Asia

An enormous sinkhole swallowed a bus and pedestrians in northwest China, sparking an explosion, killing six people and leaving four more missing, state media said Tuesday. Footage showed people at a bus stop running from the collapsing road as the vehicle — jutting into the air — sank into the ground. Several people disappeared into […]

by Poornima WEERASEKARA Water has been a source of death as well as a source of life for a generation in Shenqiu, a region fed by a tributary of China’s heavily polluted Yangtze river and pockmarked with notorious “cancer villages”. Residents often faced a bitter choice: drink dirty, discoloured water and risk sickness, or pay […]

by Ross ADKIN Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond has something special in his bag as he prepares for the US Masters — the Buddhist meditation techniques learned as a monk that have helped him become the talk of Asian golf. The 24-year-old is Augusta-bound after a huge year when he won the Asian Tour order of merit, […]

by Jing Xuan TENG / with Yan Zhao in Hong Kong China believes a mysterious pneumonia outbreak that struck 59 people is caused by a new strain of virus from the same family as SARS, which killed hundreds of people more than a decade ago. Lead scientist Xu Jianguo told the official Xinhua news agency […]

by Andrew BEATTY Firefighters raced to contain massive bushfires in southeastern Australia Tuesday, taking advantage of a brief drop in temperatures and some much-needed rainfall before another heatwave strikes later this week. Exhausted volunteers cleared ground vegetation and carried out controlled burns before temperatures and winds were expected to pick up again by Friday. “It […]

by Amir Havasi Mourners thronged Qasem Soleimani’s hometown on Tuesday, many of them baying for blood to avenge the assassination of the top Iranian military commander in a US drone strike. “No compromise, no submission, revenge!” they yelled as they tried to catch a glimpse of the casket containing Soleimani’s remains in the southeastern city […]

by Ludovic EHRET “Do you want a piece?” beekeeper Ma Gongzuo says, looking into the camera of a friend’s smartphone before biting into the dripping comb of amber-coloured honey. The clip goes out to his 737,000 followers on Douyin, the Chinese version of popular video sharing app TikTok that has 400 million users in the […]

Americans travelling in China should avoid animals and contact with sick people as the country grapples with a mystery pneumonia outbreak, the US embassy in China said Tuesday. The viral illness was first reported last week in Wuhan, a central Chinese city with a population of over 11 million, and has since grown to at […]

Hollywood’s Golden Globes ceremony lived up to its reputation on Sunday, with plenty of memorable moments served up to its A-list audience as they guzzled champagne at the Beverly Hilton. Here are some of the key moments: Gervais strikes out British comic Ricky Gervais used his fifth and final stint as host to fire off […]

An Indonesian caught trying to sell the skin of a critically endangered Sumatran tiger has been arrested, police said Monday, highlighting the problem of animal trafficking in the Southeast Asian country. Authorities in Aceh, at the northern tip of Sumatra island, arrested the man last week after he offered to sell the skin to an […]

New reports emerged Monday on how fugitive former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn jumped bail in Japan, as the country’s justice minister said border controls would be bolstered after the escape. The 65-year-old executive skipped bail nearly a week ago, fleeing Japan where he was awaiting trial on multiple counts of financial misconduct that he denies. […]

A Bangkok cafe drew the wrath of thousands of fans of K-pop girl group Blackpink, following “inappropriate” comments posted by the owner about a visit from Thai superstar member Lalisa Manoban. Referred to as “Lisa” by fans, the Thai member of South Korean pop group Blackpink shared pictures on Instagram from a photoshoot at MQQN […]

Iran’s army chief said Sunday that Washington lacked the “courage” to initiate a conflict after US President Donald Trump threatened to hit dozens of targets inside the Islamic republic. “I doubt they have the courage to initiate” a conflict in which the Americans threatened to strike 52 targets, Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi said, quoted by […]

The search for victims in the rubble of a collapsed building in southern Cambodia drew to a close Sunday with the final death toll at 36 — the latest tragedy in a string of deadly construction accidents. Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Sen, said 23 people had been pulled alive from the rubble of the seven-storey […]

Protesters hurled petrol bombs Sunday at a Hong Kong police station and at least 60 people were arrested following a march against so-called parallel trading near the Chinese border. The Democratic Party said about 10,000 people marched peacefully in Sheung Shui district, but violence erupted after police ordered protesters to disperse. Earlier, several petrol bombs […]