Asia

Myanmar junta to free 9,652 prisoners on humanitarian grounds – state media

Myanmar's military government will release 9,652 prisoners, including 114 foreigners, under an amnesty to mark the country's independence day, state media reported on Thursday. The Southeast Asian nation has been…

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Bangladesh deploys army to keep peace ahead of Sunday’s election

By Ruma Paul and Sudipto Ganguly DHAKA, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Troops deployed across Bangladesh on Wednesday amid fears of violence ahead of a national election which the main opposition…

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Taiwan spots Chinese balloons over island near major air base

TAIPEI, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Three Chinese balloons flew across Taiwan island on Tuesday and near an air base, the Taiwanese defence ministry said, the first time it has reported…

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South Korea opposition leader in ICU after knife attack amid calls for stronger security

By Jack Kim SEOUL, Jan 3 (Reuters) - South Korea's opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung remained hospitalised in intensive care on Wednesday, a day after a knife attack on…

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Philippines hopeful of exiting global money laundering ‘grey list’

The Philippines is hopeful of being taken off the money laundering 'grey list' of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) of this year, the country's Anti-Money Laundering Council said on…

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WATCH: All passengers, crew escape blaze on Japan Airlines plane after Tokyo airport collision

All 379 passengers and crew of a Japan Airlines plane miraculously escaped from a fire following a collision with a Coast Guard aircraft at Tokyo's Haneda airport on Tuesday, but local media said most…

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China calls on Taiwan’s people to promote ‘peaceful reunification’

The head of China's Taiwan Affairs Office on Tuesday called on Taiwan's people to promote the process of "peaceful reunification", saying it was the common desire of people on both…

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Powerful quake rocks Japan, nearly 100,000 residents ordered to evacuate

A powerful earthquake struck central Japan on Monday, killing at least one person, destroying buildings, knocking out power to tens of thousands of homes and prompting residents in some coastal…

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Xi urges Chinese envoys to create ‘diplomatic iron army’

By Laurie Chen BEIJING, Dec 29 (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday urged Chinese ambassadors to forge a "diplomatic iron army" loyal to the Communist Party, reviving the…

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Winter smog blankets South Asian capitals of Dhaka, New Delhi

By Ruma Paul DHAKA, Dec 27 (Reuters) - A thick layer of toxic smog wreathed Bangladesh's capital of Dhaka on Wednesday as the air quality index plummeted into the "hazardous"…

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South Korean capital drills to guard against surprise attack by North

By Daewoung Kim and Jimin Jung SEOUL, Dec 27 (Reuters) - More than 1,000 South Korean military, police and emergency personnel joined rare defence drills on Wednesday that simulated an…

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Indian navy to deploy guided missile destroyer ships after strike off its coast

The Indian navy will deploy guided missile destroyer ships in the Arabian Sea as a deterrent after an Israel-affiliated merchant vessel was struck off the Indian coast over the weekend.…

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China expects searing heat, more weather extremes in 2024

China - grappling with one of its coldest Decembers on record - will likely have to brace for another round of scorching heat and an increase in extreme weather next…

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Taiwan says eight Chinese fighter jets crossed strait’s median line

TAIPEI, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Taiwan's defence ministry said on Sunday that over the previous 24 hours it had detected eight Chinese fighter jets crossing over the median line of…

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How could North Korea use its nuclear weapons?

By Josh Smith SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said a missile test this week shows his country would not hesitate to launch a nuclear attack if…

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Philippines poverty rate at 22.4%

MANILA, Dec 22 (Reuters) - The Philippines' poverty rate dropped to 22.4% or 25.24 million people in the first half of 2023, the government's statistics agency said on Friday, from…

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China’s cold snap reaches Shanghai with chilliest year-end in 40 years

By Casey Hall and Ryan Woo SHANGHAI, Dec 21 (Reuters) - China's financial hub Shanghai was set to record its chilliest period in December in four decades, spurring authorities to…

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China warns Philippines not to ‘miscalculate’ situation in South China Sea

BEIJING, Dec 21 (Reuters) - China warned the Philippines that if the latter "miscalculates" the maritime situation, is bent on having its own way or colludes with "ill-intentioned" external forces,…

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Chinese rescuers brave freezing cold to find earthquake survivors

131 dead, 980 injured, 16 missing in earthquake-hit area Sub-zero conditions imperil trapped victims High-altitude, complex terrain challenges rescuers By Liz Lee BEIJING, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Braving sub-zero conditions,…

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Magnitude-6.2 quake kills 118 in northwestern China’s Gansu, Qinghai provinces

A magnitude-6.2 earthquake jolted a remote and mountainous county on the northern edge of the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau just before midnight on Monday, killing at least 118 people and injuring hundreds,…

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China, North Korea hold high-level meeting amid missile launches

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with a senior North Korean official in Beijing on Monday, coinciding with Pyongyang's launch of a missile capable of reaching anywhere in the…

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Magnitude 5.6 earthquake strikes Indian Kashmir – EMSC

An earthquake of magnitude 5.6 struck near Indian-ruled Kashmir on Monday, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre said.The quake struck 23 km (14 miles) southwest of Padam, in northern India at…

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Scientists see risk of lost opportunity for long COVID research in China

By Andrew Silver SHANGHAI, (Reuters) - With more than a full year past since China eased restrictions and let COVID-19 sweep its households, scientists are worried a unique opportunity may…

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China pressures Taiwan with trade accusations and warplanes month before election

China on Friday pressured Taiwan with a trade barrier probe and warplanes in the Taiwan Strait a month before the island holds key elections, as Taipei called on Beijing to…

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Japan PM overhauls cabinet in bid to weather financial scandal

By Sakura Murakami and Kaori Kaneko TOKYO, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida set about replacing key cabinet members on Thursday as he battled to control the…

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South Korea scrambles jets as China, Russia warplanes enter defence zone

SEOUL, Dec 14 (Reuters) - South Korea scrambled fighter jets on Thursday when two Chinese and four Russian military planes entered its air defence zone, South Korea's military said. The…

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Second cold wave encases China’s Beijing in snow, ice

By Ryan Woo and Liz Lee BEIJING, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Snow, blizzards and plunging temperatures swept northern China in what could be one of its most severe cold snaps…

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S.Korea’s defence minister warns North Korea of ‘hell of destruction’

By Josh Smith SEOUL, Dec 13 (Reuters) - South Korea's defence minister threatened on Wednesday to unleash a "hell of destruction" on neighbouring North Korea in retaliation for any reckless…

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Chinese forces approached close to Taiwan coast to ‘intimidate’ voters before key elections – sources

By Yimou Lee TAIPEI, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Taiwan's military drove away four attempts by Chinese forces to approach the island's sensitive contiguous zone last month, Taiwan security officials said,…

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Snowfall shrouds north China in prelude to even colder weather

BEIJING, Dec 11 (Reuters) - The first snowfall of winter arrived in Beijing early Monday, covering the Chinese capital with a mantle of white overnight and plunging the city into…

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Rohingya face rejection in Indonesia after surge of boat arrivals

By Hidayatullah Tahjuddin and Stanley Widianto PIDIE, Indonesia, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Myanmar's Rohingya face a wave of hostility and rejection in Indonesia, where regional communities say they are fed…

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India’s top court upholds end of special status for Kashmir, orders polls

By Arpan Chaturvedi and YP Rajesh NEW DELHI, Dec 11 (Reuters) - India's Supreme Court upheld on Monday a 2019 decision by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to…

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China issues action plan to improve air quality

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will "strictly and reasonably" control total coal use and curb high-emissions projects to improve air quality, China's state council said in an action plan released .…

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Taiwan spots Chinese weather balloon in strait a month before election

TAIPEI, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Taiwan's defence ministry said on Friday that a Chinese weather balloon had crossed the Taiwan Strait median line on Thursday, about a month before Taiwan's…

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U.S monitoring reports of Chinese warships at Cambodian base

By David Brunnstrom WASHINGTON, Dec 6 (Reuters) - The United States is monitoring reports of Chinese warships docking in Cambodia and has serious concerns about Beijing's plans to have exclusive…

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US Navy patrol plane flies over sensitive Taiwan Strait

BEIJING, Dec 6 (Reuters) - A U.S. Navy patrol aircraft flew through the sensitive Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, the U.S. military said, describing the mission as a demonstration of the…

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India’s Modi seen unstoppable after surprise state polls sweep

By YP Rajesh, Krishn Kaushik and Rupam Jain NEW DELHI, (Reuters) - India's opposition faces a "herculean task" in next year's general elections against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya…

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Belarus President Lukashenko returns to China, seeks stronger ties

By Joe Cash and Liz Lee BEIJING, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko met China's leader Xi Jinping in Beijing on Monday for the second time this year,…

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North Korea’s Kim calls for action on falling birth rates

By Hyunsu Yim North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called for efforts to tackle the isolated country's falling birth rates, describing the challenge as "everyone's housekeeping", state media KCNA…

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China’s military: US Navy ship ‘illegally’ entered territorial waters

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's military on Monday said a U.S. Navy ship illegally entered waters adjacent to the Second Thomas Shoal, a disputed South China Sea atoll that has recently…

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Islamic State claims responsibility for deadly Philippine bombing

Philippine government vows to arrest perpetrators Bombing follows military operations against Islamists Monitoring intensified in southern Philippines, capital region By Karen Lema and Neil Jerome Morales MANILA, (Reuters) - Islamic…

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COVID-19 shrinks life expectancy in S.Korea for first time since 1970

By Hyonhee Shin SEOUL, (Reuters) - Babies born in South Korea last year are expected to live 82.7 years, down from 83.6 years in 2021, the statistics agency said, after…

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China’s respiratory illness surge attributed to known pathogens, not new diseases.

SHENZHEN, China, Dec 2 (Reuters) - China's surge in respiratory illness is caused by known pathogens and there is no sign of new infectious diseases, a health official said on…

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North Korea says interference in its satellites would be declaration of war

By Heekyong Yang SEOUL, Dec 2 (Reuters) - North Korea said on Saturday it would consider any interference with its satellite operations a declaration of war and would mobilise its…

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Magnitude 5.8 earthquake strikes Bangladesh region

Dec 2 (Reuters) - An earthquake of magnitude 5.8 struck the Bangladesh region on Saturday, the German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ) said. The quake was at a depth of…

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Taiwan president: China too ‘overwhelmed’ to consider invasion

China's leadership is too "overwhelmed" with its internal problems to consider an invasion of Taiwan, President Tsai Ing-wen said in an interview with the New York Times. China, which views…

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North Korea’s Kim calls for military readiness against any ‘provocation’

By Soo-Hyang Choi North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called for his military to be ready to respond to any "provocation" by the enemy, state media said on Friday,…

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Taiwan reports more Chinese military activity as election nears

TAIPEI, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Taiwan again reported Chinese warplanes and warships around the island on Thursday, including aircraft crossing the sensitive median line of the Taiwan Strait, as Beijing…

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Taiwan urges elderly, young to avoid China visits due to respiratory illnesses

TAIPEI, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Taiwan's health ministry on Thursday urged the elderly, very young and those with poor immunity to avoid travel to China due to the recent increase…

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UPDATED: US military aircraft crashes in sea off Japan killing at least one

By Kiyoshi Takenaka and Tim Kelly TOKYO, Nov 29 (Reuters) - A U.S. military aircraft carrying six people crashed into the sea in western Japan on Wednesday, killing at least…

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Chinese families of missing Malaysia MH370 plane seek compensation in court

By Laurie Chen BEIJING, Nov 27 (Reuters) - A Beijing court on Monday began compensation hearings for the Chinese relatives of passengers on board Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which mysteriously…

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Malaysia to allow visa-free entry to Chinese, Indian nationals from Dec. 1

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Malaysia will grant visa-free entry to citizens of China and India for stays of up to 30 days starting on Dec. 1, according to…

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How worried should we be about the pneumonia outbreak in China?

Reports of a surge in pneumonia-like illness primarily affecting children in northern China have captured our attention. The last time we heard about a mysterious respiratory outbreak leading to overcrowding…

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China’s respiratory illness surge not as high as pre-pandemic- WHO official

By Andrew Silver SHANGHAI, Nov 27 (Reuters) - The spike in respiratory illnesses that China is currently going through is not as high as before the COVID-19 pandemic, a World…

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North Korea beefs up military on border

By Hyunsu Yim SEOUL, Nov 27 (Reuters) - North Korea warned on Monday it would continue to exercise its sovereign rights, including through satellite launches, while its troops were reported…

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India warns Facebook, YouTube to enforce rules to deter deepfakes

By Munsif Vengattil and Aditya Kalra BENGALURU, (Reuters) - India's government warned social media firms including Facebook and YouTube to repeatedly remind users that local laws prohibit them from posting…

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Top diplomats of China, Japan, S.Korea seek to boost three-way ties

By Hyonhee Shin SEOUL, Nov 26 (Reuters) - The foreign ministers of China, Japan and South Korea agreed on Sunday to restart cooperation among the Asian neighbours and pave the…

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