government protests, arson and looting that have ravaged the capital Honiara in recent days.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Singapore’s top court will decide Tuesday on the fate of a Malaysian man on death row who is believed to be mentally disabled, his family and a rights group said Friday.
BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets sank Friday as traders watched a surge in coronavirus cases in Europe and anti-disease controls that threaten to disrupt trade and travel.
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Five U.S. lawmakers are in Taiwan on Friday in a surprise one-day visit, said the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto embassy.
The lawmakers from the U.S. House of Representatives arrived in Taiwan on Thursday night and will meet with senior leaders on the island.